Social Housing Accelerator

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Background

On 17 June 2023, the Commonwealth announced a new $2 billion Social Housing Accelerator to provide thousands of new and refurbished social homes across Australia.

The funds were delivered to the states and territories in June 2023 so they could start building new homes immediately.

This investment will permanently increase the nation’s stock of social housing. Around 4,000 new and refurbished homes are expected for Australians on social housing waiting lists.

States and territories must meet strict reporting and assurance requirements. Jurisdictions must show that the projects are additional to business as usual and permanently increase the supply of social housing.

This includes providing implementation plans and 6‑monthly progress reports called Statements of Assurance.

More information is available in the Federation Funding Agreement Schedule.

Implementation plans

State and territory implementation plans outline how the states and territories will spend their share of the Social Housing Accelerator funds:

States and territories may update their plans over time, including to provide additional information on projects when it is no longer commercially sensitive.

Statements of Assurance

All states and territories must provide 6‑monthly Statements of Assurance to the Commonwealth from early 2024 to 2028. These reports detail the new social housing funded by the Social Housing Accelerator in the previous 6 months and over the life of the program.

More information on the reporting requirements is available in the Federation Funding Agreement Schedule.

States and territories must report on:

  • funding committed and spent
  • the number of dwellings committed, commenced and completed.

These terms are defined as:

  • Committed: When a significant component of the project has been formally contracted.
  • Commenced: When the head contractor has site possession and can begin material work on the site.
  • Completed: When the head contractor has reached practical completion of the work and the site can be tenanted.
  • Spent: When the funds have been paid to the head contractor.

The Statements of Assurance must be approved by at least a Deputy Secretary equivalent in the respective state or territory agency. The signed 6-monthly progress reports are:

  • 1 July 2023 to 31 December 2023, Statements of Assurance [PDF 3.1MB]
  • 1 January 2024 to 30 June 2024, Statements of Assurance [PDF 7.9MB]
  • 1 July 2024 to 31 December 2024, Statements of Assurance [PDF 12.4MB]
Summary of funding for social housing ($ millions) as at 31 December 2024
State Total allocated Committed but not spent Spent
New South Wales 610.1 228.6 214.7
Victoria* 496.5 56.5 56.6
Queensland 398.3 71.6 44.1
Western Australia 209.2 173.5 33.9
South Australia** 135.8 98.8 4.6
Tasmania 50.0 47.1 2.9
Northern Territory 50.0 13.2 5.2
Australian Capital Territory 50.0 11.4 1.3
Total 2,000.0 700.8 363.2
Summary of social housing delivered (Number of dwellings) as at 31 December 2024
State Allocated in implementation plans Committed but not commenced Commenced
but not completed		 Completed
New South Wales 1,500 143 535 424
Victoria* 692 to 769 0 90 62
Queensland 600 43 142 30
Western Australia 598 302 160 104
South Australia** 230 269 50 0
Tasmania 116 108 8 0
Northern Territory 100 0 31 0
Australian Capital Territory 55 to 65 0 17 0
Total 3,891 to 3,978 865 1,033 620
Projections of social housing still to be completed by financial year as per the third Statements of Assurance
State 2024–25 2025–26 2026–27 2027–28
New South Wales 391 387 200 110
Victoria* 36 191 176 296
Queensland 75 100 10 n/a
Western Australia 105 139 153 65
South Australia** 0 62 177 80
Tasmania 10 57 61 n/a
Northern Territory 8 n/a 23 n/a
Australian Capital Territory 0 17 n/a n/a
Total 625 953 800 551

Notes:
* Victoria is in the final stages of a tender process for projects to meet its implementation plan target.
** South Australia’s estimates of the number of planned dwellings do not reflect the outcome of a competitive bidding process which subsequently identified more homes.
n/a Data is not available.

First Nations housing

First Nations housing was identified as a priority area by all states and territories in their implementation plans.

The Commonwealth has been working closely with the states and territories to ensure suitable dwellings are being built or refurbished, and that all Social Housing Accelerator related funding will be committed by 30 June 2025, as per the Federation Funding Agreement schedule. 

As of 31 December 2024, 218 dwellings of the 320 dwellings intended for First Nations people and their families are either completed or underway. Ninety-two of these dwellings have been completed, 13 committed and 113 commenced.