National Housing and Homelessness Agreement

The National Housing and Homelessness Agreement (NHHA) commenced on 1 July 2018 and provides around $1.6 billion each year to states and territories to improve Australians’ access to secure and affordable housing across the housing spectrum.

The NHHA includes $129 million set aside for homelessness services in 2020-21. States and territories will match this funding.

Under the NHHA, to receive funding, state and territory governments are required to have publicly available housing and homelessness strategies and contribute to improved data collection and reporting.

The housing strategies must address the NHHA housing priority policy areas relevant to the state or territory. The housing priority policy areas include:

  • affordable housing,
  • social housing,
  • encouraging growth and supporting the viability of the community housing sector,
  • tenancy reform,
  • home ownership and
  • planning and zoning reform initiatives.

The homelessness strategies must address the NHHA priority cohorts, and outline reforms or initiatives that reduce the incidence of homelessness. Priority homelessness cohorts include:

  • women and children affected by family and domestic violence,
  • children and young people,
  • Indigenous Australians,
  • people experiencing repeat homelessness,
  • people exiting from care or institutions into homelessness and
  • older people.

The NHHA can be found at the The National Housing and Homelessness Agreement | Federal Financial Relations webpage.

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