This bill became law on Sep 28th, 2023.
Welfare & housing
Australia would set up a $10 billion housing fund that could later receive extra government top-ups, with investment earnings used to support social and affordable housingHousing priced below normal market levels so workers and low- to middle-income households can rent or buy it. and other urgent housing needs.
Australia lacked a dedicated long-term funding stream for social and affordable housingHousing priced below normal market levels so workers and low- to middle-income households can rent or buy it. and other urgent housing needs, leaving shortages for vulnerable groups and key workers. The bill creates a $10 billion fund whose investment earnings can be used by Housing AustraliaThe federal body that would run most of the program and decide how grants and loans are used. to back new homes and provide housing grants and loans.
Australia entered 2023 with a worsening housing shortage and homelessness problem, including 123,000 people counted as homeless in the 2021 Census, while debate grew over whether the Commonwealth was putting enough direct money into social and affordable housingHousing priced below normal market levels so workers and low- to middle-income households can rent or buy it.. Labor answered with a $10 billion Housing Australia Future FundThe proposed $10 billion fund at the centre of the bill, set up to earn returns that would help pay for housing projects. bill introduced on 2 August 2023, and the huge response to the first funding round followed by complaints about delays in 2025 showed both the scale of demand and the difficulty of turning the scheme into homes quickly.
Critics argued the bill relied on a borrowed $10 billion investment fund with uncertain returns, so it might add costs and still fail to deliver enough new homes or fix the underlying housing supply problem. That case was pushed mainly by Coalition and One Nation senators, while some crossbench and Greens supporters said the final package was still too small or too slow and needed stronger follow-up action for renters and delivery.
Hon Julie Collins MP introduced this bill. It passed on the voices.
Did it become law?
Yes
Became law 28 Sept 2023
Final passage
Passed without a counted vote
Members called out ‘aye’ or ‘no’ — no individual votes were recorded.
Passage speed
57 days
From introduction to the latest recorded parliamentary step
Meaning
Australia would set up a $10 billion housing fund that could later receive extra government top-ups, with investment earnings used to support social and affordable housingHousing priced below normal market levels so workers and low- to middle-income households can rent or buy it. and other urgent housing needs.
The fund’s first five years would back 30,000 homes, including 20,000 social homes and 10,000 affordable homes for workers such as police, nurses and cleaners.
The bill would also set aside extra housing support over five years for remote Indigenous communities, women and children escaping family violenceViolence or abuse in a home or relationship, relevant here because the bill includes housing support for women and children escaping it., older women at risk of homelessness, and veterans at risk of homelessness.
Housing AustraliaThe federal body that would run most of the program and decide how grants and loans are used. would run most of the home-building program and could use money from the fund to make grants and loans for social housingHomes funded to be affordable for people on low incomes or in housing need, rather than to make a market profit., affordable housingHousing priced below normal market levels so workers and low- to middle-income households can rent or buy it. and urgent housing needs.
The Housing MinisterThe minister who would have to review how the fund is working and oversee the housing policy package. would have to review how the fund is working at least every five years so the government can check whether it is improving housing outcomes for Australians.
The HAFF would be credited with $10 billion as soon as practicable after establishment. The HAFF Bill would also allow future credits to be made by the responsible Ministers following a decision of the Government. Once invested, the HAFF would provide up to $500 million per year to support social and affordable housing and to meet a range of acute housing needs, which could include housing improvements in Indigenous communities and housing services for women, children and veterans.Housing Australia Future Fund explanatory memorandum
In the HAFF’s first five years, the Australian Government intends to use disbursements to support:Housing Australia Future Fund explanatory memorandum
$200 million for the repair, maintenance and improvements of housing to meet the specific needs of remote Indigenous communities (noting that grants from the HAFF could also be made for housing needs in relation to non-remote Indigenous communities);Housing Australia Future Fund explanatory memorandum
Payments to be administered by Housing Australia would be channelled through the Housing Australia Special Account. Housing Australia would have primary responsibility for delivering on the Government’s commitment to deliver 30,000 social and affordable homes over five years, leveraging its existing capability and relationships with the community housing sector, institutional investors and state and territory housing authorities. Housing Australia would be able to make grants and loans in relation to acute housing needs.Housing Australia Future Fund explanatory memorandum
The HAFF Bill would require the Housing Minister to review the operation of the HAFF Act at least every five years, in consultation with the responsible Ministers. This would provide regular opportunities for the Government to assess the extent to which the HAFF is improving housing outcomes for Australians.Housing Australia Future Fund explanatory memorandum
Context
Australia entered 2023 with a worsening housing shortage and homelessness problem, including 123,000 people counted as homeless in the 2021 Census, while debate grew over whether the Commonwealth was putting enough direct money into social and affordable housingHousing priced below normal market levels so workers and low- to middle-income households can rent or buy it.. Labor answered with a $10 billion Housing Australia Future FundThe proposed $10 billion fund at the centre of the bill, set up to earn returns that would help pay for housing projects. bill introduced on 2 August 2023, and the huge response to the first funding round followed by complaints about delays in 2025 showed both the scale of demand and the difficulty of turning the scheme into homes quickly.
2021 Census counts 123,000 people as homeless
Parliamentary debate on the bill cited the 2021 Census showing 123,000 homeless people in Australia, up 5.2 per cent since 2016, as evidence of a worsening housing shortage.
Hansard ↗Greens push to rework the housing fund as Coalition opposition hardens
An AFR report said the government faced pressure to turn the proposed fund into fixed annual housing grants after the Coalition decided to oppose the legislation.
Australian Financial Review ↗Government introduces the Housing Australia Future FundThe proposed $10 billion fund at the centre of the bill, set up to earn returns that would help pay for housing projects. bill
The bill was introduced to create a $10 billion fund whose investment earnings would support social and affordable housingHousing priced below normal market levels so workers and low- to middle-income households can rent or buy it. and other urgent housing needs.
Parliamentary timeline ↗First funding round draws bids for more than 50,000 homes
Housing AustraliaThe federal body that would run most of the program and decide how grants and loans are used. received 673 applications covering 50,167 homes in the first tender, showing demand well beyond the homes the program initially planned to support over five years.
Australian Financial Review ↗Developers and community housing providers say the rollout needs overhaul
Industry participants told AFR the fund was bogged down by the volume of projects in its first tender and needed changes so approved housing could start being built faster.
Australian Financial Review ↗Legislative route
The bill was formally presented to the House as the second version of the Housing Australia Future FundThe proposed $10 billion fund at the centre of the bill, set up to earn returns that would help pay for housing projects. bill package.
Introduced and read a first time
A minister moved the second reading, opening debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
Second reading moved
Referred to Committee (10/08/2023): Senate Economics Legislation Committee; Committee report (24/10/2023)
Referred to committee
APH bill page notesThe Senate passed the housing package with amendments and requests for the House of Representatives.
Passed with amendments and requests
The House made amendments requested by the Senate so the package could proceed.
House made requested amendments
The Senate read the original package a third time.
Third reading agreed
The bill received Royal Assent as the Housing Australia Future FundThe proposed $10 billion fund at the centre of the bill, set up to earn returns that would help pay for housing projects. Act 2023.
Royal Assent
Key criticism
Critics argued the bill relied on a borrowed $10 billion investment fund with uncertain returns, so it might add costs and still fail to deliver enough new homes or fix the underlying housing supply problem. That case was pushed mainly by Coalition and One Nation senators, while some crossbench and Greens supporters said the final package was still too small or too slow and needed stronger follow-up action for renters and delivery.
Most criticism focused on the funding model, scale or delivery risk rather than rejecting more social housingHomes funded to be affordable for people on low incomes or in housing need, rather than to make a market profit. outright.
Uncertain fund model and no guaranteed homes
Opponents said the bill used an off-budget investment fund financed by government borrowing, with returns that could vary and no clear guarantee that promised homes would actually be built. They argued direct construction and budget spending would be more transparent and reliable.
Does not fix the real supply problem
A central criticism was that the bill did little about the causes of unaffordable housing, such as land release, planning delays, red tape, labour shortages and migration pressures. Critics said it risked becoming a temporary patch while broader supply reforms were left undone.
Too small and weak on renters
Some senators who ultimately backed the bill said the original package was inadequate for the scale of the housing crisis and still did not directly help renters enough. Their concern was not the goal of more social housingHomes funded to be affordable for people on low incomes or in housing need, rather than to make a market profit., but that the measure needed extra funding and stronger tenant protections alongside it.
Slow rollout and governance risk
Later public reporting raised implementation concerns that the program was slow to move projects to financial close and faced governance and execution problems. That suggested the bill's main vulnerability in practice was delivery, not the case for building more affordable housingHousing priced below normal market levels so workers and low- to middle-income households can rent or buy it. itself.
Further sources
Votes
The bill passed both chambers on the voices, so there is no list of individual Aye and No votes for final passage.
Senate agreed to the bill's third reading on the voices, so there is no list of individual Aye and No votes for final passage in that chamber.
Passed on the voices
In a voice vote, members call out Aye or No and the presiding officer judges which side has it. Individual names are only recorded if a formal division is called.
Parliamentary debate
Start here — lead voices
Julie Collins strongly supports the Housing Australia Future FundThe proposed $10 billion fund at the centre of the bill, set up to earn returns that would help pay for housing projects. bill and says it is needed to create a secure, long-term funding pipeline for more social and affordable homes.
Read in Hansard ↗Rennick opposes the bill, calling it a gambling scheme that borrows $10 billion for a housing fund instead of fixing Australia’s productivity and housing shortages.
Read in Hansard ↗Waters says the Greens will let the Housing Australia Future FundThe proposed $10 billion fund at the centre of the bill, set up to earn returns that would help pay for housing projects. bill pass after securing $3 billion in extra direct funding for social and affordable housingHousing priced below normal market levels so workers and low- to middle-income households can rent or buy it., but she argues the original design was inadequate and that the government still must do much more for renters.
Read in Hansard ↗Tyrrell supports the bill after securing a guaranteed commitment for 1,200 homes in Tasmania, saying the crossbench improved it and she is happy to let it pass.
Read in Hansard ↗All speeches by bloc
12 speakers · 12 support
“From this fund we are firmly committed to delivering 30,000 houses over the first five years, including at least 1,200 in Tasmania, my home state. I remind all senators that the Housing Australia Future Fund is supported by the community housing sector. It's supported by the Housing Industry Association, Master Builders Australia, homelessness services, National Shelter, Homelessness Australia, the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Housing Association, the Community Housing Industry Association and the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute. They all want to see these bills passed as a matter of priority. They want to see us get on with the job of delivering this housing. So let us get on with it. Let us pass these bills and get shovels in the ground, and hand over the keys of thousands of new houses to the Australians who so desperately need them. I commend the bills to the Senate.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“Just this week the Albanese government announced a welcome new support for the Housing Australia Future Fund, meaning the housing legislative package is going to pass the Senate this week.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“These bills establish the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund. The fund will make annual disbursements of at least $500 million a year to finance the construction of new homes. In the first five years of the fund, that means the construction of 20,000 social homes, 4,000 of which will be reserved for women and children leaving domestic and family violence and older women on lower incomes who are at risk of homelessness. On top of those 20,000 social homes, it will also fund 10,000 affordable homes for frontline workers like police, allied health workers, nurses and cleaners—the people who are providing the most essential services in our community but increasingly cannot even afford to live in these communities.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“The government once again invites this parliament to show its support to deliver more housing for all Australians.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“Nevertheless, it's a relief to have this legislation on its way to being passed in the parliament. Unfortunately, we cannot solve all the problems Australia's housing market faces overnight, nor can the Labor government undo in one year what has been 10 years of delay and neglect by the coalition government more focused on themselves than on Australia. But what we can do is take the massive $10 billion investment in the form of the Housing Australia Future Fund that will deliver 20,000 new social rentals the first five years plus 10,000 affordable homes and run with it. That will make a difference; that will have an impact. It is for that reason I'm pleased that senators in this place will work with the government on this reform and not stand in the way of delivering a better life for Australians who are homeless or on the brink of homelessness.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“The Housing Australia Future Fund Bill establishes a $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund to be invested by the Future Fund Board of Guardians to create returns which will fund affordable social housing.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“Because of this bill, in the next five years 30,000 Australians and their families will have a place to call home. That's what the bill seeks to do.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“All of us in the Senate now have an opportunity to back this package—a package that contains what so many experts and housing organisations have called for for a great many years.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“The Housing Australia Future Fund Bill 2023 establishes the Housing Australia Future Fund. Distributions from the fund will support the delivery of social and affordable homes, including 30,000 new dwellings over its first five years of operation, as well as helping address acute housing needs for people most at need in our society.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“The passage of the Housing Australia Future Fund Bill will be an incredibly important step forward and a moment for this place to really fight to turn the tide on housing affordability in this country.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“It's clear what the Senate now needs to do, and that is end the delays and support these bills right now.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“I am delighted to stand here and support these bills, these bills that are going to fundamentally make a difference. Is a gambling? No. We have a range of this type of funding across government that has been running well for many years, thank you very much. All of the scaremongering and the hoo-ha is just a disgrace. This is just political grandstanding. We are standing here with a series of bills and a policy that are going to make a fundamental difference to housing in this country, and that is something we should all get behind.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
8 speakers · 8 oppose
“So I say to the Labor Party: don't move this bill—this bill is silly and you have to change your mind. This is not the way forward.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“I rise to speak on the Housing Australia Future Fund Bill 2023 and related bills. The coalition does not support these bills, and not for the reasons Senator Sheldon just outlined. We support social housing. We want to see more social housing. We want to see the federal and state governments do more to address this issue. We just don't believe that this fund is the way to deliver it. I dare say that it won't deliver the ambitious targets they are saying it will deliver.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“Australians need a policy that will deliver greater supply of land, remove the grit in the wheels, get rid of zoning laws and the gridlock of approvals and get down the cost of new homes, not more vanity funds that are in Labor's stable. So my coalition colleagues and I will oppose this irresponsible and poorly thought out bill that will cost Australians billions more while not guaranteeing even a single new house for one Australian family.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“I think it is a very disappointing outcome and will be voting against this bill.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“For these, and for many other reasons, the coalition will not support the establishment of the Housing Australia Future Fund. It's a hoax, it's a fraud and it's most likely going to be the biggest slush fund that Labor have managed to get for themselves.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“What has happened is a joke. This will cause some good, I grant you that, but not for some time. Don't sell it as an answer to everything, because really it's an answer to very little.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“This bill is about playing accounting tricks with the budget while dodging the responsibility of actually getting houses built. Once again they are taking billions of dollars off budget not because taking it off budget helps in any way to build more houses but because it assists the government in obscuring the real truth of their own budget position.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“Before making my contribution, I just want to respond to a few of the points raised by Senator Walsh. In particular, we're not voting against the Housing Australia Future Fund Bill because of fear, Senator Walsh. We're voting against this bill because it is bad policy. I'll talk about why in a moment, but let me make that very clear.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
5 speakers · 5 support
“What we've really shown is that pressure works. We have secured an additional $3 billion for social and affordable homes, building thousands of homes for low-income renters, and we will now allow the HAFF to pass through the Senate this sitting week.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“We're going to support the passage of these bills this week, but we are putting the government on notice. The Greens absolutely are now turning our attention to fighting for the rights of renters—renters who have been left behind by these bills. That fight has just begun.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“Today, as we vote through this bill, having secured an extra $3 billion in upfront funding and having guaranteed at least $500 million every year going forward, taking the gamble on the stock market out of this bill, it proves that that political analysis of holding Labor to account and doing it with millions of Australians on your side actually works.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“We are here, unashamedly, as the party of renters. We hear their concerns and we are here to give voice to and act on their concerns. We're proud to have delivered what we have through standing up and demanding that Labor be better: an extra $3 billion available immediately to build public and affordable homes in Australia, and turning a $500 million annual disbursement from a maximum to a minimum. But the job isn't over yet, and there's a long, long way to go before renters have real justice in Australia.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
“The proposals before us—the HAFF and the $3 billion on the table, resulting from pressure from the Greens—are not enough, but they are an important advance on what we had nine months ago.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
1 speaker · 1 oppose
“These bills do not address the cause of the national housing and rental crisis and, in terms of increasing housing supply, they are worthless. One Nation will not support this legislation.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
1 speaker · 1 support
“I'm grateful to the boffins at the Grattan Institute who came up with this idea. I'm grateful to Labor for endorsing it as part of their election campaign. I'm grateful to the Greens for finally backing it. It's not where I would have started. But, for where we've ended up, I'm over the moon. This will mean so much for those who need it. I won't delay it a minute longer.”Read the full speech in Hansard ↗
Record
House · Introduced and read a first time
Introduced
The bill was formally presented to the House as the second version of the Housing Australia Future FundThe proposed $10 billion fund at the centre of the bill, set up to earn returns that would help pay for housing projects. bill package.
House · Second reading moved
Second reading opened
A minister moved the second reading, opening debate on the bill's purpose and principles.
Senate · Passed with amendments and requests
Senate amended package
The Senate passed the housing package with amendments and requests for the House of Representatives.
House · House made requested amendments
House amended bill
The House made amendments requested by the Senate so the package could proceed.
Senate · Third reading agreed
Passed Senate
The Senate read the original package a third time.
Commonwealth · Royal Assent
Became law
The bill received Royal Assent as the Housing Australia Future FundThe proposed $10 billion fund at the centre of the bill, set up to earn returns that would help pay for housing projects. Act 2023.
Senate Economics Legislation Committee; Committee report (24/10/2023)
Referred to committee
Referred to Committee (10 Aug 2023): Senate Economics Legislation Committee; Committee report (24 Oct 2023)
APH bill page notes
