The Australian Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) has finally passed parliament after the Albanese government struck a deal with the Greens.
PM Anthony Albanese classified the HAFF as the biggest-ever investment into affordable housing in Australian history.
The Housing Australia Future Fund is a $10 billion investment fund the government will create, with the returns each year used to create social and affordable housing.
The $10 billion will go into an investment fund and each year, the returns from that fund – i.e. how much it earns on the stock market – will be used to fund the construction of new housing.
n addition to paying for the construction of new homes, the government also says the fund’s returns will provide:
- $200 million to repair, maintain and improve remote Indigenous community housing
- $100 million for crisis and transitional housing for women and children impacted by family and domestic violence, as well as older women at risk of homelessness
- $30 million to build housing for veterans who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness
Also as a result of negotiations between the Greens and Labor, the government announced $3 billion in direct spending on public and community housing, although these funds are separate from the HAFF.
The government is promising 4000 of those homes will be for women and children impacted by domestic violence or older women at risk of homelessness. It has also pinpointed veterans, key workers and “those most in need” as recipients of the new housing without going into more detail.