Restoring the Australian Dream of Home Ownership

Australia is facing an escalating housing crisis. Each year, home ownership becomes less attainable, with a growing number of Australians projected to spend their lives unable to purchase a home. Rising property prices, inadequate housing supply, and increasing investor demand have created a market that increasingly fails to serve ordinary Australian families.

Our National Housing Campaign is a large-scale, practical response to this crisis. Its objective is to dramatically increase housing supply, place downward pressure on housing prices, and restore home ownership as an achievable goal for working Australians.

Reopening Large-Scale National Housing Construction

The Commonwealth will establish a government-backed financing and construction programme to support a centrally coordinated expansion of Australia's housing construction capacity.

The program will target an approximately 20% increase in national housing construction, equivalent to around 20,000 additional homes per year, or approximately 160,000 additional homes over eight years.

This investment will extend beyond the construction of houses themselves. New communities require the infrastructure necessary to support them, including:

• Roads and transport infrastructure
• Water, sewerage and electricity infrastructure
• Schools and other community facilities
• Local government and administrative infrastructure
• Parks and recreational facilities
• Other essential services required to establish sustainable communities

The program will aim to achieve the targeted 20% increase within eight years, following the necessary workforce training, planning, procurement and other establishment periods. Once established, the program will continue on an ongoing basis, maintaining additional housing supply and helping keep housing costs under control well into the future.

The scale of this commitment reflects both the urgency of Australia's housing crisis and the scale of the response required. By substantially increasing construction while simultaneously expanding the infrastructure and workforce needed to support it, the program will establish the foundations for long-term housing affordability.

Building More Efficient, Higher-Density Communities

Increasing housing supply does not mean simply building more detached houses on increasingly expensive land. Australia must also build smarter, more compact communities that make better use of land, infrastructure and public services.

New suburbs developed through the National Housing Campaign will therefore incorporate a substantially greater proportion of medium- and high-density housing, with an indicative target of approximately 40% of new homes being medium- or high-density.

This will include a mix of townhouses, terraces, duplexes and apartments alongside conventional detached homes.

Density Without Sacrificing Space

Higher-density housing must not mean smaller homes or a lower standard of living.

The apartments and other higher-density homes constructed through this program will not be designed around cramped living spaces. The objective is to achieve greater density through more efficient use of land and building design—not by forcing Australian families to accept significantly smaller homes.

Where practical, apartments developed through the program will have floor areas comparable to the average newly constructed freestanding home, providing families with the same fundamental living space they would expect from a conventional house.

A family purchasing an apartment should not have to choose between affordability and adequate space.

Large living areas, functional kitchens, sufficient bedrooms, storage, natural light, balconies or other private outdoor areas, and appropriate communal spaces will remain important components of the design.

The difference is that these homes will use land vertically and collectively rather than requiring a large individual block for every household.

We should build up, not shrink down.

By placing homes in well-designed medium- and high-density developments, substantially more families can be accommodated on the same amount of land while maintaining generous and liveable homes.

Lowering the Cost of Housing

Higher-density development can significantly reduce the amount of land required to house a growing population.

Instead of providing a large individual block for every household, compact housing allows more Australians to live within established communities while reducing the amount of land that must be purchased, developed and serviced.

This creates an opportunity to reduce the land component of housing costs without reducing the size or quality of the homes themselves.

Higher-density housing will also create opportunities for modular, standardised and prefabricated construction. Repeated building designs and prefabricated components can be incorporated into large-scale developments, allowing construction methods to become faster, more efficient and less expensive over time.

The objective is not density for its own sake. It is to reduce the cost of providing full-sized, high-quality homes by using Australia's land and infrastructure more efficiently.

Reducing Infrastructure Costs

The cost of creating a new community extends far beyond the homes themselves.

Every new suburb requires roads, water, sewerage, electricity, telecommunications, schools, public transport, parks and other essential infrastructure. Low-density development spreads these costs across a larger geographical area and requires more infrastructure per household.

More compact communities allow infrastructure to serve more residents within a smaller area.

This can reduce the amount of road, utility and service infrastructure required per household while making public transport, schools, shops and community facilities more economically viable.

Higher-density housing will therefore be incorporated into the initial design of new communities rather than being treated as an afterthought.

Building Sustainable New Municipalities

New suburbs and communities must also be financially sustainable for the local governments responsible for operating them.

A municipality dominated by low-density housing can face a difficult long-term financial position: large distances must be serviced and maintained while the number of rate-paying properties remains comparatively low.

A more balanced housing mix can provide a stronger and more sustainable municipal revenue base.

Medium- and high-density housing allows a greater number of households and ratepayers to be supported within the same geographical area, while reducing the infrastructure footprint that councils must maintain.

New communities will therefore be designed with long-term municipal sustainability in mind, ensuring councils have an adequate revenue base to maintain roads, parks, community facilities and other local services without placing excessive financial burdens on residents or requiring perpetual external subsidies.

Designing Communities, Not Just Housing Estates

The National Housing Campaign will aim to create complete communities rather than simply collections of houses.

Higher-density housing will be planned alongside schools, parks, shops, public transport, employment opportunities and community facilities. Where appropriate, higher-density development will be concentrated around town centres, transport corridors and major community facilities.

This approach can create communities where more daily needs are accessible without requiring every household to rely on a private vehicle.

The result should be more homes without smaller homes; lower infrastructure costs without lower living standards; and communities that are cheaper to build and easier to maintain.

Retrofitting Existing Communities

The initial focus will be on newly established suburbs, where higher-density development and modern infrastructure can be incorporated from the beginning.

However, the long-term objective should not be limited to new development.

As the program matures, governments may explore opportunities to incrementally retrofit and densify suitable pre-existing urban areas.

This could include targeted redevelopment around transport hubs, town centres and major infrastructure; conversion or redevelopment of underutilised sites; and appropriate increases in medium-density housing where existing infrastructure can support additional residents.

Where higher-density development is introduced into existing areas, the same principle should apply: density should come from better use of land, not from compromising the size and liveability of individual homes.

Retrofitting would not mean indiscriminately replacing established neighbourhoods. Development would be targeted towards areas where additional housing can be accommodated while preserving established communities, green space and neighbourhood character.

Over time, this could allow existing cities and suburbs to accommodate more Australians without relying entirely on outward urban expansion.

A Long-Term Change in How Australia Builds

Australia's housing system has historically relied heavily on expanding outward and building predominantly detached homes on increasingly expensive land.

The National Housing Campaign will gradually introduce a different model: more efficient use of land, greater housing diversity, lower infrastructure costs and communities designed for long-term sustainability—without requiring Australians to accept smaller homes.

By targeting approximately 40% medium- and high-density housing in new suburbs, while retaining a substantial supply of detached and lower-density homes, Australia can provide greater housing choice while maintaining the space and quality of life Australians expect.

The principle is simple:

The ultimate goal is to build communities that are not only affordable to purchase, but also affordable to construct, service, maintain and live in for generations to come.

Investing in Australia's Construction Workforce

Housing cannot be built without skilled workers. Delivering this program will therefore require a major expansion of Australia's construction workforce.

Significant investment will be directed towards:

• Apprenticeships and traineeships
• Vocational education and trade training
• Construction workforce development
• Skills conversion and retraining programs
• Measures to address critical labour shortages

This investment will not only increase Australia's capacity to build homes, but also create productive, long-term employment opportunities across the country.

A national housing program must be supported by a national workforce capable of delivering it.

Prioritising Home Ownership

The primary objective of the program is simple:

One family, one home.

Homes constructed through this initiative will be prioritised for eligible owner-occupiers. Publicly supported housing construction should increase home ownership among Australian families—not provide another avenue for speculative investment.

Accordingly, homes constructed under the program will not be permitted to be:

1. Purchased as secondary or investment properties.
2. Purchased by for-profit corporations, institutional investors or private equity firms.
3. Acquired primarily for speculative investment purposes.

These restrictions will not apply to registered community housing providers, recognised housing organisations, disability housing providers, or other approved not-for-profit organisations.

These safeguards will ensure that public investment directly increases owner-occupancy while continuing to support Australians who depend on social, affordable or specialised housing.

Strengthening Social Housing

Not every Australian household is in a position to purchase a home. A comprehensive housing strategy must therefore also address Australia's shortage of social and affordable housing.

Eight per cent of all homes constructed through the program will remain permanently owned by the Commonwealth as part of Australia's social housing stock.

This will expand the supply of secure, long-term housing for Australians who need it most, helping reduce waiting lists, improve housing security and ensure that social housing capacity grows alongside the broader population.

Unlike housing sold into the private market, these properties will remain part of the national social housing portfolio permanently.

Affordable Pricing

The remaining homes will be sold to eligible owner-occupiers at 10% above their total construction cost.

This pricing model is intended to remain substantially below typical private-market margins while generating sufficient revenue to contribute towards the financing and ongoing costs associated with the program, including the expansion of the social housing portfolio.

The objective is not to maximise government profit.

The objective is to build affordable homes at scale while maintaining the long-term financial sustainability of the program.

By linking sale prices to construction costs rather than speculative market values, the program can provide eligible Australians with access to homes at significantly more affordable prices.

Funding the Program

The initial investment will be supported through a combination of new public revenue and improvements to government expenditure.

A major source of funding will be fair taxation of Australia's mining industry, ensuring that a greater share of the wealth generated from Australia's natural resources is reinvested in the Australian people.

The program will also be supported by reforms designed to reduce unnecessary government expenditure and administrative waste, including improvements to the efficiency and effectiveness of major government programs.

The principle is straightforward:

Australia's national wealth should be invested in Australia's future.

Rather than treating housing primarily as a source of government revenue, this initiative treats housing as essential national infrastructure.

A Revolving Government Financing Model

The Commonwealth will provide financing through a dedicated government lending facility, potentially including a renewed public banking role for the Commonwealth Bank or another appropriate government-backed financial institution.

As completed homes are sold to eligible owner-occupiers, the proceeds will return to the program. This will allow a substantial proportion of the initial public investment to be recovered and redeployed into future housing construction.

Interest rates on program financing will be independently determined by the administering authority, with the objective of maintaining borrowing costs as low as responsibly possible while protecting the long-term financial sustainability of the program.

This revolving financing model is designed to:

1. Recover a substantial proportion of the initial public investment.
2. Minimise the long-term burden on taxpayers.
3. Recycle recovered capital into future housing construction.
4. Maintain a continuing pipeline of affordable housing.
5. Ensure the program remains financially sustainable over the long term.

The aim is therefore not simply to fund a one-off construction boom, but to establish a permanent national mechanism for expanding housing supply.

Our Goal

Housing should be treated as a fundamental necessity—not simply as a financial asset.

Australia's housing crisis cannot be solved by demand-side measures alone. We need to build more homes, develop the workforce capable of constructing them, provide the infrastructure required for new communities, and ensure that public investment benefits Australians seeking a place to call home.

Our National Housing Campaign will:

• Dramatically increase housing supply.
• Build approximately 40% of new suburban housing as medium- and high-density homes.
• Deliver spacious, high-quality apartments and other higher-density homes without compromising living space.
• Expand Australia's construction workforce.
• Deliver new infrastructure alongside new communities.
• Reduce the land and infrastructure costs associated with new housing.
• Create financially sustainable new municipalities.
• Expand Australia's permanent social housing stock.
• Prioritise owner-occupiers over speculative investors.
• Make homes available at prices linked to construction costs rather than speculation.
• Establish opportunities for the gradual, targeted densification of suitable existing communities.
• Ensure Australia's natural resource wealth is invested back into Australians.
• Establish a revolving financing model capable of supporting construction for decades to come.

The goal is ambitious but straightforward:

To restore the Australian dream of home ownership and ensure that a secure, affordable and genuinely liveable home remains within reach of ordinary Australian families.

A home should be a place to live, raise a family and build a future—not an asset that becomes permanently out of reach for the next generation.