Meeting Australia’s housing challenge: Can policies be effective?

3 July 2024

The 2024-25 Federal budget, delivered on 14 May 2024 included a $6.2 billion package of initiatives to increase the supply of houses, fund more social housing, better support renters and provide a pathway to home ownership. 

Can the initiatives address the problem of housing affordability in Australia? 

Topics discussed included:

  • Housing affordability and supply factors
  • If Government assistance can improve housing affordability and accessibility
  • The broader issue of homelessness and social housing reform

The following four speakers presented at the forum to address these questions:

  • Mr Nicholas Howie, Assistant Secretary of Housing Strategy Branch, Australian Government Department of The Treasury
  • Associate Professor Viet Nguyen, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, the University of Melbourne “Housing cycles and housing affordability”
  • Associate Professor Jason Nassios, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University “An impossible triangle: Can government assistance improve housing affordability and accessibility, and economic efficiency?”
  • Professor Guyonne Kalb, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, the University of Melbourne “The role of social housing”