Housing News Digest
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
South Coast rents are half a typical wage earner's pay packet: new report
Saffron Howden South Coast Register (Paywall)A single person on the South Coast earning the national median income of $72,592 could be paying just under half of their take-home pay, or 47 per cent, to rent a unit.
https://www.southcoastregister.com.au/story/8919552/south-coast-…
# Hot topic NSW, Rent.City of Moreton Bay claims homeless people consented to having camps thrown away
Kenji Sato ABC (No paywall)A Queensland council says homeless campers "consented" to having their tents destroyed and possessions thrown into rubbish trucks during the clearing of a park used by rough sleepers. The City of Moreton Bay denied destroying people's property and said it only removed "unwanted items" from camps that had been "abandoned" by their owners. It comes after the council made homeless camping illegal on public land in March, prompting a crackdown on tent cities in April. Former homeless woman Debbie Bobeldyk said she had not left her camp willingly, nor had she consented to the council throwing out her personal belongings.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-09/moreton-bay-says-homeless…
# Must read Australia, Discrimination, Eviction.Homes are more than walls and a roof, especially for Indigenous people. It’s time housing policy reflects that
Giles Gunesekera and Allan Teale The Conversation (No paywall)Australia is experiencing a housing crisis. But for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the challenge runs deeper than high rents and limited supply. A major problem is that housing in Australia is rarely designed with Indigenous communities in mind. In 2021, roughly 13% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander households faced unmet housing needs. This equated to around 45,700 low-income Indigenous households lacking suitable accommodation. Overcrowding remains a significant issue, with only 81.4% of Indigenous Australians living in appropriately sized housing in 2021, falling short of the 88% target set for 2031 under Closing The Gap.
https://theconversation.com/homes-are-more-than-walls-and-a-roof…
# Hot topic Australia, Aboriginal renters.Multiple generations squeeze under one roof to combat housing, cost-of-living crisis
Julia André ABC (No paywall)It is hard to find a spare seat at the Sailes's dinner table, with four generations living under one roof. Australia's housing crisis has seen 44-year-old Clint Sailes steadily renovate his home to accommodate more family members. While it might seem unusual, it is a return to the past when double the number of Australians lived in standalone homes. Over the past two years, Mr Sailes has added extra bathrooms and kitchenettes to his Gold Coast hinterland property. The huge double-storey house backs onto bushland and has plenty of outdoor space to keep the peace between his 10 family members.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07-09/homes-designed-to-squeeze…
# Australia, .The human right to a decent home
Hon Kevin Bell AO KC Australian Lawyers Alliance ()This special issue of Precedent examines the law in relation to the home. I want to do so from the perspective of international human rights law, and not from the point of view of a particular legal category of the law such as contract or tort, but from the perspective of the housing system as a whole. The purpose and central values of international human rights law are pro hominem, which is to say, ‘for the human person’. Taking that as my starting point, I want to discuss how purposes and values shape, or not, the way that the housing system currently works with respect to people. I argue that the purposes and values of the private market have been dominant in the housing system for decades and are now.
https://www.lawyersalliance.com.au/Web/web/RESOURCES/Precedent-a…
# Research alert Australia, .'A housing disaster': The case against demolishing Melbourne's public housing
Sydney Lang SBS (No paywall)The Victorian Government's plans to demolish Melbourne's 44 public housing towers are facing yet another legal challenge, as independent reports say the plan is deeply flawed. The Inner Melbourne Community Legal Centre is launching an appeal to a Supreme Court decision dismissing claims Home Victoria was in breach of tenant human rights. Days before resigning in 2023, former Victorian Labor Premier Daniel Andrews announced a plan to demolish all 44 of Victoria's public housing towers. As Australia grapples with an ongoing housing crisis, plans to demolish the homes of 10,000 Victorians and rebuild them by 2051, has many experts and residents scratching their head. In April, the Supreme Court of Victoria dismissed a class action from tenants opposing the decision. Determined to be heard, the residents are launching an appeal.
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/podcast-episode/a-housing-disaster-t…
# Audio Australia, Public and community housing.'Quasi-policing powers' for new armed NT police public safety officers spark concern
Lillian Rangiah ABC (No paywall)A plan to equip Northern Territory transit and public housing safety officers with "quasi-policing powers", including to carry guns on buses, in supermarkets and public housing, has been slammed as a "deeply irresponsible escalation" that could put lives at risk. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the name of an Indigenous person who has died, used with the permission of their family. The newly announced police public safety officers (PPSOs) are set to replace police auxiliaries, transit safety officers and public housing safety officers in the territory next year, as frontline responders to violence and aggression in public places.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-20/nt-police-public-safety-o…
# Hot topic Australia, Discrimination.We need another housing option — between isolation and communes
Feng Xue The Fifth Estate (No paywall)Intermediate housing offers affordability, flexibility and connection – if we design for real lives, not just floor plans. As Australia falls behind on its target to build 1.2 million new homes within five years, we continue to cling to a housing ideal that no longer fits the times. The image of the detached house on a quarter acre block has long defined success, but in today’s economy, that dream is not only out of reach for many — it may also be making us lonelier, less healthy, and more disconnected from the people around us.
https://thefifthestate.com.au/columns/spinifex/we-need-another-h…
# Australia, .