The Reluctant Landlords? A History of Public Housing in Australia

This paper explores the history of public housing in Australia. Four key phases are identified. In each phase I examine the degree of support Commonwealth, State and Local governments have given to public housing, and the various pressures that have helped shape the formation of public housing policies. The paper takes as its point of departure the popular view that the golden age in public housing was the period from 1945 to 1956, during which time the first Commonwealth State Housing Agreement (CSHA) is said to have laid the foundation for a large scale, viable public housing system. A succession of CSHAs since that time are said to have crippled the history of public housing in this country, with the emphasis of housing policy being shifted toward support for home ownership. This paper takes issue with this view. By following the quite different paths of development of the State Housing Authorities, we see that the decade to 1956 was neither as significant as some claim it to be, nor was ita decade to which we were likely ever to be able to return. The long term history of public housing in Australia is one in which successive Governments have at best been reluctant landlords, and the period from 1945 to 1956 is best understood as a partial exception to this general trend.