Wednesday 13 May 2026 - With a housing crisis 30 years in the making, the real test of the 2026-27 Federal Budget was whether it would deliver more homes, faster and at lower cost. It falls short.
“Australians demanded a Budget that meets the scale of the housing crisis by lifting the supply of homes but based on the data in the Budget, it falls well short,” AMPLIFY CEO Georgina Harrisson said.
AMPLIFY’s policy platform, launched earlier this year, put forward reforms that could see more than one million new homes and over 500,000 new homeowners delivered over the next decade, putting into context the measures announced in the Federal Budget.
“The Budget includes steps to help more people buy a home and new supports for young, homeless and vulnerable Australians. But this Budget needed to go much further to increase housing supply,” Ms Harrisson said.
“AMPLIFY’s latest forecasts show that Australia will fall 327,000 homes short of the National Housing Accord target of 1.2 million homes. The new Budget measures will only make a modest difference to this shortfall.”
AMPLIFY’s engagement with more than 18,000 Australians over the past 18 months, the largest engagement on housing ever undertaken in this country, has reinforced that Australians are ready for bolder, holistic reform.
“Australians tell us repeatedly they want governments to treat housing like the national crisis it is, with urgency, coordination and follow through, not just announcements,” Ms Harrisson said.
Ms Harrisson said the Budget puts renewed pressure on states to act and signals a shift toward supporting supply and ownership.
“We welcome the investment of the Local Infrastructure Fund and the intention to tie funding to faster approvals, making more land available and delivering a genuinely national construction code. To be effective, these conditions need to be clear, public and binding and the states will need to be held to account so that the full benefits of this measure can be realised,” Ms Harrisson said.
“The Budget also reforms housing taxes. By exempting new housing from negative gearing and capital gains tax changes, these reforms seek to encourage more supply and enable more Australians to become homeowners, with the Budget forecasting an additional 75,000 homeowners over the decade as a result.
“AMPLIFY’s platform sets three tests for housing tax reform: that it be supply-oriented, fiscally neutral, and part of a broader review of all federal and state taxes affecting housing. On early information, the changes are supply-oriented but stop short of the broader review the community calls for.”
Ms Harrisson said AMPLIFY will now engage with the community and experts to work through the proposals, find common ground and advocate on their behalf.
“Australians are ready for bold, long-term reforms to solve the housing crisis. The Budget was a moment for transformative action but instead was a missed opportunity to meaningfully address worker shortages, deliver more social and affordable housing, back modern methods of construction, and lower the cost of construction.
“Put simply, Australians needed this Budget to go further."
-- ENDS --
MEDIA CONTACT
media@amplifyaus.org | 0421 201 315