Housing News Digest
The Tenants' Union Housing News Digest compiles our pick of items from all the latest tenancy and housing media, sent once per week, on Thursdays.
Below is the Digest archive from November 2020 onwards. From time to time you will find additional items in the archive that did not make it into the weekly Digest email. Earlier archives are here, where you can also find additional digests by other organisations.
Our main email newsletter, Tenant News is sent once every two months. You can subscribe or update your subscription preferences for any of our email newsletters here.
See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
We love sharing the news and hope you find it informative! We're very happy to deliver it for free, but if you find it valuable, can you help cover the extra costs incurred by making a donation?
Archive
Housing Crisis?
3CR (No paywall)This episode we hear edited highlights from the panel 'What do people really think about the housing crisis?' from the Progress 2026 conference, with speakers including Ben Spies-Butcher and Alistair Sisson (Macquarie University), Maiy Azise (Everybody's Home) and Leo Patterson Ross (NSW Tenants Union).
# TUNSW in the media, Audio Australia, .NSW urged to follow Victoria on rent rise protections
Newshub (No paywall)Tenants on the brink of homelessness could be spared devastating rent hikes if New South Wales follows Victoria’s lead and cracks down on increases above inflation, Homelessness NSW said today. The call comes amidst a deepening cost-of-living crisis, with a single rent increase now enough to push vulnerable renters out of housing altogether. “Right now, an above-inflation rent increase can be the event that ends someone’s tenancy,” Homelessness NSW CEO Dom Rowe said. “With winter approaching and grocery prices expected to surge by 20 per cent we are deeply concerned about people who are already teetering on the edge. “Victoria has recognised this risk and recently acted. NSW should do the same before more people are pushed into homelessness.”
https://newshub.medianet.com.au/2026/04/nsw-urged-to-follow-vict…
# NSW, .Australia's economy is underpinned by housing, which is why housing won't get cheaper, super boss warns
Gareth Hutchens ABC (No paywall)Australia's entire economy is built on housing, and operates on a "myth" that we can keep generating wealth by constantly inflating housing prices, argues the head of Australia's largest super fund. Paul Schroder, the chief executive of AustralianSuper, has issued a stark warning that our nation must rethink its over-reliance on real estate. He said he's calling out the "central truth" that Australia spends way too much on housing and "not anywhere near enough" on productive investment.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-10/australia-economy-underpi…
# Australia, .Albany long-term caravan park tenants evicted after change of ownership
Rosemary Murphy and Andrew Williams ABC (No paywall)Reg Hoyling and his partner Eva Johnson thought the park home they bought with their life savings on WA's south coast was where they would see out the rest of their days. "It was $154,000 for the house, and then $16,000 paid to the current owner for all the furniture and everything in the house — I thought it was a good deal," he said. But when the Acclaim Rose Gardens Beachside Holiday Park was sold in early 2025, the couple were among two dozen other long-term residents given notice to vacate.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-12/residents-of-albany-carav…
# Australia, Eviction, Land lease communities.Papunya residents living in extreme heat sue NT government over unsafe housing
Elsie Lange and Matt Garrick ABC (No paywall)In an outback Northern Territory community where temperatures regularly hit 40 degrees in the summer, residents say they're not just feeling the strain from the heat — it's killing them. Papunya resident Ashley Robertson said the community 250 kilometres north-west of Alice Springs did not have adequate public housing to deal with the ever-increasing impacts of a heating world.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-04-22/papunya-sues-nt-governmen…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Rent.How other nations reveal Australia’s housing dream is fundamentally broken
Taylor Troeth news.com.au (No paywall)Australia’s struggle to hold onto the dwindling Australian dream stands in stark contrast to other nations that have built housing systems entirely differently. The stranglehold the Australian Dream has on the nation’s society is placing immense pressure as more generations struggle to purchase their own home. Australia’s combined ownership rate is 62.7 per cent, according to data from the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), while the Roy Morgan research shows that 23.9 per cent of mortgage holders were ‘At Risk’ of mortgage stress, and 15 per cent were ranked ‘Extremely At Risk.’
https://www.news.com.au/finance/real-estate/how-other-nations-re…
# Hot topic Australia, .Homeless after eviction, First Nations mother dies two weeks after giving birth
Natasha Clark National Indigenous Times (No paywall)This report contains the name of an Indigenous person who has died. Mary Ann Miller gave birth to her seventh child at Perth's Fiona Stanley Hospital in March. Just two weeks later, the homeless Aboriginal woman died from sepsis. She is mourned by her mother, who blames WA's Department of Housing. "They made promises... but they never came through. Now my daughter's gone," Kay Miller, Mary Ann's mother, told National Indigenous Times. The odds were against Mary Ann. The 37-year-old had been evicted from her Department of Housing and Works (DOHW) home in Perth's north a month before her death. She was living with a serious heart condition—her heart functioned at only 25 per cent—and had experienced domestic violence. Despite homelessness, illness and violence, her dedication to her children remained unwavering.
https://nit.com.au/21-04-2026/23835/homeless-after-eviction-pert…
# Australia, Aboriginal renters, Domestic violence, Rent.Rental platform unnecessarily collected the data of millions of Australians, privacy commissioner finds
Josh Taylor The Guardian (No paywall)An online rental platform has been urged to stop collecting users’ personal information after the Australian privacy commissioner found the gathering of “excessive” data compounded the vulnerability of tenants amid the housing crisis. RentTech platforms are increasingly used by real estate agents in Australia for people applying for rental properties to submit applications and supporting documentation. The Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute has identified 57 different rent platforms operating in Australia.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/apr/22/2apply-rental…
# Australia, Privacy and access, Security and safety, Starting a tenancy.