State Government owned housing (also called “public housing”) is the largest source of affordable housing for Indigenous families and households. On 30 June 2013, there were 30,774 Indigenous families living in public housing.
The following programmes are delivered through the Department of Social Services but are also used by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA) programme helps people pay their rent if they live in private or community housing.
In 2008, the Australian Government joined with the states and territories to start the National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS). NRAS offers funding to organisations to build and rent homes to low and moderate income households at a rate at least 20 per cent cheaper than the average rent for a similar place in the area.
The Housing Affordability Fund was created to reduce the cost of new homes for homebuyers.
