Check against delivery

 

I would like to first acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation and pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging. 

 

I extend this respect to First Nations peoples here with us today.

 

I’m honoured to be here today as the inaugural Special Envoy for Social Housing and Homelessness delivering the keynote for this year’s National Housing and Homelessness Forum. I am very humbled to have been asked by the Prime Minister to work with my amazing friend, the Minister, Clare O’Neil, on a policy area that is one of the biggest challenges and opportunities we face as a country. 

 

Today is my first public address in this role—and I want to start telling you about a friend of mine, a woman named Vanessa.

 

Vanessa is a lived-experience advocate for the Housing for the Aged Action Group who I met during my research for The Crumbling Australian Dream, a report I wrote during the pandemic in 2021. In one conversation, she shared something with me that I’ve never forgotten. She said: 

“I had to go to Salvos in Sunshine at 5 o’clock in the morning because they only take the first three people who are there. We went straight to see a place with a landlord, and he said do you want it? We couldn’t go inside, so I could just see it from the outside. He said there’s no light – I said I don’t care, it’s better than living on the streets. 

 

I asked if I could have the keys right then. I sat there for about a week before all the utilities were switched on, huddled in the corner before I could get myself going and HAAG could help me with a bed and a fridge. I cried for three days. I’m still crying right now because unless you’ve been in that situation or out on the streets at 60 years old, you can’t imagine. It’s very scary out there."

 

Vanessa is not alone. There are thousands of people like her—whose lives have changed simply because they were given the stability of a safe home. That is what this work is about.

 

And it’s for that reason that all of you in this room do what you do. 

 

And it’s also why I am so humbled to take on this role: to be a voice inside government for people like Vanessa—and for the thousands of people in our communities whose futures depend on us getting this right. 

 

It’s also to be a voice for you—the sector. The organisations, frontline workers, advocates, and community leaders who show up every day to make a difference, often with too few resources, and too little recognition. 

 

Because in every conversation I have had with the sector over the past few years one thing has been clear - you know what works and you know what we need to do. 

 

I also know how frustrating it is to close the doors for the day, knowing there is more people that need to come inside. 

 

I know the impact that all of you see that can be achieved, if there was more resources.

 

I know that you all work in this sector because you are here to work so that others can have the safety, dignity and security that comes with a home. 

 

And I know that just like rebuilding someone’s life, rebuilding our housing sector is going to take time.

 

It starts with the most pressing and hardest problems we collectively need to solve. 

 

We need to build more homes.

 

We don’t currently have enough homes, and the sector is under stress. 

 

The unfortunate reality of the situation we are in as a country, is that this housing crisis isn’t one that’s always equally felt. 

 

For many Australians the impact is much bigger. 

 

The pain is felt most acutely by people already doing it tough: people with a disability, older women, single parents, First Nations communities, young people, and those fleeing domestic violence.

 

And it is the people in this room—the ones providing shelter, support, advocacy, and a pathway forward—who hold the line.

 

Housing should never be seen as a luxury or an after-thought. It’s essential infrastructure. It is the foundation on which health, education, and employment are built.

 

I know how hard everyone in this room works, often under difficult circumstances -  but you're the ones who have fought tirelessly for every gain we’ve made. 

 

The Housing Australia Future Fund—18,000 homes in the pipeline. The Social Housing Accelerator—another 4000. 

 

The hard fought funding to a range of homelessness services and programs. 

 

They came from years of hard work, advocacy, and persistence—from you.

 

Now we have the chance to entrench these gains into the way government operates. 

 

I see my role as supporting exactly that. 

 

We have a job to do - which is to embed the reality that social housing is essential infrastructure into how the government thinks about housing. 

 

When I wrote the Crumbling Australian Dream, the former government used to constantly say that building Social Housing is the responsibility of the States and Territories.

 

It is not.

 

We are very much at the table, funding, supporting the states and territories and the sector to build more homes. 

 

Because for years into the future, after my time and my colleagues time in politics is up, the federal government should always have a role to play in investing in social and affordable housing. 

 

Of course, problems of this size can only be dealt with by a whole of nation approach. It’s why we need close integration across all three levels of government and industry to make an impact. And that’s what events like these are for. 

 

Everyone in this room knows the impact we can have, and what we can deliver together. It’s the homes and services that we all care so deeply about that can change peoples lives’ for the better, and give people a chance to turn their life around in a way that is meaningful, sustainable, and permanent.

 

We know that housing doesn’t exist in a vacuum. 

 

Creating lasting outcomes for the people who need it means integrating the services that meet people where they are - mental health care, addiction support, family violence services and trauma-informed care. 

 

These aren’t “nice to haves”, they are essential parts of the system - that help people get the right support across their life. 

 

Because for many people, the path to stable housing and getting ahead also requires healing, recovery, multi-disciplinary support and access to skills and training. 

 

Part of our task in this room is the better coordination of services - so housing, health care and support systems work together, not in isolation. 

 

While I have only been in the Special Envoy position for a little over a week, I want to make clear that I am aware of the challenges we face and I am ready to get to work alongside all of you.

 

So where are we at now?

 

For most of our history, housing in Australia meant stability, a pathway to opportunity, a foundation for a good life. 

 

And while it’s true that housing remains as important as it ever was, the ease with which many Australians are getting into housing has drastically changed.

 

All of us in this room know the reality of the challenges our nation faces all too well.

 

Over the last 30 years, the housing market has become increasingly inaccessible for many first home buyers. 

 

More Australians are renting, and many are facing a range of challenges in a competitive rental market that until recently, lacked strong tenant protections. 

 

And importantly for many of us here today, after too many years of under investment, there remains a significant lack of public, social and affordable housing. 

 

And all of these pressures are putting additional strain on the work you do in the social housing and homelessness sector. 

 

The simple fact is amongst all of this is -  Australia has a housing shortage. 

 

We need to build more homes, and we need to do it fast - right across the country. 

 

So what have we done? 

 

Since coming to government, we’ve launched the most ambitious housing reform agenda since the post-war period. 

 

It needs to be ambitious, coordinated and long-term. 

 

At the heart of it is our $43 billion Homes for Australia Plan.

 

That includes:

• The $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund, which will deliver thousands of social and affordable homes—with a long-term, stable pipeline of investment;
  
  

• The Social Housing Accelerator, building another 4000 homes;
  
  

• $1.2 billion for crisis and transitional accommodation, especially for people fleeing family and domestic violence;
  
  

• And a new National Agreement on Social Housing and Homelessness—with $9.3 billion over five years to support state and territory efforts to reduce homelessness and improve housing outcomes.
  
  

We’ve also made increases to Commonwealth Rent Assistance in over 30 years - strengthening the social safety net. 

 

And through our Better Deal for Renters agenda, we’re working with states and territories to deliver real reforms - like minimum standards for rental homes, a cap of one rent increase per year, and better protections for people fleeing violence.

 

During the election, we also announced that we are investing an additional $10 billion to partner with state developers and industry, to build up to 100,000 homes – just for first-home buyers.

 

These are homes that will add to supply, while helping first home buyers get their foot in the door of their own home.

 

These reforms are important and will impact the work done by this room. 

 

Because if more people cant afford housing, more will be pushed into an already overstretched social housing sector.

 

We need more affordable homes, we need more affordable rentals, we need more affordable housing. 

 

And we need to entrench these funding policies so that they don’t just last for this political cycle—but for the next generation.

 

The beauty of the HAFF is that it will provide a continuous, recurring source of Commonwealth funding for social and affordable homes each and every year.

 

Because in order to build back our stock of non-market housing, we need consistency and stability of investment.

 

And let me say this to you. There is a lot of work going on by government. But my door is open. 

 

I want to know what you think is working. 

 

And what your feedback is. 

 

Honestly, constructively and with a view to improve services and ultimately the lives of the people we all seek to serve.

 

Earlier in my remarks I made clear that the housing crisis isn’t being equally felt across our country. The most vulnerable among us are feeling it the hardest.

 

But there’s no one size fits all solution.

 

From older women, people at risk or experiencing homelessness, people with a disability, first nations Australians, to women and children fleeing domestic violence – every single situation is different. 

 

And yet, the need is the same.

 

The need for safety, for stability and for support.

 

Whether it’s crisis accommodation for a transitional period in someone’s life, or the wrap-around services that so many in this room work tirelessly to give people all the tools to rebuild their lives.

 

We need to do both. 

 

Build homes and rebuild lives. 

 

And we need to support you, the people who are trying to do both. 

 

We also know that there’s no simple market solution to people escaping situations of family or domestic violence.

 

If a person has to leave a terrible situation like that, there has to be a place to go.

 

That’s why we’re investing $1.2 billion in new crises and transitional housing.

 

These funds are providing immediate shelter and support services for the most vulnerable Australians at risk of homelessness and impacted by family and domestic violence.

 

They are also supporting more accommodation options to ensure vulnerable Australians have access to safe, secure housing while they transition to independence.

 

It’s why we’re providing $9.3 billion over 5 years to state and territory governments under the more ambitious National Agreement on Social Housing and Homelessness – or NASHH for short – to help people who are experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness and support the effective operation of Australia’s social housing and homelessness sectors.

 

The NASHH agreement provides state and territory governments with flexibility to address the needs of their local communities. 

 

And it’s why we’re investing a further $91.7 million over 3 years in the longstanding Reconnect program to work on preventing and helping our young people at risk of or experiencing homelessness.

 

Again, it is only my first week in the job, but you all know how these programs are operating. 

 

I want to hear from you directly so I can carry that feedback inside government. 

 

The scale of the challenge we face is enormous. But so is the opportunity.

 

For decades, we’ve watched housing drift further and further out of reach for too many Australians. We now have the chance to reverse that trend for generations to come. 

 

Because housing security isn’t a luxury - it’s a necessity. 

 

And that when we invest in housing, we invest in health, education, employment, and our future. 

 

The Albanese Labor Government has a lot of work to do to build homes and support our Australian people.

 

Our work is yours as much as it is ours. And my role now is to make sure that connection between the people in this room and the government stays strong—that the voice of the sector continues to shape what comes next.

 

To tackle a crisis a generation in the making will require a concerted, hard working focus by all levels of government, industry and our entire community if we are to make an impact.

 

And I believe we can make that impact. 

 

Since 2022, we have taken the Federal Government from a being bystanders in the housing sector to being integral to the construction and funding of Australia’s homes.

 

But there’s much, much more to do. 

 

And we’ll only get there with the help of the people and organisations like you here today.

 

I’m ready to get to work - to embed the long-term, stable investment you’ve been calling for into the core business of government for years to come.

 

Because when we get housing right—we don’t just change policies. We change lives.

 

I want to finish where I started. With my friend Vanessa. 

 

“The last five-six years I’ve been here in social housing, and I’m the happiest I’ve ever been… this is the only time I’ve had freedom. It’s just amazing to come home. It’s just magical…There’s always light at the end of the tunnel. You just have to hold onto it, and it’ll come to you. And that’s my biggest belief.”

 

Thank you for having me here today and let’s get to work.