Queensland public housing failures censured

Tens of thousands of Queenslanders are languishing on the public housing waitlist because the state government is failing to build enough homes or manage existing stock properly, the auditor-general has found.

Queensland Housing Minister Leeanne Enoch. Picture: Morgan Burley

Tens of thousands of Queenslanders are languishing on the public housing waitlist because the state government is failing to build enough homes or manage existing stock properly, the state auditor-general has found.

There are 30,922 households on the state’s ballooning housing register, which has grown by 78 per cent in the past four years.

The Palaszczuk government plans to start building another 6365 homes by 2025, but ­Auditor-General Brendan Worrall said it would not be enough to meet demand.

“These dwellings alone will not be sufficient as growth of the register is likely to accelerate with rising interest rates and a tightening rental market,” Mr Worrall said in a report released on Tuesday.

About 15 per cent of homes have spare bedrooms with no requirement for tenants to move to smaller dwellings if people move out. The department also has no process to identify residents who could transition to private rentals or home ownership with the right support.

“This could free housing for applicants on the register,” Mr Worrall wrote.

It is an average two-year wait for social housing in Queensland, which are rentals fully or partly funded by government.

About 61 per cent of households on the register are in “very high need” while 39 per cent could not be contacted or had inactive applications that should be reviewed and removed if no longer eligible.

The department does not forecast future public housing need in Queensland, which is expected to explode with cost-of-living pressure and interest rate hikes aimed at bringing inflation under control.

“As the private rental market becomes more competitive, many Queenslanders will struggle to access secure and affordable housing,” Mr Worrall wrote.

“This may be compounded by the increasing cost of living, interstate migration, natural dis­asters, and major events such as the 2032 Olympics.”

The report concluded: “The department’s current processes to manage the housing register are not effective”.

It made eight recommen­dations, calling on government to regularly review and update the waitlist, model for future demand and better transition those tenants who were able to move out of public housing. All eight were accepted by Housing Minister Leeanne Enoch.