There’s a good chance you’re among the big majority of people in Australia who think housing is an essential service, believe everyone deserves a roof over their head, and fear an entire generation of renters will never be able to afford to buy a home. We know how strongly the community feels about these issues because, along with Anika Legal and the Consumer Policy Research Centre, we asked over a thousand people what they think about our housing system. 

The results helped inform our landmark report, Essential Homes: Why renting is an essential service. We envision a future in which governments hold landlords accountable for delivering an essential service and protect renters. But in the present, governments around Australia have left housing completely up to the market and failed to hold landlords to these expectations we now know are widespread. The direct consequence of this inaction is that too many renters are living in homes that are unstable, unaffordable, and unhealthy.

We need governments to step up and take action. Essential Homes outlines how they can recognise renting as the essential service it is, setting out the policy reforms that would ensure renters live in stable, affordable, and comfortable homes. We've outlined policies that we found people living in Australia overwhelmingly agree with—often even landlords.

Read the full report below, or open it in a new tab here → Essential Homes