18 May 2026
National polling commissioned by AMPLIFY has found Australians are unconvinced the Federal Budget’s reforms will solve the housing crisis, with half reporting a decline in Government trust post-Budget.
The polling was conducted independently by WOLF+SMITH using a nationally representative sample of 1,002 Australians on 13 May 2026, the night after Treasurer Chalmers handed down the 2026-27 Budget.
Public opinion on the benefits of the housing reforms remains mixed, but Australians are clear about what they want - measures that help homebuyers, don’t push up rents, and that accelerate the number of homes being built.
AMPLIFY CEO Georgina Harrisson said the results reinforce what AMPLIFY has heard through its community engagement: Australians support housing reform but governments have not gone far enough.
“Australians of all generations support housing reform, but they are not yet convinced the Federal Government’s changes will boost supply, better support renters and young people, and help first home buyers get into the market,” Ms Harrisson said.
“Trust matters when it comes to reform, and the data shows that trust has taken a hit following this Budget.
“At the moment, Australians are not rejecting reform - they are questioning whether the proposed changes will actually solve the problem.”
Australians want reform but question effectiveness
The polling shows widespread uncertainty about whether the reforms will achieve their core objective of boosting housing supply.
There is more support than opposition for changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax, but at this stage neither has majority backing. Many Australians remain unsure or unconvinced about their likely impact.
More Australians believe the reforms will be ineffective at addressing housing supply shortages and affordability pressures than believe they will be effective.
This uncertainty extends to key groups the reforms are intended to benefit. Among renters, 25 per cent believe the Budget will be good for them, compared to 39 per cent who think it will be bad.
Among Australians aged 18 to 34, more expect the Budget to leave the country worse off (34 per cent) than better off (31 per cent).
Strong view that Government must do more to boost housing supply
Despite mixed views on specific measures, there is a clear and consistent message about the scale of response required.
A large majority of Australians (78 per cent) say the Government has more to do on housing, while only 11 per cent believe it is doing enough.
When asked where revenue from housing reforms should be directed, the most common response was building more homes (34 per cent), ahead of debt reduction (24 per cent) and tax cuts (21 per cent).
This aligns with broader community expectations that increasing housing supply is the key test of any reform package.
“With a housing crisis three decades in the making, the real test of this Budget was whether it would give Australians confidence the housing crisis could be solved. It has not met that test,” Ms Harrisson said.
“There is only one measure that delivers new supply - 65,000 homes over a decade - and it falls short of the scale required.’”
“Our analysis shows Australia is already 350,000 homes short of what’s needed by 2029 when you factor in updated migration trends. This Budget falls well short of what’s required to close that gap.
“Australians needed this Budget to go further. Without urgent, significant action to boost supply, the housing crisis will only deepen, putting secure, affordable homes further out of reach for too many Australians.”
‘Broken promise’ taints public perception of housing reforms
The data suggests that how the reforms were introduced is playing a significant role in how they are being received.
Nearly 7 in 10 Australians say the fact that changes to negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount were ruled out before the election is important to how they judge the policies.
This is flowing through to broader attitudes towards Government. Half of Australians say the Budget has led to a decline in their level of trust in the Federal Government, while only a small minority report increased trust.
Public sentiment towards the Budget overall is similarly mixed. Just 27 per cent of Australians believe it will be good for the country, compared to 40 per cent who think it will be bad, with a large proportion still undecided.
Ms Harrisson said trust and reform go hand in hand - and without trust, reform becomes far more difficult for governments to achieve.
“Half of Australians say their trust in the Federal Government has declined after the Budget, against a backdrop of already weakening confidence on housing,” Ms Harrisson said.
“Concerns about a broken promise are also shaping broader views of the Budget, with more Australians saying it will be bad for the country than good.
“When commitments are walked back, or the community is left out, the impact goes beyond any single policy.”
Opportunities to reform housing with community support
The polling was conducted the night after the Budget, at a time when many Australians had not yet engaged in detail with the policy settings.
Large proportions of respondents selected “unsure” across multiple questions, indicating that public opinion has not yet settled.
This suggests both risk and opportunity for the Government: trust may continue to decline if concerns are not addressed, but there remains scope to find common ground so housing reform succeeds.
“AMPLIFY’s polling data shows that Australians, in large numbers, remain undecided and unsure of the effectiveness of these reforms. Will they lead to more supply? Will renters be worse off? Will they help more Australians become homeowners? This is what Australians are asking themselves,” Ms Harrisson said.
“The good news is that there is clear agreement that any changes to housing tax settings need to genuinely help homebuyers and increase the number of homes built.
“When it comes to housing, what Australians want is reform that is honest about its aims, credible in its design, and genuinely focused on the thing that will solve the crisis: building more homes.
“The Government has a lot of work to do to properly explain why these reforms will achieve their stated aims of making it easier to buy a home and increasing housing supply.
“AMPLIFY will continue to engage with the community to help find the common ground needed for necessary housing reform to succeed.”