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2024
THE PARLIAMENT OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Housing Legislation Amendment (Fair Share for Regional Housing) Bill 2024
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
and
STATEMENT OF COMPATIBILITY WITH HUMAN RIGHTS
Circulated by authority of
Dr Helen Haines MP Member for Indi
1
Housing Legislation Amendment (Fair Share for Regional Housing) Bill 2024
GLOSSARY
The following abbreviations and acronyms are used throughout this explanatory
memorandum.
Abbreviation Definition
Bill Housing Legislation Amendment (Fair Share
for Regional Housing) Bill 2024
Minister Minister for Housing and Homelessness
Housing Australia Act Housing Australia Act 2018
HAFF Act Housing Australia Future Fund Act 2023
The Board The Housing Australia Board
OUTLINE
The Housing Legislation Amendment (Fair Share for Regional Housing) Bill 2024 (the Bill)
amends the Housing Australia Act 2018 (the Housing Australia Act) and the Housing
Australia Future Fund Act 2023 (the HAFF Act) to ensure that financial assistance
provided by Housing Australia, including through the Housing Australia Future Fund (the
HAFF), can specifically and equitably distribute housing funding to regional, rural and
remote Australia. It also ensures that Housing Australia, including through the HAFF,
provides greater assistance for local governments and government-owned utility providers
to access funds for critical enabling infrastructure, which is necessary to unlock housing
supply in regional Australia.
Housing Australia is a Corporate Commonwealth Government entity which was formed in
2018 (as the National Housing Finance Investment Corporation) to improve housing
outcomes for Australia. On 12 October 2023, the National Housing Finance and
Investment Corporation (NHFIC) was renamed Housing Australia. It is governed by an
independent Board that is responsible for decision-making to ensure effective performance
of Housing Australia's functions. Some of Housing Australia's functions are set out in the
Housing Australia Act. Functions relating to the HAFF are set out in the HAFF Act. Other
functions are set out in the Housing Australia Investment Mandate Direction 2018, issued
by the Minister. This may include strategies and policies which the Board must observe,
decision-making criteria, and risk and return on investments and grants.
One of Housing Australia's key functions is to make loans and investments and issue
grants through to improve housing supply, which includes funding new or upgraded
enabling infrastructure like sewerage, water, electricity, transportation and roads.
Since its inception in 2018, Housing Australia (previously the NHFIC) has fallen short of
achieving its aims of improving housing supply in Australia, and especially in regional, rural
and remote areas.
A 2021 Statutory Review into the Act consistently heard that 'the NHIF has been difficult to
access and was poorly understood.1 Stakeholders pointed to a range of reasons for this,
1
https://treasury.gov.au/publication/p2021-217760
2
ranging from: a general lack of understanding as to what projects and proponents qualify
for NHIF financing; eligibility criteria that set a very high bar for approval ... and a
complicated and lengthy application process'.
Housing Australia also appears to have failed to deliver an equitable distribution of funding
to regional Australia. The most recent Annual Report indicates that most projects funded in
2023-2024 and in previous financial years were in metropolitan areas.
The passage of the HAFF Act in 2023 represents a significant new phase in the
Commonwealth's attempts to encourage additional housing supply. It is unclear whether
the HAFF, and Housing Australia, will achieve housing targets such as those specified in
the National Housing Accord signed between the Commonwealth and State and Territory
Governments.2
In regional Australia, local governments are one of the key providers for enabling
infrastructure like sewerage and drainage. But with small rate payer bases, they don't have
the funds to build the infrastructure that attracts private investments. State or Territory
government-owned utility providers, like water corporations, also struggle to fund these
projects.
This Bill amends the Housing Australia Act to ensure some of its functions are directed
towards addressing housing supply in regional, rural and remote Australia. It does so by:
1. Adding local governing bodies and government-owned utilities providers as entities
whose housing activities should be supported by Housing Australia.
2. Requiring the Minister to scrutinise what action needs to be taken so that Housing
Australia distributes at least 30%3 of its funds each year to projects in regional, rural
and remote Australia.
3. Requiring the Minister to table in the Parliament an Annual Report on how it has
complied with this requirement, or why it has not done so.
4. Requiring Housing Australia Annual Reports to address how each kind of financial
support provided in that period was distributed, including setting out the portion of
that amount distributed to each State and Territory, to each local governing body, to
each government-owned utility provider, and to each area of regional, rural and
remote Australia.
This Bill also amends the HAFF Act to ensure its functions are directed towards addressing
housing supply in regional, rural and remote Australia. It does so by:
1. Adding people in regional, rural and remote Australia as a group whose housing
needs must be addressed by the HAFF.
2. Clarifying that funding for critical enabling infrastructure for social and affordable
housing is a purpose of the HAFF Act.
3. Clarifying that references to affordable housing in the HAFF Act includes affordable
rental housing and critical enabling infrastructure.
2
https://treasury.gov.au/policy-topics/housing/accord
3This figure is based on the distribution of Australia's population, with 27.8% of the population living in regional, rural and remote
areas as per ABS data: Estimated resident population, Remoteness Areas, Australia
https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/regional-population/latest-release.
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4. Clarifying that Housing Australia may provide grants to local governing bodies.
5. Adding housing needs in regional, rural and remote Australia as a purpose in relation
to which the HAFF can provide grants of financial assistance.
6. Adding critical enabling infrastructure needs as a purpose in relation to which the
HAFF can provide grants of financial assistance.
7. Requiring the Minister or Housing Australia to specify if financial support provided
through the HAFF was for meeting housing needs in regional, rural and remote
Australia.
8. Requiring the statutory review of the HAFF to consider the housing needs in
regional, rural and remote Australia, and to what extent the HAFF has met the
housing needs of regional, rural and remote Australia.
RATIONALE
Australia is experiencing a housing supply and affordability crisis, and regional, rural and
remote areas are not immune. Rental vacancy rates are extremely low - often below 1 per
cent - while mortgage repayments comprise a significant proportion of household income.
Most essential workers in regional areas are experiencing housing stress, meaning they
spend more than 30% of their income on housing (rent or mortgage repayments). Across
most of regional Australia, homelessness rates have increased drastically. Yet, despite
these concerning statistics, new home approvals and completions continue to flatline to
decade-long lows. The gap between incomes and house prices is as high as it has ever
been,4 and many young Australians feel that home ownership is out of reach.
According to experts, to address this crisis rural Victoria will need approximately 87,400
new dwellings over the next 15 years. It is clear the problem in regional, rural and remote
Australia is one of housing supply, not just affordability.
Yet, in regional communities, we simply do not have the enabling infrastructure to build the
homes that we need. Local governments and utility providers are struggling to self-fund
critical infrastructure like sewerage and drainage, which is required to enable increased
housing supply.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The bill will have no financial impact.
NOTES ON CLAUSES
Clause 1 - Short Title
1. This clause specifies that the Act may, once enacted, be cited as the Fair Share For
Regional Housing Act 2024.
Clause 2 - Commencement
4
https://australiainstitute.org.au/post/housing-affordability-is-so-bad-that-2020-now-looks-good/
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2. This clause provides for the commencement of Schedule 1 the Act on the day the Act
receives Royal Assent.
Clause 3 - Schedules
3. This clause specifies that this Act involves amendments to existing legislation. This
Act includes Schedule 1 which makes amendments to the Housing Australia Act 2018
and the Housing Australia Future Fund Act 2023.
Schedule 1 - Amendments
Amendments to Housing Australia Act 2018
Item 1 - Objects of the Act
4. Subsection 3(c) of the Act states that an object of the Act is to establish Housing
Australia to improve housing outcomes for Australians by providing finance, grants or
investments that complement, leverage or support Commonwealth, State or Territory
activities in relation to housing.
5. Item 1 adds that an object of the Act is for Housing Australia to improve housing
outcomes for Australians by providing finance, grants or investments that
complement, leverage or support activities of local governing bodies and government-
owned utilities providers relating to housing, in addition to Commonwealth, State or
Territory activities.
6. This adds local government as a level of government whose activities should be
complemented, leveraged or supported by Housing Australia. This reflects that local
government are an indispensable actor in addressing acute housing needs in
Australia, including in regional, rural and remote Australia.
7. A government-owned utility provider includes, for example, statutory corporations that
provide water and sewage services to towns and are often overseen by State or
Territory Government Departments.
Item 2 - Definitions
8. Section 5 of the Act defines a number of terms used through the Act.
9. Item 2 inserts four additional definitions to the Act.
10. It defines government-owned utility providers as a utility provider that is owned by a
State or Territory, and, if owned by a State - either forms part of the State or is a
corporation to which paragraph 51(xx) of the Constitution applies.
11. Item 2 also inserts a definition for 'critical enabling infrastructure'. The definition is:
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(a) infrastructure critical to support the new housing, including new or upgraded
infrastructure for services such as water, sewerage, electricity,
telecommunications or transportation; or
(b) site remediation works relating to the new housing, including the removal of
hazardous waste or contaminated material.
12. Transportation can include assets such as gutters, kerbs, footpaths and roads.
13. Item 2 also inserts a definition of local governing body, which has the same meaning
as in the Local Government (Financial Assistance) Act 1995.
14. Item 2 also inserts a definition of regional, rural or remote Australia. The definition is:
an area that is classified as inner regional Australia, outer regional Australia, remote
Australia or very remote Australia under the Remoteness Structure described in:
(a) the document titled "Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS): Volume
5--Remoteness Structure, July 2016", published by the Australian Bureau of
Statistics, as amended from time to time; or
(b) the most recent replacement of the document referred to in paragraph (a) that is
published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, as amended from time to time.
Item 3 - Functions of Housing Australia
15. Item 3 inserts a requirement that the Minister must scrutinise the action that needs to
be taken to ensure that, in each financial year, regional, rural and remote Australia
receives at least 30% of the total value of the support that Housing Australia provides
under the Act in that financial year.
16. This item operates as a safeguard to ensure that Housing Australia provides equitable
and ongoing support to regional, rural and remote Australia.
17. The 30% figure is based on the distribution of Australia's population, with 27.8% of
the population living in regional, rural and remote areas as per ABS data: Estimated
resident population, Remoteness Areas, Australia.
18. The Minister must report on this (see amended section 56A (item 5)).
19. In determining what 'actions' the Minister identifies, this clause defines 'action' to
include amending the Act, an instrument under the Act or any other law.
20. In determining what 'support' Housing Australia provides, this clause defines 'support'
to include loans, investments, grants and guarantees; financial assistance to States
and Territories; financial assistance to local governing bodies through grants of
financial assistance to States and Territories; and financial assistance to government-
owned utility providers through grants of financial assistance to States and Territories.
Item 4 - Matters to be included in Annual Reports
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21. Section 56 requires the preparation of an Annual Report by the Board to be given to
the Minister, in accordance with section 46 of the Public Governance, Performance
and Accountability Act 2013, which must include several matters.
22. Item 4 inserts an additional requirement for the Board to include in the Annual Reports
how each kind of financial support - including financial support provided through the
HAFF- was distributed, including setting out the portion of that amount distributed to
each State and Territory, to each local governing body, to each government-owned
utility provider and to each area of regional, rural and remote Australia.
23. This improves the transparency of Housing Australia's operations, including how
much of the funding it distributes - including funding delivered through the HAFF -
goes to regional, rural and remote Australia.
Item 5 - Reports about action to ensure that regional, rural and remote Australia
receives appropriation ongoing support
24. Item 5 inserts new section 56A, that the Minister must cause a copy of each update
described in subsection 8(4) to be tabled in each House of Parliament within 15 sitting
days of that House after the update is given to the Minister.
25. This item also inserts new section 56A which requires the Minister to prepare a report
on:
a) what they have done, or plan to do, to ensure the result mentioned in subsection
8(4) (see item 1 - that the Minister must scrutinise the action that needs to be taken
to ensure that, in each financial year, regional, rural and remote Australia receives
at least 30% of the total value of the support that Housing Australia provides under
the Act in that financial year); and
b) if the Minister has not done, and does not plan to do, anything to fulfil subsection
8(4) - the Minister's reasons for this.
26. This item requires the Minister to cause a copy of the report to be tabled in each
House of Parliament within 15 sitting days of that House after the update is given to
the Minister.
27. New section 56A increases the frequency of the Board's reports to the Minister, and
requires the Minister to table them in Parliament, to improve transparency and allow
the Parliament and public to regularly assess the impact of Housing Australia.
28. It also improves provides accountability and transparency for the Minister's actions
under new subsection 8(4).
Amendments to Housing Australia Future Fund Act 2023
Item 6 - Purposes of the Act
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29. Section 2A of the Act outlines the purposes for which the HAFF provides a funding
mechanism. This includes financial support to address acute housing needs for
various groups.
30. Item 6 adds an additional group whose acute housing needs should be addressed by
HAFF financial support.
31. The group is:
a) People in regional, rural and remote Australia
32. This item ensures that the housing needs of regional, rural and remote Australia are
expressly considered by the Minister and Housing Australia when financial assistance
is provided under the Housing Australia Future Fund.
Item 7 - Purposes of the Housing Australia Future Fund
33. Section 2A of the Act outlines the purposes for which the HAFF provides a funding
mechanism. This includes financial support to enable support to be provided to
increase the availability of social housing and affordable housing.
34. Item 7 specifies that support for social and affordable housing includes critical
enabling infrastructure for new social and affordable housing in regional, rural and
remote Australia.
Item 8 - Definitions
35. Section 4 of the Act defines a number of terms used through the Act.
36. Item 8 inserts a definition for 'critical enabling infrastructure'.
37. The definition is:
(a) infrastructure critical to support the new housing, including new or upgraded
infrastructure for services such as water, sewerage, electricity, or transportation;
or
(b) site remediation works relating to the new housing, including the removal of
hazardous waste or contaminated material
38. This item also inserts a definition of regional, rural or remote Australia. The definition
means either inner regional Australia, outer regional Australia, remote Australia or
very remote Australia, as defined in the document titled "Australian Statistical
Geography Standard (ASGS): Volume 5--Remoteness Structure, July 2016",
published by the Australian Statistician, as amended from time to time.
Item 9 - Definitions
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39. Item 9 inserts a new Section 4A that inserts a clarifying definition into the Bill for
'References to Affordable Housing'.
40. The definition is:
a) To avoid doubt, a reference in this Act to affordable housing includes a reference
to: (a) affordable rental housing; and (b) critical enabling infrastructure
41. The purposes of this is to clarify that funding for affordable housing includes the
critical enabling infrastructure required to support the development of new affordable
housing.
42. This item also inserts a clarifying definition into the Bill for 'References to Affordable
Housing'.
43. The definition is:
a) To avoid doubt, a reference in this Act to social housing includes a reference to
critical enabling infrastructure for new social housing in regional, rural and remote
Australia.
Item 10 - Omission of Note
44. Item 10 omits a note from subsection 18(1) and replaces it with Note 1. The content of
the note remains unchanged.
45. The purpose is to enable the inclusion of an additional note as described in Item 9.
Item 11 - Addition of Note
46. Item 11 adds a note to subsection 18(1) of the Bill.
47. The note clarifies that reference in this subsection to a person includes a reference to
a body politic (see subsection 2C(1) of the Acts Interpretation Act 1901) which means
that a grant may be made to a local government body.
48. This item makes it clearer in the Act that the HAFF may prove grants to local
governing bodies.
49. This removes the need for the HAFF to provide grants via a State or territory
Government, which can incur additional costs and cause additional regulatory burden
and delays for local governments.
Item 12 - Purposes for which grants of financial assistance may be made
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50. Item 12 adds two new purposes for which grants of financial assistance may be made
under section 18 of the HAFF Act.
51. The first additional purpose is inserted at subsection 18(3)(d). The purpose is:
a) housing needs in regional, rural and remote Australia.
52. The second additional purpose is inserted at subsection 18(3)(e). The purpose is:
a) enabling infrastructure for housing mentioned in paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d).
53. This item makes it clear the HAFF can provide grants or other financial assistance for
the purpose of regional housing or critical enabling infrastructure. This would facilitate
the design of grant or other programs that target new construction of enabling
infrastructure, or to support new housing in regional, rural and remote Australia.
Item 13 - Publication of Information Relating to Grants
54. Section 24 of the HAFF Act states that the Minister must cause certain information to
be published on the website of the Department, or an Executive Agency, administered
by the designated Minister.
55. Paragraph 24(1)(d) states that for each section 18 grant made by the designated
Minister on behalf of the Commonwealth to a person or body, the Minister must cause
the name of the person or body, and the purpose of the grant, to be published.
56. Item 13 inserts a third type of information that must be published in relation to each
section 18 grant made by the designated Minister on behalf of the Commonwealth to
a person or body.
57. The third type of information is:
a) How much of the grant was for meeting housing needs in regional, rural and
remote Australia
58. This will increase transparency and visibility of how the HAFF is supporting housing
needs in regional, rural and remote Australia.
Item 14 - Reviews of the operation of Act
59. Section 65 of the Act states that the Minister must cause reviews of the operation of
the HAFF Act to be conducted.
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60. Subparagraph 65(2)(b) states that the review must consider the extent to which the
operation of the HAFF is meeting the needs of Australians in relation to certain
factors, including acute housing needs, social housing, and affordable housing.
61. Item 14 inserts an additional factor in relation to which the operation of the HAFF is
meeting the needs of Australians. The additional factor is:
a) housing needs in regional, rural and remote Australia.
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STATEMENT OF COMPATIBILITY WITH HUMAN RIGHTS
Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011
Housing Legislation Amendment (Fair Share for Regional Housing) Bill 2024
This bill is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the
international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny)
Act 2011.
Overview of the bill
This Bill amends the Housing Australia Act 2018 (the Housing Australia Act) and the
Housing Australia Future Fund Act 2023 (the HAFF Act) to ensure that Housing Australia
can specifically and equitably distribute housing funding and support to regional, rural and
remote Australia. By doing so, it aims to increase housing supply in regional, rural and
remote areas of Australia.
Human rights implications
This Bill engages the right to an adequate standard of living, including adequate food,
clothing and housing, and to the continuous improvement of living conditions, recognised
in Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
(ICESC).
The right to an adequate standard of living is also contained in:
• Article 5(e)(iii) of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial
Discrimination (CERD), which states the right to housing without distinction as to
race, colour, or national or ethnic original, to equality before the law;
• Article 14(2)(h) of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women, which states the right of women in rural areas to enjoy adequate
living conditions, particularly in relation to housing, sanitation, electricity and water
supply, and transport and communications;
• Articles 27 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which recognises the right
of every child to a standard of living adequate for the child's physical, mental,
spiritual, moral and social development. The Article also states that State Parties
should take appropriate measures to assist parents and others responsible for the
child to implement this right and shall in case of need provide material assistance
and support programmes, particularly with regard to nutrition, clothing and housing;
and
• Article 28 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which
recognises the right of persons with disabilities to an adequate standard of living for
themselves and their families, including adequate food, clothing and housing, and to
the continuous improvement of living conditions. This Article states that States
Parties should promote the realisation of this right by ensuring access to persons
with disabilities to public housing programmes.
The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (the Committee)
has stated that the 'right to adequate housing, which is thus derived from the right to an
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adequate standard of living, is of central importance for the enjoyment of all economic,
social and cultural rights.' The Committee has highlighted the importance of housing
affordability, and supply, as part of this right: 'Personal or household financial costs
associated with housing should be at such a level that the attainment and satisfaction of
other basic needs are not threatened or compromised ... States parties should establish
housing subsidies for those unable to obtain affordable housing, as well as forms and
levels of housing finance which adequately reflect housing needs.'
As such, this Bill positively engages the right to an adequate standard of living by ensuring
that Housing Australia distributes funding, including through the HAFF, in a way that
increases and accelerates the supply of housing in regional, rural and remote Australia.
Conclusion
This bill is compatible with human rights because it promotes the protection of human
rights through positively engaging the right to an adequate standard of living.
Dr Helen Haines MP Member for Indi
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