Housing News Digest
Housing News Digest
The Tenants' Union Housing News Digest compiles our pick of items from all the latest tenancy and housing media, sent once per week, on Thursdays.
Below is the Digest archive from November 2020 onwards. From time to time you will find additional items in the archive that did not make it into the weekly Digest email. Earlier archives are here, where you can also find additional digests by other organisations.
Our main email newsletter, Tenant News is sent once every two months. You can subscribe or update your subscription preferences for any of our email newsletters here.
See notes about the Digest and a list of other contributors here. Many thanks to those contributors for sharing links with us.
We love sharing the news and hope you find it informative! We're very happy to deliver it for free, but if you find it valuable, can you help cover the extra costs incurred by making a donation?
Archive
New target not good enough, says Parents for Climate
Ivona Rose Coast Community News (No paywall)Australia’s new 2035 climate target has sparked debate, with warnings that Central Coast communities are among the most exposed to worsening climate impacts. The Federal Government last week committed to reducing national emissions by 62–70% by 2035, a target Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is due to present at the United Nations this week. The release coincided with the National Climate Risk Assessment (NCRA), commissioned by the Federal Government, which identified sea level rise and increased coastal hazards as major threats for NSW, alongside risks from changes to the East Australia Current.
https://coastcommunitynews.com.au/central-coast/news/2025/09/new…
# NSW, Disasters.How do you get solar panels if you live in an apartment block?
Huw Bradshaw North Shore Lorikeet (No paywall)Last year, more than 300,000 rooftop solar systems were installed across Australia. But what if you don’t exactly own your roof? In Australian strata buildings, the uptake of solar panels and other sustainability upgrades pales in comparison to the national average. While it’s estimated that about 38 percent of Australian homes have installed solar panels, the average uptake for Sydney strata buildings is about 3.5 percent. Lacking the autonomy granted in standalone properties, the installation of sustainability upgrades — not just solar panels, but also home batteries, electric hot water systems and EV charging stations — may seem an incredibly complicated process for strata residents.
https://www.northshorelorikeet.com.au/p/how-do-you-get-solar-pan…
# NSW, Strata.106 Years Ago She Predicted Today’s Housing Crisis. What if we’d Listened?
Benjamin Schneider Planetizen (No paywall)In 1919, Edith Elmer Wood drew the connection between ratcheting minimum housing standards and an inevitable crisis of homelessness. Her predictions have proved eerily accurate. In the media and online, debates about the root cause of America’s housing crisis are often cast as a struggle between those who believe overly-restrictive regulations are to blame, and those who believe the problem is a lack of government funding for affordable housing. This simplistic narrative, often pitting YIMBYs against housing justice advocates, has never captured either position very well. Progressive YIMBYs, in particular, have been crying “both and” for years in the din of the Twitter thunderdome.
https://www.planetizen.com/features/136015-106-years-ago-she-pre…
# Hot topic, History Australia, Public and community housing.Addressing Australia's housing crisis is a mammoth task. Is making housing a human right the answer?
Monte Bovill ABC (No paywall)It's never been done in Australia before — enshrining housing as a human right. But it's a concept that will soon become a reality in the ACT. The territory's Legislative Assembly unanimously passed legislation this week that will require the government to consider access to adequate housing in all of its decisions and policymaking. It's a move that might bring hope to the more than 3,400 approved applicants on the ACT's public housing waitlist, who are waiting about five years on average.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-21/housing-human-right-law-a…
# Australia, .'Values-aligned' partners critical to growing Aboriginal housing - Birribee Housing chief executive Paul Coe
Giovanni Torre National Indigenous Times (No paywall)Birribee Housing chief executive Paul Coe was among the many Indigenous experts and leaders at the recent National First Nations Housing & Homelessness Forum. Mr Coe gave a keynote speech, 'Mainstream Partnerships and Supply for Sustainable Indigenous Housing', with a focus on the importance of distributed support in housing supply and maintenance; processes and documentation; and mainstream housing provider partnerships. He also spoke on the work of Birribee serving communities in New South Wales.
https://nit.com.au/24-09-2025/20354/paul-coe-aboriginal-housing
# Australia, Aboriginal renters.The retiree wealth divide: $1.7m for owners, much less for renters
Michael Read Australian Financial Review (Paywall)The average home-owning retiree is now worth almost $1.7 million – six times more than a retired renter – according to a new report warning that superannuation alone will not be enough to spare more Australians from a financially precarious retirement. The findings were included in the Melbourne Institute’s latest Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey, which has tracked nearly 9000 households and 16,000 individuals for more than two decades.
https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/the-retiree-wealth-divide-1-7…
# Australia, .Strategies for Housing Policy Change
Australian Fabians (No paywall)This was NOT a panel discussion about big policy ideas for housing policy but how it is that we can build power to actually bring about change. Members included Sarah McKenzie, Director of Policy and Research at Per Capita and Deputy Mayor of Yarra City Council; Will van den Wall Bake is National Research and Policy Officer and WA branch delegate with the Renters and Housing Union Australia and Phil O'Donoghue, formerly of the Welfare Rights and Advocacy Service and Deputy Director of the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS).
# Hot topic, Video Australia, Public and community housing, Rent.Housing is now a Human Right in Canberra: What does that mean?
Joseph Mann Woroni (No paywall)On Wednesday, August 17th, the Legislative Assembly passed a private member’s bill moved by Greens leader Shane Rattenbury to amend the Human Rights Act 2004 to add a “right to adequate housing”. The new right will come into legal effect on 1 January 2026. The new right includes reference to “adequate” housing as well as a general prohibition on discrimination in providing housing, arbitrary evictions and withdrawal of utilities.
https://www.woroni.com.au/news/housing-is-now-a-human-right-in-c…
# Hot topic Australia, .