Senate Bill to Lift Transparency in Labor’s Housing Hellhole

Today I introduced the Housing Australia Amendment (Transparency and Reporting) Bill 2026 in the Senate that will shine light on and lift accountability in Labor’s Housing Australia.

If passed, this Bill will require Housing Australia to publicly report each quarter on:

• how much money has been spent on each of its programs, including on consultants;
• the number of projects funded and the cost per dwelling;
• how many guarantees have been issued, including by recipient income decile;
• Help to Buy arrangements; and
• Summarised Housing Australia Board minutes.

Each report must be tabled in Parliament within seven sitting days, and the Minister will be prevented from interfering with the reporting function.

This transparency is badly needed. The Auditor-General found there has been “insufficient transparency on program delivery, costs and impact” within the Housing Australia Future Fund. The ANAO also found that, after almost three years:

• Just 1,432 of the promised 40,000 homes had been delivered, including 670 existing homes that were purchased rather than built;
• Treasury repeatedly warned the Housing Australia Future Fund delivery targets were “unlikely to be met”, with the 40,000-home target rated as “high” risk; and
• Arrangements for measuring and monitoring the program’s performance had not been established.

Buying existing homes is not building new homes. Australians deserve to know where their money is going, what Housing Australia is actually delivering, and whether this is value for money spent.

If Labor accepts the Auditor-General’s findings, it should support this Bill.

[Ends]

‍