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.
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Archive
How planning fixed the housing crisis
Alistair Sisson Substack (No paywall)In the last five years we’ve seen a raft of planning reforms in Australia, presented as solutions to the housing crisis. In two recent papers (in International Journal of Housing Policy and Urban Policy and Research) Kristian Ruming, Liz-Murphy-May and I examine how planning became a crisis fix and its political effects. As Iain White and Gauri Nandedkar argue, housing crises are ideological artefacts, not objective events. While housing has undoubtedly become harder to find, pay for and keep hold of, particularly for private renters, the causes of and solutions to this ‘crisis’ are debated from a range of political viewpoints.
https://moresocialhousing.substack.com/p/how-planning-fixed-the-…
# Australia, .The government wants to increase home ownership. But life is tough for many new homeowner
Rachel Ong ViforJ The Conversation (No paywall)On Tuesday, the Albanese government struck a deal with the Greens to allow sweeping changes to negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount to pass parliament. The government has consistently asserted it is sharply focused on helping more Australians into home ownership. Key actions have included expanding the 5% deposit scheme and other government assistance programs, and overhauling housing tax concessions in this year’s budget. But at the same time as we try to help more people get a foot on the property ladder, are we forgetting to pay attention to what it’s like for those who do?
https://theconversation.com/the-government-wants-to-increase-hom…
# Hot topic Australia, .Real estate has been an easy target for criminals laundering money, until now
Daniel Ziffer ABC (No paywall)Criminal gangs using dirty cash to buy homes will find it harder from July 1 because the real estate industry and others have been drafted into the fight against money laundering. So-called Tranche 2 laws mean real estate agents, conveyancers, lawyers, accountants, gem dealers and precious metal brokers must verify their customers, as banks and casinos do, bringing Australia in line with the rest of the world. They'll need to know who the customers are and where the money is coming from.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-29/real-estate-easy-target-c…
# Hot topic Australia, .Closure of long-term Salvation Army residential facility sparks concerns
Costa Haritos ABC (No paywall)A long-term residential facility in Melbourne's inner-west will begin the process of shutting down, raising concerns about the future of dozens of vulnerable men living there. Foley House has provided beds for homeless men, those with disabilities and acquired brain injuries and other complex health needs since 2013. The Salvation Army, which runs the Footscray facility, said the site was no longer sustainable and that it would start moving residents to other affordable accommodation from this week.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-30/foley-house-salvation-arm…
# Australia, Rent.The destruction of a public housing community at Millers Point, Sydney
Professor Alan Morris House Well Age Well (No paywall)This is a two-part program about the scandal that occurred in Sydney between 2014-2018 where 580 public tenants were forced to relocate from their generations-long homes at Millers Point and the Sirius Building right on Sydney Harbour, to make way for the sale of the housing on the open market. This led to the area transforming from a working-class community to become one of the wealthiest areas in Australia with devastating consequences for many of the tenants involved.
https://housewellagewell.com/episode-one-destruction-of-a-public…
# Audio NSW, .https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-01/social-housing-earning-caps-costing-tenants/106861196
Samantha Goerling ABC (No paywall)Amid a surging cost-of-living crisis, Trish Owen would like to work more hours, but earning too much could mean she loses her government-provided house — and a new study suggests she is not alone. Ms Owen has been living in social housing in Perth for two decades, and believes she is "stuck" there because of Western Australia's tight income eligibility limit for social housing — the strictest in the country. "There's this glass ceiling that I'm always bouncing against," Ms Owen said. WA's income cap — the maximum amount someone can earn before they no longer qualify for public housing — is well below other states.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-07-01/social-housing-earning-ca…
# Australia, Public and community housing, Rent.Fears for those on the rental affordability scheme
ABC (No paywall)Vulnerable Australians could be plunged into homelessness or housing insecurity, advocates fear, as the government's rental affordability scheme wraps up this week. Under the National Rental Affordability Scheme, some people on low incomes receive discounted rent, but now many will be forced into a competitive private rental market. While the Albanese Government's Housing Australia Future Fund is building more affordable homes for this cohort, advocates say it wont be enough to meet demand.
https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/am/rental-scheme/106859146
# Audio Australia, .Pensioner living in car has 'lost faith' in system amid WA housing waitlist overhaul
Courtney Withers ABC (No paywall)A 68-year-old pensioner living in his car while waiting for social housing says he has "lost faith in the whole system", as WA government reforms aimed at making the process fairer leave him wondering when help will come. On Tuesday, Housing Minister John Carey announced the first overhaul of the state's housing waitlist in 70 years in a bid to prioritise applicants with "urgent and complex needs". "The focus is those with the greatest need, that is why we are shaking up the system," he said.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-18/pensioner-living-in-car-a…
# Australia, Public and community housing.