The right to a safe and affordable home is a basic human right. Without somewhere to live, everything else becomes secondary as people are forced to fight every day to meet their basic needs.

But successive colonial governments have allowed land stolen from First Peoples to be used to generate wealth for the few, rather than ensuring that all people have access to safe and affordable housing. This has led to where we are now – the worst housing and homelessness crisis in decades.

Federal, State and Territory governments across the country are failing in their responsibility to provide public and genuinely affordable housing that will reduce waiting lists and keep people safe.

This crisis cannot be separated from this country’s history of land theft, dispossession and exploitation, and First Peoples and low-income families are the hardest hit.

This is why I continue to call for:

• Proper urgent funding for homelessness services and crisis accommodation, including specialised services for First Peoples, young people and people escaping family and domestic violence. 
• Guaranteed spending every year on the construction and purchase of public and social housing. Government investment in housing should not come at the expense of selling off existing public housing stock and so-called ‘Crown land’.
• Significant investment in energy efficiency upgrades for public and social housing and low-income homes, prioritising First Nations homes and those with the greatest needs, to improve health, reduce energy bills and lower emissions.
• Meaningful action for renters, including rent controls, abolition of no-grounds evictions in every state and territory, stronger national tenancy standards, expanding tenancy support programs and expanding federal rental assistance schemes.
• Properly taxing mega-wealthy property investors and corporations who are profiting from the housing crisis. We need to fix negative gearing, the capital gains discount, tax vacant properties and increase taxes on corporations.
• Innovative schemes that provide flexible and affordable options, such as supporting the establishment of housing co-operatives and co-investment schemes for individuals, groups and community housing tenants.
• Improved regulation and taxation of short stay accommodation (like AirBnB), which drive up rents and contribute to low vacancy rates, particularly in regional areas.

First Peoples Housing

The current housing experience of First Peoples cannot be separated from historical experiences of dispossession, dislocation and exclusion. Deprived of our land, our lore and our customs, First Peoples have been made homeless by the colonial project on our own land for almost 250 years. 

We are currently ten times more likely to experience homelessness compared to other people in Australia. In Victoria, Aboriginal homelessness has grown by more than 40 per cent in the past five years.

This legacy of housing deprivation is a national shame. Our people should have homes on our own lands. We deserve a housing system that is culturally safe, trauma informed and based on the principles of self-determination. 

At a minimum, there needs to be co-decision making with First Peoples organisations in each state and territory, as well as targets to which governments can be held accountable.

So-called ‘Crown land’, which should be called Treaty land, is the unceded Sovereign land of First Peoples. This land must be part of any Treaty negotiations. Selling public land to private developers undermines any good faith Treaty negotiations and the principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent, as outlined in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Good-faith Treaties must provide land as well as opportunities for economic independence, self-governance and healing.

This is why I will continue to call for:

• A minimum of 10% of all new public and social housing supply to be allocated to First Peoples in urban, regional and remote areas, with a preference for this housing to be owned and maintained by First Peoples community-controlled housing organisations and individuals.
• Dedicated funding streams for upgrades and maintenance of housing in First Peoples communities, including energy efficiency and water infrastructure.
• The expansion of culturally safe tenancy support programs in every state and territory to address ongoing discrimination in the housing market and the high rates of eviction faced by First Peoples, including banning of no-grounds evictions.
• All governments must halt the sale of any so-called ‘Crown land’ until Treaties with First Peoples have been negotiated and finalised.
• Foreign ownership of First Nations land and disputed First Nations land must be banned.
• Reforms to regulations to allow First Peoples to build housing on their own land, including the removal of land caveats. First Peoples should also be exempt from land rates, water rates, and other taxes associated with the use or ownership of our own lands.
• A standalone National First Peoples Housing and Homelessness Plan, developed in partnership with First Peoples, that includes clear targets and a schedule of works to ensure proper accountability mechanisms.
• Investment in and genuine commitment to building the capacity of the First Nations community-controlled housing sector.

Last updated 01/04/2025