A union boss is calling for five times more public housing to be built amid claims that rents could increase by up to 30 per cent over the next two years.
The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) will table a proposal to parliament on Wednesday demanding a national standard of two year rental leases and more public housing.
One in 50 new builds are public housing under current rates but the ACTU wants this raised to one in 10, which would be the highest levels since the 1980s under the Hawke government.
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Australian Council of Trade Unions president Michele O’Neil said too many working people see housing as a source of stress. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman
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ACTU president Michele O’Neil said housing has become a source of stress and the proposal will work to fix Australia’s housing crisis.
“We want to see strong rights for renters and a substantial increase in public housing,” Ms O’Neil said.
“If we’re serious about fixing the housing crisis, we must increase public housing stock to free up homes in the private rental market and make renting more affordable for everyone.
“Using modern construction methods such as factory-built modular housing can deliver high-quality homes faster at lower cost and greater scale.
“Governments must all step up and tackle Australia’s housing crisis with the ambition it needs,” she said.
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![Panoramic aerial drone view of Northern Melbourne Suburbs with Houses roads and parks in Melbourne Victoria Australia](data:image/svg+xml,%3Csvg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" viewBox="0 0 1024 768"%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The 2026 State of the Housing System report revealed the fastest growth in public housing waitlists in more than 10 years.
New public housing builds are in a downward spiral with a decline of 1,143 rental units in the last year alone, according to the 2026 State of the Housing System report.
The ACTU proposal aims to lift the proportion of public housing to 6 per cent of the total housing stock by updating the 2023 ‘A Better Deal for Renters’ agreement.
It comes amid growing concern that the government’s budget reforms for negative gearing and capital gains tax could drive up rental prices.
NAB and Ray White both released similar projections this week suggesting investors will need to increase rents by 30 per cent over two years to cover losses resulting from the tax reforms.
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Treasurer Jim Chalmers said NAB admitted their estimates didn’t account for factors like grandfathering of negative gearing. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman
The Australian Treasury estimated rents would increase by only $2 a week and Treasurer Jim Chalmers claimed that the NAB analysis doesn’t account for the grandfathering provisions.
The tax reforms only came into effect on July 1, 2027 and the new tax scheme didn’t apply to properties that investors bought before the end of the financial year.
While the government gave a different rationale, the policy changes effectively gives first home buyers and outright-owners more opportunity to buy by driving down investor demand.
This seems to be working so far given ABS data shows that new investor loans have dropped by 8.6 per cent since March with growth slowing by 16.6 per cent.
However, REA data shows that rents for Sydney houses have already jumped by 57.6 per cent in the three months to July.
