Greens to introduce new law to enshrine housing as a human right in the ACT

The ACT Greens will introduce new legislation to enshrine housing as a basic human right in the capital.

In Australia, there is no legal right to housing in any state or territory legislation or constitution. If the Greens proposal is successful, the ACT would become the first jurisdiction to do so.

“Like education or healthcare, affordable housing is an essential service and key to living a life with dignity,” ACT Greens leader Shane Rattenbury said.

“This legislation put forward by the Greens reflects a practical way we can focus the priorities of the government, ensuring that the government properly considers housing affordability in decision making.”

The Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) states that such a law would not compel the government to provide or build a house for every ACT resident. The idea behind the draft bill is to give the issue of affordable housing a greater prominence.

“[Under this proposal], when legislation is introduced in the Assembly, the government will need to consider the human right to housing, which includes the impact on security of tenure for Canberrans, affordability, services like water and electricity, accessibility, location and cultural adequacy,” Mr Rattenbury said.

“It is my hope this legislation will start a conversation both within and outside the government about the level of change that is needed to prioritise building homes for people over the private profit of property investors and companies.”

Joel Dignam, executive director of the advocacy group Better Renting, says he’s interested in seeing what practical difference this law would make for people on the ground.

“I think it will prompt our members of the Assembly in the short-term to think about housing in terms of what they’re doing and not doing in terms of housing,” he said.

“Housing should be sitting alongside sewerage, water systems and schools as something as a government duty to make all people have access to.

“I wouldn’t expect this to turn things around overnight; just putting this in legislation will not solve the problem, and I don’t think it’s intended to … it shows that this is an area that government has a duty and isn’t meeting its standard.

“Setting up these accountability structures puts in place the infrastructure to get the policy change that we ultimately want to see.”

To pass this bill, the Greens will need the support of Labor, the Liberals and two independents.

Independent MLA Thomas Emerson says his vote for or against this legislation will depend on what it can achieve.

“I’ve focused my negotiations with the government on increasing the proportion of social housing stock in the ACT, which has been going backwards for years. The key question is whether or not this piece of legislation will lead to the construction of more social housing. If it does, I’m all for it,” he said.

Mr Rattenbury says he wants to change the way politicians think about housing.

“For too long, politicians across the nation have treated the government’s role in the housing market as providing for private profit rather than safeguarding our community from the skyrocketing cost of finding and keeping a home,” he said.

“Now more than ever, in the middle of the most urgent housing crisis in living memory, we need to think about housing differently.

“We need to set the groundwork for a complete rethink of the government’s role in the housing market, providing a starting point for deeper, more ambitious discussions about how the government can provide truly affordable homes.”

A copy of the draft legislation and an associated discussion paper can be found on the ACT Greens website.