Julie Collins (Franklin, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Small Business) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the amendments be agreed to.

The Senate committee inquiry into the Housing Australia Future Fund Bill 2023 heard stakeholders ask the Australian government to consider changes to the annual cap on disbursements from the Housing Australia Future Fund. The government has agreed to amend the Housing Australia Future Fund Bill to provide the $500 million will be dispersed annually from the Housing Australia Future Fund from 2024-25 onwards.

We have listened to feedback also in relation to the recommended amount to be dispersed from the Housing Australia Future Fund be indexed from 2029-30. The government has therefore agreed to amend the Housing Australia Future Fund Bill to protect the real purchasing power of disbursements from the Housing Australia Future Fund by indexing the fixed disbursement amount in line with the consumer price index every year from 2029-30 onwards. From 2024-25, the transfer requests related to the Housing Australia Future Fund will be tallied on 1 June each financial year. The difference between this amount and the fixed disbursement amount of $500 million, or the indexed amount from 2029-30, will be transferred to Housing Australia prior to the end of the financial year. These funds must be spent on social and affordable housing or acute housing needs. Transferring a fixed amount of $500 million per year, or the indexed amount from 2029-30, from the Housing Australia Future Fund provides further legislative certainty that long-term commitments will be met, regardless of the earnings generated from the investments of the fund.

Applying indexation from 2029-30 will help deliver improved housing outcomes over the long term, as it will ensure that the Housing Australia Future Fund payments do keep pace with inflation. This supports the government entering into long-term contracts with housing providers to deliver on the government's commitment of 30,000 new social and affordable homes in the fund's first five years. The government will monitor the fund's balance and trajectory to ensure it remains well placed to provide meaningful and sustainable disbursements over the long term. This will occur as part of the annual budget cycle when considering proposals to access disbursements from the fund and as part of the statutory review process.

The government is also introducing amendments to provide the flexibility for the Minister for Finance and the Treasurer, as the responsible ministers, to increase the fixed $500 million disbursement amount in the future by making a determination via a disallowable legislative instrument. This would allow the government to increase the annual disbursement amount in response to investment, market or policy considerations, including if a decision was taken to make additional credits into the fund into the future, as permitted by the bill. The amendment will also provide the flexibility for the determination to provide for the indexation of the designated annual amount in future years.

Prior to issuing a determination, the responsible ministers will be required to consult the future fund board of guardians on a draft determination that proposes an increase to the disbursement amount. This will allow the board to consider whether any proposed increase will impact the board's ability to continue to comply with its obligations under the Housing Australia Future Fund Act 2023 and the Housing Australia Future Fund investment mandate. The responsible ministers must take this advice into account when making the determination to adjust the disbursement, and the board's advice will be tabled in parliament alongside the disbursement. The ability to update the disbursement limit by legislative instrument is similar to the framework in place for the Disaster Ready Fund. I thank the crossbench members for their engagement on this amendment, particularly those in the Senate.

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