Urgent investment needed in accessible and affordable social housing
All Australians should have access to an accessible, affordable and safe place to call home. Housing should be understood, first and foremost, as a basic human right for individuals and as essential social infrastructure for communities1. Housing policy should reflect this and ensure sufficient investment is dedicated to delivering on this objective for all Australians experiencing the current housing and cost-of-living crisis, including people with disability.
According to the Australian Urban Housing & Research Institute (AHURI), adults with disability “experience more housing disadvantage than their non-disabled counterparts, including homelessness, poor-quality housing, and housing unaffordability.”2 Social housing is an important mechanism through which many people, including people with disability, find a home. However, research conducted by the Grattan Institute in 2021 found that Australia’s accessible housing stock has barely grown over the last 30 years, and the 430,000 dwellings considered accessible at that time represented only 4 per cent of all housing in Australia.3
JFA Purple Orange welcomes the National Construction Code (NCC) 2022 Livable Housing Design (LHD) Standard being made mandatory for all Class 1a and 2 buildings from October 2024. This is an important first step toward addressing the need for more accessible housing. This will ensure that residential properties are easier to enter and navigate in and around, as well as allowing further adaptations to be made later to suit a resident and allow them to age in place.
However, the LHD Standard doesn’t apply to other accommodation types, like student accommodation, and therefore those housing options are often not available to people with access needs. The LHD standard should be extended to all new housing construction to increase the stock of accessible housing and so that people with disability have true choice in deciding where they want to live. We are also seeing inconsistencies across Nation with some states delaying implementation or implementing concessions. We are very concerned about the extent to which blanket concessions are being applied pursuant to the LHD Standard. It is vital that the use of concessions is carefully monitored, and that the housing sector is educated and supported to ensure that concessions are only applied when absolutely necessary and do not apply blanket concessions automatically. This includes raising awareness of the many benefits of full compliance with the LHD Standard. It is vital for all that these Standards are implemented to the greatest extent possible across Australia and create national consistency.
Given that approximately 38% of households with a person with disability are classed as low-income households4, housing affordability is a pressing issue. JFA Purple Orange acknowledges the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) introduction of Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) in July 2016 aims to create more living options for people with disability, giving choice and control, as well as strengthening the housing sector. However, the NDIS does not provide housing support for the vast majority of its participants and only 3.5 per cent of NDIS participants are eligible for SDA accommodation5. This leaves more than 96 per cent of NDIS participants – and millions more Australians with disability – to navigate the mainstream housing market where the supply of accessible affordable dwellings is well below current demand. This is reflected in a reduction in the number of NDIS participants who are happy with their current home over the past four years.6
JFA Purple Orange continues to be concerned about the extent to which people with disability are living in group homes with people not of their choosing. A significant proportion of these people live with intellectual disability and communication barriers. As highlighted in the Final Report of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability, living in shared supported accommodation such as group homes can heighten their risk of exposure to violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation.7 We advocate for flexible housing solutions for people with disability, to ensure they can live in safety with people of their choosing and receive the support they need.
In summary, JFA Purple Orange is calling on all political parties and candidates to commit to:
- Directly investing in building accessible and affordable social housing that complies with the minimum accessibility standards set out in the updated National Construction Code 2022 (NCC 2022).
- Extending the LHD Standard beyond Class 1a and 2 buildings, to include all new housing construction.
- Investing in monitoring, data collection and public reporting about the number and use of concessions granted pursuant to the LHD Standard.
- Investing in education, capacity building and demonstration projects to promote the benefits of complying with the LHD Standard and to support the housing construction sector to implement the LHD Standard without blanket exemptions.
- Improving data sharing between the NDIA, Federal Government, State Government and community and affordable housing providers, to provide a clearer picture of the level of demand for accessible housing by people with disability, including the type of housing being sought (level of accessibility) and geographical locations of demand.
- No longer funding group homes that accommodate two or more people who are forced to live together by circumstance, not by choice.
- Continuing to invest in ensuring sufficient and appropriate wraparound supports and flexible housing solutions (such as Individualised Living Options) to allow people with disability to live in a home of their choosing.
Key Question
Do you commit to directly investing in accessible and affordable social housing that complies with the minimum accessibility standards set out in the updated National Construction Code 2022 Livable Housing Design (LHD) Standard; supporting implementation of the LHD Standard without unnecessary concessions throughout Australia (e.g. through monitoring, data collection, reporting and capacity building); and ceasing to fund group homes?
References
1 United Nations, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Article 11.1.
2 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2024) People with disability in Australia 2024, catalogue number DIS 72, AIHW, Australian Government.
4 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2024) People with disability in Australia 2024, catalogue number DIS 72, AIHW, Australian Government.
5 National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) (2025) Quarterly report to disability ministers Q2 2024-25 Appendices, NDIS, Accessed 04/04/2025. PB Quarterly report to disability ministers Q2 2024-25 Appendices_0.pdf.
6 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2025) Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021–2031 Outcomes Framework: 3rd annual report, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 04 March 2025.
7 Final Report of the Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People with Disability, 29 September 2023, p.155.