Australia spends billions of dollars more on tax breaks for property investors than on social housing, homelessness and rent assistance combined, according to research by the Australian Council of Social Service. Source: The Guardian.
The analysis comes as new data from the Productivity Commission reveals the share of homes dedicated to social housing has dropped to a record low 3.6 per cent, from 5.7 per cent in the 1990s.
The collapse in accessible homes for low-income families coincides with an affordability crisis that has seen rents soar, waitlists for social housing blow out and rising homelessness.
A week after the OECD called on the Albanese Government to boost its investment in social housing, research by ACOSS reveals that tax concessions for landlords cost $12.3 billion in 2025.
In contrast, total expenditure on the key housing assistance programs totalled $9.6 billion.
As richer and older Australians enjoy the lion’s share of generous tax concessions for landlords, the number of households on public housing waitlists has climbed to about 190,000, up from 169,000 in 2024, and 141,000 in 2018.
Jacqueline Phillips, ACOSS’s acting chief executive, said the report “shows housing stress and homelessness are getting worse while absurdly generous tax breaks drive up home prices and supercharge inequality in our society”.
Ms Phillips urged the Albanese Government to curb capital gains tax concessions and negative gearing, and redirect the billions of dollars into achieving a more ambitious social housing target.
Despite being one of the richest countries in the world, the 3.6 per cent share of homes dedicated to social housing is only about half the OECD average.
Fewer than 2 per cent of homes being built now are for social housing, down from 15 per cent in the 1970s, and 22 per cent in the 1950s.
The ACOSS analysis of the Productivity Commission data also showed the proportion of households in “greatest need” on social housing waitlists – people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness – has jumped from 26 per cent to 41 per cent of the public housing waitlist over the past decade.
Persistent homelessness, which refers to those who are homeless for more than seven months in a two-year period, has climbed from 22 per cent in 2019, to 27 per cent in 2025, the Productivity Commission data showed.
FULL STORY
Australia spends more on tax breaks for landlords than social housing, homelessness and rent assistance combined (By Patrick Commins and Cait Kelly, The Guardian)
