Australians lose hope as nation lags on housing targets
A national scorecard has found that no state or territory is on track to meet housing needs in the next five years and Australians have no confidence that the crisis will be resolved.
Independent advocacy group Amplify said the results of its research tracking housing delivery and community sentiment towards the housing crisis were “brutal”.
Amplify CEO Georgina Harisson said the promise of an affordable and safe home for Australians was “delivered”.
“We’re not building enough homes and people don’t trust governments to turn things around,” he said.
“Low confidence in housing delivery reflects more than supply problems; it points to deeper challenges; optimism erodes when people feel disconnected from the decision-making process.”
The research, published on Thursday, follows news this week that the Australian Housing Future Fund, a key federal housing policy, is being audited over concerns the $10 billion plan may not provide value for money.
Amplify research has shown that community confidence in housing delivery is below 50 per cent in every state and territory.
Victoria has the lowest trust in government in the country (33.4 per cent) despite being on track to meet 90 per cent of its housing target.
The ACT made the strongest progress on housing nationally, with a headline score of 61.8 per cent, thanks to delivery close to target (96.4 per cent) and the highest level of confidence (46.1 per cent).
While the South Australian government is the most trusted in the country to deliver housing, Queensland is facing a crisis of confidence, with only 34 per cent believing their housing needs will be met.
“To turn this around, governments need to move beyond partisan housing debates and focus on real engagement, building clarity and confidence in what is being done to tackle the housing crisis,” Ms Harisson said.
“This means listening to what people really need, engaging with the community in the right way, and taking new approaches to accelerate delivery and achieve goals.”
The Housing Australia Future Fund was established in 2023 and aimed to build 40,000 social and affordable homes by 2028.
But construction progress was slow, and there were reports that the average cost of funding a home was more than $750,000.
On Wednesday, it was revealed that Auditor General Caralee McLiesh is conducting an audit that will be presented to parliament in June 2026.
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