The Albanese Labor Government is turbocharging the construction of new homes across the country - building more homes for home buyers, more homes for renters and more homes for Australians in every part of the country.
Because Australians need more affordable housing. And to do that, we need more homes.
The 2024-25 Budget includes $6.2 billion in new investment to build more homes more quickly, bringing the Albanese Government's new housing initiatives to $32 billion.
The Budget's new support is part of our Homes for Australia Plan which will help meet Australia's ambitious goal of building 1.2 million new homes from 1 July.
We know that building homes is hard work. It won't happen overnight. But increasing supply is the best and most lasting fix to Australia's housing shortage. We also need to help provide relief for renters who are under pressure. The $6.2 billion in new investment in the Budget will:
- Turbocharge construction with a $1 billion boost for states and territories to build the roads, sewers, energy, water and community infrastructure that we need for new homes, and additional social housing.
- Train more tradies to build the homes Australia needs with 20,000 Fee Free TAFE and pre-apprenticeship places for the housing and construction industry.
- Help nearly 1 million Australian households with the cost of rent by delivering $1.9 billion for the first back-to-back increase to Commonwealth Rent Assistance in more than 30 years.
- Provide up to $1.9 billion in concessional finance for community housing providers and other charities, to support delivery of the 40,000 social and affordable homes under the Housing Australia Future Fund and National Housing Accord.
- Deliver additional funding for the new $9.3 billion National Agreement on Social Housing and Homelessness which will begin on 1 July after National Cabinet reached an agreement last week. This includes a doubling of Commonwealth homelessness funding to $400 million every year, matched by states and territories.
- Improve conditions and address overcrowding through an additional $842.8 million investment in remote housing in the Northern Territory.
The Budget package also includes:
- Working with the higher education sector on new regulation to require universities to increase student accommodation, taking pressure off the rental market.
- Increasing the Government's line of credit to Housing Australia by $3 billion, and Housing Australia's liability cap by $2.5 billion.
- Directing $1 billion under the National Housing Infrastructure Facility towards crisis and transitional accommodation for women and children experiencing domestic violence, and youth. This includes increasing the proportion of grants for this investment from $175 million to $700 million to be able to support crisis and transitional housing.
The first $500 million disbursement from the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund will also be delivered in 2024-25, which will help support:
- Delivering $200 million for the repair, maintenance and improvement of housing in remote Indigenous communities over five years.
- Building more crisis and transitional housing for women and children impacted by family and domestic violence and older women at risk of homelessness through a new $100 million grant round.
- Supporting veterans who are experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness with $30 million in funding.
Our Homes for Australia plan is working across the board to deliver more help to build, rent and buy.
