Inquiry into the National Housing and Homelessness Plan Bill 2024 (No. 2)

The Commission supports the principles in the Bill. The measures proposed drive the progressive realisation of the human right to adequate housing, and approaches such as the formalisation of a pathway to creation of a National Housing and Homelessness Plan (Part 2 of the Bill) (Plan) contribute to the establishment of meaningful benchmarks by which housing policy and delivery can be measured. Creating a National Housing Consumer Council and National Housing and Homelessness Advocate within Housing Australia will complement the existing National Housing Supply and Affordability Council.

The Bill represents a real opportunity to generate impactful change for Australians. The Commission’s submission proposes amendments that remain within the spirit of the current drafting of the Bill:

1. A clear definition of ‘adequacy of housing’ that is aligned to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and United Nations guidance and commentary should be provided. 
2. The Plan should explicitly address the full Housing Continuum, involve the right voices in its development and implementation and be assessed against human rights standards to identify and acknowledge the progressive realisation of the right to adequate housing. 
3. The Council needs to be reoriented to consider housing impacts across the Housing Continuum, all elements of adequacy, and from an intersectional perspective. 
4. The Plan should also adopt key principles of proportionality, non-regression of rights and intersectionality of needs. This will ensure that the initiatives reflect what is achievable and to aspire to ensure that nobody in Australia suffers any erosion to their housing status.

At its core, the Commission commends the systematic approach applied in this Bill to the right to adequate housing: enabling everyone in Australia to access housing that meets their basic needs and preferences, including minimum standards in security of tenure, affordability, habitability, accessibility, location, access to core services and infrastructure and cultural adequacy. The housing system should enable the empowerment and participation of all people and communities in the decision-making and management of their housing.

Key recommendations 

1. That the recommendations of the Commission’s Free & Equal project and the PJCHR inquiry into Australia’s Human Rights Framework be implemented to provide effective federal protection of all human rights, including the right to adequate housing. 
2. That the Bill should be passed with the amendments set out in this submission. 
3. That Section 3 of the Bill be amended to refer to the ‘Housing Continuum’ to provide a clear framework for discussing the progressive realisation of the human right to adequate housing. 
4. That a definition of ‘adequate housing’ be included in Section 5 of the Bill. 
5. That Section 3 of the Bill be amended to refer to the ‘person’, acknowledging that adequacy can only be understood in the context of what the individual needs. 
6. That the legislation include a duty upon Housing Australia and the Advocate to take steps towards the realisation of the right to adequate housing. 
7. That Section 3 of the Bill be amended to recognise the human rights principles of proportionality and non-regression in the development and implementation of all housing policies. 
8. That Sections 8 and 9 of the Bill articulate the roles and responsibilities of all levels of government in developing, implementing and reporting on the Plan. 
9. That the Bill be amended to ensure that the Plan better reflect the principles of a rights-based strategy that facilitates the progressive realisation of the right to adequate housing. 
10. That the Bill be amended to explicitly recognise compounding forms of disadvantage and require the development of the Plan to take this into account. 
11. That training on human rights and guidance on a human rights-based approach to housing accompany the Bill and National Plan. 
12. That the name of the Council is amended to the National Housing Impacts Advisory Group to better reflect its function and the nature of resident-focused advice required to progressively realise the right to adequate housing. 
13. That membership of the Council include representatives of other priority groups including older persons and people with lived experience of domestic and family violence, and from a range of social service sectors including domestic and family violence, to reflect the voices of those who provide services to vulnerable populations.
14. Further thought be given to how Indigenous self-determination in housing could be facilitated by this Bill, in consultation with Indigenous peoples across Australia. 
15. That a National Housing Indicator Index be developed by the Advocate to track the progressive realisation of adequate housing.

More on the submission

Download the submission (PDF) (380.1 KB)