Keynote five: “Housing Policy in Australia”

Housing Affordability is one of Australia’s biggest social problems.  Voters increasingly place it among their top concerns.  Against this background, in 2021 the Australian Parliament commissioned an inquiry into housing affordability, chaired by Jason Falinski, the then-member for Mackellar.  The Falinski inquiry concluded that planning restrictions were a major reason housing was so expensive; the Federal Government could usefully address this by providing incentive payments to State and Local governments to encourage supply.  The Report also recommended retention of negative gearing and allowing borrowers to use superannuation as collateral for housing loans.