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Safe, secure and affordable housing is a human right, but Aboriginal people experience homelessness or housing difficulties at a rate higher than non-Aboriginal people. This has been caused by the impacts of systemic disadvantage and intergenerational trauma. Learn about how 'the Gap' was created.
A 2021 report showed that 6.5% of Aboriginal households in social housing were living in housing too small for them, compared to 3.2% of non-Aboriginal households.
The National Agreement on Closing the Gap, commits to ensuring all Aboriginal families live in housing that is the right size for them.
At Homes NSW, we are responsible for reducing overcrowding in social housing.
By 2031, we aim to ensure 88% of Aboriginal people in social housing are living in the right sized housing.
In 2021, 93.5% of Aboriginal people in social housing were living in the right sized housing.
This means we’re on track to reach our goal.
Our goal is to increase the portion of Aboriginal people in social housing who are living in the right sized housing.
This means making sure everyone in social housing has enough space, regardless of how many people live in the home.
There is no universal definition of what constitutes an overcrowded household, so we use the Canadian National Occupancy Standard when we collect our data.
In 2023, the Mobility Research Report was released. The report was designed to help us understand how we can support mobility for Aboriginal people in NSW. The report showed that needing to be away from home for a short or medium period of time is important to Aboriginal people, but the current housing system doesn’t support it. It shows a range of ways we can improve social housing, including:
We’re currently partnering with Aboriginal owned organisations to make those improvements.
Read the report to learn more.
Based on recommendations from the Mobility Research Report, we’re working to embed Aboriginal voices into our housing system.
We’re currently creating an Aboriginal Wellbeing Framework to help the NSW Government support Aboriginal communities with any housing needs. This includes plans to speak to Aboriginal people living in social housing to understand what is important to them, and how we can better support them. It will guide our future work to improve social housing, including embedding a cultural dimension that is currently missing from the way we work. Supporting Aboriginal people with disability is a key focus of the project. Based on the Framework, we will create a survey to measure social housing outcomes and inform our future work.
The Mobility Research Report has indicated that we need to do more to meet the needs of Aboriginal people living in social housing.
The Best Fit project is a program helping people in social housing to find a place to live that is the right size for them. We speak directly to individuals and families to understand their needs, and find a solution together. We’re working with Argyle Housing and Tharawal Housing Aboriginal Corporation on this trial project in the Campbelltown area.
The Aboriginal Housing Office (AHO) is offering funding for Aboriginal people to help them become homeowners. Eligible Aboriginal people can apply for different grants up to $20,000 to go towards buying a home and the associated costs. Find out more and apply for the Grants on the AHO website.
Homes NSW is responsible for social housing, but the national Closing the Gap target is to reduce overcrowding in all forms of housing.
Read more about this target on the Closing the Gap website.
You can see the data for all housing on the Productivity Commission Dashboard.
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