Compliance in Housing Sector’s Contributions to Sustainable Development Goals

This paper examines the alignment of Australia’s federal housing-related legal instruments with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), focusing on three key legal instruments. Using a statutory clause mapping method, this study identifies how specific provisions of these instruments correspond to SDG targets on affordable housing, energy efficiency, and climate resilience. The analysis reveals that while each instrument contributes to SDG progress, significant gaps remain. These include limited coverage of existing housing stock within energy-efficiency schemes, insufficient integration of sustainability criteria into housing funding mechanisms, and fragmented governance across jurisdictions. The study further discusses structural weaknesses such as enforcement deficits and policy silos that hinder SDG outcomes and proposes clause-level legal reforms to strengthen accountability. This research demonstrates a novel approach to evaluating legal compliance with the SDGs and offers insights for aligning housing governance with global sustainability targets in Australia and beyond.