Advocacy

 

Affordable Living Unlocked: Australia's fast growing housing corridors are the solution.

2024/25 Federal Budget Submission

We are leveraging the opportunity of making a submission on the 2024/25 Federal budget submission to ensure that Australia’s fastest growing suburbs are front of mind as the government makes decisions on the 2024/25 budget.

Our submission is based on a single idea: affordable living in growth areas, not just affordable housing.

We are united by our shared vision of creating communities that are resilient, liveable, and thriving.

NGAA Recommendations

The NGAA's recommendations to the Federal government include:

  1. Improve coordination between all levels of government
  2. Implement national settlement forecasting to inform housing targets
  3. Establish a national growth areas infrastructure fund aligned with housing delivery
  4. Develop a National Housing Strategy
  5. Support Resilient Communities

Read our submission here

Five Overarching National Strategies

1 Improve coordination between all levels of government

It is essential to improve the coordination of policies, regulation, and funding between all levels of government to resolve the current disconnect between the responsibilities of the Federal, State and Local Governments. This disconnect is directly impacting the delivery and quality of new communities, and can be resolved by all levels of government working together in genuine collaboration to deliver a cohesive approach to planning, funding, and delivering housing and infrastructure to new communities.

2 Implement national settlement forecasting to inform housing targets

National settlement forecasting should be used to inform the new housing targets for each state and territory as part of the National Housing Accord. In our view, this is crucial to enable appropriate forward planning for new housing in the preferred settlement locations to meet future demand, and the corresponding funding required to deliver the associated infrastructure. This information can also be used to better understand the future community to enable the planning and delivery of culturally appropriate health, education and community services.

3 Establish a national growth areas infrastructure fund aligned with housing delivery

A coherent, systematic and targeted growth areas infrastructure fund that specifically addresses the urgent needs of fast-growing outer suburbs is key to supporting the fastest growing suburbs in Australia. The infrastructure fund is required to rectify the chronic lag of infrastructure and services in growth areas which is a common problem across Australian cities and is recognised as a long-standing urban policy challenge. Looking forward, the infrastructure fund must be aligned with settlement forecasting so that infrastructure is delivered alongside new housing in preferred settlement locations to meet demand.

4 Develop a national housing strategy

We recommend the Federal Government build on the National Housing Accord and develop a National Housing Strategy informed by, and aligned with, the proposed overall national settlement forecasting. A National Housing Strategy would sit alongside the National Housing and Homelessness Plan and provide the overarching strategic direction for the location, density, and diversity of new housing across Australia. This will ensure housing is prioritised and directed to locations where there is the highest forecast population growth, and it is aligned with appropriate infrastructure funding and delivery.

5 Support resilient communities 

National policy leadership is required to shift the focus from delivering affordable housing to supporting affordable living. This must be supported by long-term funding commitments to deliver the infrastructure and services required to support affordable living and create communities that are resilient, liveable, and thriving. Creating resilient communities requires a comprehensive national approach, with all levels of government working together to address the distribution of people, jobs, houses, essential services and infrastructure around Australia.

NGAA policy pillars

Our advocacy is based on four policy pillars for future policy and investment decisions to support growth areas and the nation.

  • Growth area communities – under the radar with underfunded infrastructure
  • Revitalise Australia’s economic engine room in the outer suburbs
  • Community recovery and resilience in Australia’s suburban heartland
  • Understand the unique circumstances of growth area communities
  • Well-planned sustainable development optimising community and liveability, not developer profit margins

Each year we review our Policy Platform to reflect changes in the legislative, political, planning and delivery environment. 

Previous Advocacy Campaigns

Catch Up with The Outer Suburbs

In the lead up to the 2019 Federal Election, residents of fast growing outer suburbs called on politicians to Catch Up with the outer suburbs with roads, transport and community facilities to keep pace with our booming communities.

National Nightmare Commute Day

Our hallmark national event gives residents of fast-growing outer suburbs the chance to share their #nightmarecommute stories on social media. In 2016, 2017 and 2019, #nightmarecommute trended during the morning peak hour, and received widespread national media coverage. Watch our videos here.