Welcome

National Shelter is Australia’s peak housing advocacy organisation.

We are dedicated to advocating for a fairer, more just housing system, particularly for low-income Australian households. We aim to make housing more accessible, affordable, appropriate, safe and secure for everyone.

Shelter members in each state and territory contribute to our research, policy development and advocacy. Our federation of members and national member organisations represent a wide range of non-government housing organisations and individuals.

We see Australia as facing four key housing challenges in 2013:

• making housing more affordable
• reforming the private rental market
• combatting homelessness, and
• revitalising social housing.

What's new

In our submission on the Exposure Draft Social Security Legislation Amendment (Public Housing Tenants’ Support) Bill 2013, we express our lack of support for the introduction to the Housing Payment Deduction Scheme. We think that the scheme unnecessarily and unfairly targets a very small proportion of households, and we recommend that all levels of government fund further preventative and capacity-building measures so that households are much less likely to have rental arrears. See our submission.

We have updated our quick guide to national housing data, the Housing Australia factsheet.

In a media release issued on 28 March 2013, we welcomed the Commonwealth, state and territory governments’ commitment to ending homelessness (regarding 2013–14 funding under the National Partnership on Homelessness) and the announcement of a Round 5 of incentives under the National Rental Affordability Scheme.

On 30 October 2012, on the eve of the National Housing Conference, National Shelter launched its new policy priorities statement, 'Meeting housing challenges'. In a media release issued to mark the launch, National Shelter called on the federal government to develop a national housing strategy. Read the final summary or the draft long version of the policy priorities statement.

Sick of housing jargon? See our housing terms factsheet.

We support Australians For Affordable Housing — a coalition of national housing, welfare and community sector organisations formed to highlight the problem of housing affordability in Australia — and we urge you to support their campaign.