Chapter - Housing assistance (2023)

10.25 RECIPIENTS OF RENT ASSISTANCE, Average rent assistance and rent paid - 8 June 2007
		Individuals and families	Average rent assistance(a)	Average rent paid(b)
		no.	$ per fortnight	$ per fortnight
All recipients		943 718	87	326
Primary payment type(c)
	Parenting Payment (single)	180 615	100	383
	Disability Support Pension	183 638	88	279
	Age Pension	176 476	80	272
	Newstart Allowance	156 044	84	289
	Family Tax Benefit Part A	109 843	87	480
	Youth Allowance	73 682	71	241
	Parenting Payment (partnered)	30 799	114	449
	Other	32 621	86	301
Income unit type
	Single - no dependent children	482 547	80	251
	Couple - no dependent children	82 048	82	343
	Single - 1 or 2 dependent children	185 871	96	380
	Single - 3 or more dependent children	36 501	112	422
	Couple - 1 or 2 dependent children	106 530	93	457
	Couple - 3 or more dependent children	47 394	108	479
	Couple - temporarily separated	2 827	102	356
(a) Average Rent Assistance is taken to be 14 times the daily entitlement to Rent Assistance for 8 June 2007.
(b) Average rent is the average rent taken into account in working out entitlements for 8 June 2007.
(c) One member of a couple is treated as the reference person for the income unit, based on the type of payment they receive. The general order of priority is Pensions, Allowances, Family Tax Benefit. An income unit will be reported as receiving Parenting Payment (Partnered) only if neither member of the couple receives another social security payment. They will only be reported as receiving FTB Part A if neither receives a social security payment.
Source: Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.

Housing supply

Commonwealth State Housing Agreement (CSHA)

The CSHA is an agreement made between the Australian Government and state and territory governments under the Housing Assistance Act 1996 (Cwlth) to provide appropriate, affordable and secure housing assistance for those who most need it, for the duration of their need.

The current CSHA operates from July 2003 to June 2008. Its objectives include improving access to mainstream housing options for Indigenous people in urban and regional centres; supporting community development and the renewal of public housing estates; supporting wider government outcomes in health, education and labour market reform; and stimulating private sector investment in the supply of low cost housing.

The CSHA sets out the terms for the provision of housing assistance for rental housing, home purchase and other specific housing programs. The Australian Government contribution is estimated at $4.75 billion over the five-year agreement. Details of Australian Government assistance provided under the CSHA for 2006-07 are set out in table 10.26.

10.26 COMMONWEALTH STATE HOUSING AGREEMENT, Payments to states and territories - 2006-07
	NSW	Vic.	Qld	WA	SA	Tas.	NT	ACT	Aust.
Base funding	245 255	182 145	144 240	73 137	55 746	21 753	13 366	16 991	752 633
Community Housing Program	22 092	16 407	12 993	6 588	5 022	1 582	664	1 061	66 409
Aboriginal Rental Housing Program	18 451	3 774	26 194	16 464	8 659	696	20 201	-	94 439
Crisis Accommodation Program	13 691	10 168	8 052	4 083	3 112	980	412	657	41 155
Total	299 489	212 494	191 479	100 272	72 539	25 011	34 643	18 709	954 636
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
Source: Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.

Public housing

As at 30 June 2006 the number of CSHA funded public housing dwellings was 341,378 with an occupancy rate of 97.8%. Of the 333,968 households living in public housing, the majority were located in a major city (80%); only 2.2% were living in remote or very remote areas.

Of the households living in public housing, nearly 91% received a rental rebate and 91.9% received a government pension or benefit as the main source of income. Over half received either an age pension (26.9%) or a disability support pension (28.5%).

Over half (53.2%) of households in public housing were single adults. Sole-parent households comprised a further 21.4%, while couples with dependent children made up another 5.6%. Nearly 29% of public housing tenants were aged 65 years and over; only 3.1% were aged under 25 years. The age profile was younger in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory than in other jurisdictions.

Community housing

Community housing is funded under the CSHA and has a valuable role in effectively and efficiently delivering housing to a broad range of tenant groups. Community housing is operated by non-government organisations, such as church groups, charity and community organisations, and offers tenants subsidised housing with the opportunity to participate in its management, or to have an appointed housing manager.

As at 30 June 2006, community housing stock comprised just 7.7% of the total national social housing stock. In 2006 there were 29,693 community housing dwellings, now referred to as 'tenancy (rental) units', across Australia.

There were 28,582 households occupying community housing. Of these households, over a quarter (27%) had a household member with a disability and 12.5% were from a non-English speaking background. Of the principal tenants in community housing 8.7% were aged over 75 years and 6.7% were aged under 24 years.

The number of new community households assisted at 30 June 2006 was 6,489. Of those new households assisted, 41.5% were allocated to homeless people.

Access to public and community housing

Under the CSHA, priority access to public and community housing is given to individuals or groups who meet eligibility criteria such as having a 'special needs status' or 'greatest needs status'. These people are allocated public or community housing as a priority due to the following:

'Special needs status'

• having a household member with a disability; or
• where the principal tenant is aged 24 years or under; or
• where the principal tenant is aged 75 years or more; or
• where the household satisfies the Indigenous household definition.

'Greatest need status'

• they were homeless; or
• their life or safety was at risk in their accommodation (due to domestic violence, for example); or
• their health condition was aggravated by their housing; or
• their housing was inappropriate to their needs; or
• they had very high rental housing costs.

Home purchase assistance (HPA)

First home purchasers have been eligible for financial assistance under the First Home Owner Grant (FHOG) since July 2000. The initial grant of $7,000 was supplemented during 2001 by an additional $7,000 (for a total of $14,000) to all first home buyers who purchased a newly built home. The FHOG is a non-CSHA grant and is not means tested.

CSHA funded HPA is provided by some states to assist low-to-moderate income households to purchase a home or to provide help with mortgage repayments. Some of the mechanisms used to assist low-to-moderate income earners include loans, shared equity schemes, deposit assistance and mortgage relief.

Helping those most in need

Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP)

SAAP provides emergency and transitional supported accommodation and related services to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

In 2005-06 SAAP assisted approximately 106,500 homeless persons and 54,700 accompanying children through 1,300 agencies across Australia. The number of people supported by SAAP agencies on a given day ranged from 21,800 to 24,000 in 2005-06.

Table 10.27 shows the number of people assisted by SAAP agencies from 2002 to 2006.

10.27 People assisted by SAAP agencies - 2002-2006
		2002-03	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06
People assisted
	Clients	97 611	100 262	100 350	106 563
	Accompanying children	53 800	52 700	56 800	54 700
SAAP Agencies by target group
	Young people	472	476	470	468
	Single men only	95	97	92	91
	Single women	47	47	49	47
	Families	119	124	120	120
	Women escaping domestic violence	286	289	291	296
	General	263	267	272	278
	Total	1 282	1 300	1 294	1 300
Source: Supported Accommodation Assistance Program National Data Collection Annual Reports.

The primary focus of SAAP agencies is to use a case management approach to support homeless people, including adults and children escaping domestic violence. Through this process, clients are offered a range of services including supported accommodation, counselling, advocacy, links to housing, health, education, employment services, outreach support, brokerage and meals services (table 10.27).

Crisis accommodation

The Crisis Accommodation Program (CAP) of the CSHA mainly funds the building, maintenance and renovation of crisis accommodation. In 2005-06 the total number of CAP dwellings nationally was 7,346.

Housing assistance for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

In addition to the payments to individuals and housing assistance available to all Australians, there are a number of programs which are aimed at meeting the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) Australians.

The housing standards experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples tend to be lower than those experienced by other Australians. Housing standards tend to be lowest in remote area communities due to higher building and maintenance costs as a result of access and distance-related issues. Maintenance requirements are usually higher where environmental conditions are harsh, or where accommodation is insufficient, leading to overcrowding.

Overcrowding is of particular concern because it is associated with poor health outcomes. The 2004-05 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey, conducted by the ABS, found around a quarter of the Indigenous population (27%) were living in overcrowded conditions i.e. in dwellings requiring at least one additional bedroom.

The proportion of Indigenous people living in overcrowded conditions rose with geographic remoteness, from 14% in major cities and inner regional areas to 63% of those in very remote areas. In addition, 29% of Indigenous adults in remote areas and 12% of Indigenous adults in non-remote areas reported overcrowding as a stressor.

According to the 2007 Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage Report, released by the Productivity Commission, Indigenous people were hospitalised at higher rates than non-Indigenous people for all diseases associated with poor environmental health in 2004-05, especially influenza and pneumonia (at six times the rate), bacterial diseases (at five times the rate), intestinal infectious diseases (three times the rate) and upper respiratory infections (at twice the rate).

The 2006 Community Housing and Infrastructure Needs Survey, conducted by the ABS, collected information from 496 Indigenous Housing Organisations (IHOs) which managed a total of 21,854 permanent dwellings. The majority of these dwellings - 12,407 or 57% - were in very remote areas, with a further 2,441 (11%) in remote areas and 7,006 (32%) in non-remote areas. Of the permanent dwellings managed by IHOs in 2006, 69% required minor or no repairs and 30% required major repairs or replacement, an increase from the 27% reported in 2001. A larger proportion of dwellings in remote areas were in need of major repairs and replacement (36%) than dwellings managed by IHOs in very remote (30%) and non-remote (29%) areas.

Community Housing and Infrastructure Program (CHIP)

The Australian Government Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs administer a number of programs designed to improve the living environment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including the CHIP. The program aims to provide appropriate, safe and affordable housing and improve community and individual health and well being.

CHIP provides funds for the construction, purchase, repair and management of community housing as well as for the provision and maintenance of housing-related infrastructure (essential services such as water, sewerage, electricity and community roads) and recurrent funding for the provision of municipal services. Through CHIP, funding is provided to:

• state and territory government housing authorities through bilateral agreements or
• Indigenous community organisations directly.

In 2006-07, CHIP expenditure totalled $227.8m, of which around half went to the provision of housing and infrastructure. Most expenditure under the CHIP is in Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory (table 10.28).

10.28 COMMUNITY HOUSING AND INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM EXPENDITURE - 2006-07
	Expenditure	Proportion of total
	$'000	%
NSW	16 920	7.4
Vic.	3 259	1.4
Qld	22 795	10.0
SA	20 266	9.0
WA	65 830	28.9
Tas.	2 956	1.3
NT	66 714	29.3
Other(a)	29 076	12.8
Aust.	227 817	100.0
(a) Activities funded having outcomes over multiple jurisdictions.
Source: Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs.

CHIP supplements the efforts of state and territory governments who also receive Aboriginal Rental Housing Program funding ($94.4m for 2006-07) through the Commonwealth/State Housing Agreement.

State owned and managed Indigenous housing (SOMIH)

The primary purpose of SOMIH is to achieve more effective Indigenous housing outcomes and is funded under the CSHA Aboriginal Rental Housing Program. Recent priorities for this program have included a focus on providing housing in rural and remote areas, provision for maintenance and upgrades, and training for community housing providers in the Indigenous housing sector.

There were 12,386 households in SOMIH at 30 June 2006. Of these, 50% lived in regional areas; 9.7% in very remote areas. Only 35.4% of households lived in major cities.

Almost a quarter (22.5%) of households in SOMIH were single adults. Sole parent households comprised 42.8% of SOMIH households, while couples with dependent children made up 10.8%. Of SOMIH tenants, 9.8% were aged 65 years and over, while 6.1% were aged less than 25 years.

Home ownership

This section was contributed by Indigenous Business Australia (July 2007).

Indigenous Business Australia's Home Ownership Programme (IBA Homes) provides affordable home loan finance to eligible Indigenous people to assist in reducing the disparity between the rate of home ownership in Indigenous households and that in other Australian households. According to the 2006 Census, the home ownership rate for usual resident households with Indigenous person(s) was 36%, around half the rate for other usual resident households (71%).

IBA Homes provides home loans on concessional terms to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families. The scheme targets low income Indigenous families with the capacity to repay a long-term loan, but who have difficulty obtaining finance from traditional lending institutions. The loan portfolio currently includes 3,386 loans valued at $476.1m. In 2006-07, there were 508 new loans provided. Since the programme's establishment, it has helped in excess of 12,900 Indigenous families buy their own homes.

Home Ownership on Indigenous Land (HOIL)

Historically, Indigenous Australians living on Indigenous community-titled land have not been able to buy their own homes because the land tenure was not secure enough to meet lenders' requirements. This has limited their ability to control living conditions, improve their long-term economic circumstances and transfer wealth to future generations.

On 5 October 2005, the Australian Government announced its intention to amend the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976 (Cwlth), in part to make long-term leases over community-titled land readily available to prospective Indigenous home owners. To complement these reforms, the HOIL Programme was established with funding of $7.3m. Under this programme IBA will provide affordable loans and other assistance to Indigenous families.

The HOIL programme is dependent on the legislative framework for land tenure in each state and territory. The Australian Government has been consulting with the states to effect the land tenure reform necessary to enable the programme to be fully implemented. In the 2006 Budget, the Australian Government announced a $107.4m expansion of HOIL over four years.

Residential age care

This section was contributed by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing (September 2007).

The Australian Government, through the Department of Health and Ageing, subsidises and regulates residential care for frail older people. Most residential care is provided by the non-government sector, including not-for-profit and private sector providers. Australian Government payments include subsidies paid to providers for the provision of care. Targeted capital assistance is also available to aged-care homes catering largely for residents with special needs or on low incomes, or located in rural and remote areas of Australia. Residents can also be asked to pay fees and charges toward their care costs.

The main types of care are low level (hostel) services and high level (nursing home) services. The rights of care recipients are protected and promoted through the Aged Care Complaints Investigation Scheme, advocacy services and the Community Visitors' Scheme. To receive funding, each aged care home must meet specific care and building standards and be accredited by the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency.

The Australian Government subsidises the costs for each person in residential aged care according to their needs. In 2006-07, the average payment for residents receiving high level care was $45,200, and $16,200 for those receiving low level care.

Table 10.29 shows the number of aged care residents and table 10.30 shows expenditure on residential aged care.

10.29 NUMBER OF RESIDENTS OF AGED CARE HOMES - 30 June
	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.	no.
NSW	47 991	48 086	48 345	48 979	49 851	51 134	52 469	53 166	54 216
Vic.	32 774	33 237	33 504	34 104	35 504	37 209	38 289	39 384	40 265
Qld	24 368	24 666	25 065	25 466	26 085	26 666	27 364	27 807	28 283
SA	13 178	13 242	13 203	13 268	13 830	14 425	14 918	15 276	15 533
WA	11 349	11 304	11 486	11 614	11 853	12 334	12 850	13 104	13 169
Tas.	3 709	3 716	3 748	3 781	3 896	3 975	4 071	4 167	4 153
NT	345	350	344	356	356	406	409	417	405
ACT	1 356	1 412	1 434	1 443	1 481	1 489	1 516	1 545	1 586
Aust.	135 070	136 013	137 129	139 011	142 856	147 638	151 886	154 866	157 610
Source: Department of Health and Ageing.

10.30 AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE ON RESIDENTIAL AGED CARE
	Residential care (recurrent)				Capital grants
	2003-04(a)	2004-05(a)	2005-06	2006-07	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07
	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m	$m
NSW	1 620.7	1 749.3	1 849.8	1 959.8	3.1	6.9	11.9	7.1
Vic.	1 122.9	1 237.2	1 316.8	1 396.4	5.2	5.1	9.7	12.5
Qld	819.0	903.0	953.7	1 005.0	4.2	7.8	8.1	7.3
SA	454.4	505.8	550.3	590.8	2.1	4.0	1.8	4.9
WA	369.7	414.0	441.1	465.2	0.6	1.4	2.2	6.3
Tas.	129.8	140.7	147.2	153.4	2.1	1.3	6.5	2.6
NT	14.8	15.9	17.7	17.3	-	2.1	0.5	2.9
ACT	44.1	48.0	51.6	54.2	-	-	-	-
Aust.(b)	4 592.1	5 021.5	5 333.6	(c)5 665.5	17.3	28.6	40.7	43.5
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) To enable comparison between years, these figures exclude a 'one-off' payment of $3,500 per resident ($518.7m) in 2003-04 and a $1,000 per resident payment ($152.0m) in 2004-05.
(b) Includes expenditure by the Department of Health and Ageing and the Department of Veterans' Affairs, in accrual terms.
(c) Includes $13.4m not yet allocated.
Source: Department of Health and Ageing.