Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Finance and the Minister representing the Treasurer, Senator Gallagher. Today new homelessness data has been released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics which shows that over 122,000 people were homeless on census night. Can the minister outline the practical measures the Albanese Labor government is taking to address cost-of-living pressures for people, particularly those experiencing housing stress or homelessness?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Walsh for her question. The Albanese government wants every Australian to have the security of having a roof over their head. We know that too many Australians are being hit by growing rents and too many Australians are struggling to buy a home. It's unacceptable that it's getting more and more expensive to have a safe and secure home. Sadly as we found out today, as Senator Walsh alluded to in her question, far too many Australians are facing homelessness. As reported today, on census night nearly 123,000 Australians were homeless. This is unacceptable. We have also seen figures today that show in the five years to 2021 under the former government's watch the number of homeless people grew each night by 6,000.

This is why we need to improve access to affordable and safe homes for all Australians. We were elected with a plan to clean up the mess that was left behind and to help tackle the cost of accessing a home. Fundamental to our plan is increasing the supply of new housing. Australians do not have enough supply of new housing. The $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund will be the largest boost to social and affordable homes in a decade. The 30,000 homes the fund will deliver are one part of the Albanese government's ambitious housing agenda, which also includes broadening the National Housing Infrastructure Facility, the Housing Accord, the $1.6 billion National Housing and Homelessness Agreement, the interim National Housing Supply and Affordability Council, a new National Housing and Homelessness Plan, the Help to Buy Scheme and the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee. The government is going to continue to push and argue in this chamber to have the passage of that important piece of legislation so that we can put in place the fund that will provide an ongoing source of investment into the social and affordable housing sector.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Walsh, a first supplementary?

Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, how will the Albanese Labor government's Housing Australia Future Fund help to support people with acute housing needs?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Walsh. The Housing Australia Future Fund will provide regular and reliable capital funds to build new social and affordable homes across Australia in perpetuity. As we heard in the Senate hearing last week from experts, community housing providers, homelessness services and academics, this is urgently needed. National Shelter, the peak body that so many of us deal with on these matters, called it the most critical housing legislation to be brought forward for the past 10 years. In its first five years, this fund will be investing in building 20,000 social housing properties, with 4,000 properties for women and children fleeing domestic violence and for older women who are at risk of homelessness; $100 million for crisis and transitional housing for women and children; and $30 million to build more housing for veterans who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness. I hope that everyone in the Senate will consider these statistics when that legislation comes for a vote over this sitting fortnight.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Walsh, a second supplementary?

Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, why is it so important that the Housing Australia Future Fund is delivered?

Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Walsh for the question and for her interest in the issue of social and affordable housing in Australia. It's so important that this fund is delivered. It is the first fund of its kind which would provide an ongoing revenue stream into the social and affordable housing sector—the first time that we would have set something up via legislation to make investments. This is over and above the traditional areas of Commonwealth investment through our national partnerships with the states and territories, but it's in recognition that there is not enough supply, and there is not enough supply of housing going into the areas where it's needed the most—in First Nations communities, for women, for veterans and especially for single older women who have no retirement savings and who might be living on their own. This is the area where we need to make these investments. That is why this piece of legislation is so important, and that is why the opposition should change their position on this bill. (Time expired)