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Many Australians are feeling the pressure as they juggle trying to save for a home at the same time as paying more for basics including food, power and transport.
There are also those struggling to keep up with their mortgage repayments after being hit by 13 interest rate rises since May 2022, and still others unable to find even the most basic of properties to rent.
The government is under community and opposition pressure to provide solutions and among a number of other schemes, last year announced the Help to Buy Scheme which is currently before parliament.
In the second part of The Conversation’s series on the housing crisis, Brendan Coates, the Grattan Institute’s economic policy director assesses the scheme. If passed, the government will contribute up to 40% of the price of a new home and up to 30% for an existing dwelling. Buyers will need a minimum deposit of 2%.
However, as Coates outlines, there are some issues with the scheme, which could be improved by a few simple changes.
Other pieces to be published this week include one by economist John Hawkins on what impact he thinks the interest rate cuts expected in the next 12 months will have on the housing market, while Michelle Cull from the University of Western Sydney explains negative gearing and how it affects housing stock.
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Margaret Easterbrook
Business Editor
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Brendan Coates, Grattan Institute
A new government housing assistance scheme risks becoming a lottery because many more people are eligible than the 10,000 places available each year.
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Hunter Fujak, Deakin University; Heath McDonald, RMIT University
New research sheds light on the reasons why many people dislike sport in a sport-mad nation.
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Robert Hortle, University of Tasmania; Lachlan Johnson, University of Tasmania
Australia’s approach to estimating bushfire emissions is credible and sophisticated. But it must be refined as technology improves and the climate changes.
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Mohammad Nure Alam, Macquarie University; Kompal Sinha, Macquarie University; Piers Dawes, The University of Queensland
This is both a result of social inequality, and an issue that could widen disparities further.
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Margarita Vladimirova, Deakin University
Our facial information is sensitive – yet companies and individuals can collect, sell and manipulate it without our consent. Australian law must change to protect us all.
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Jay Marlowe, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
Palestinian families in New Zealand are poised to sponsor relatives trying to flee Gaza. National-led governments have allowed such intakes in past crises – and here’s how it could work now.
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Gemma King, Australian National University
Although not a true sign language, the use of sign in Dune can still teach us a lesson about the value of sign language.
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Raymond Boyle, University of Glasgow; Richard Haynes, University of Stirling
Drive to Survive is one of the streamer’s most successful shows.
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Politics + Society
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
The prime minister said ‘there is so much untapped potential’ in the region of 650 million people to the north of Australia, but ‘not unlimited time.’
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Greg Austin, University of Technology Sydney
ASIO is effective in defeating threats and being transparent in reporting on them, but its latest annual threat assessment leaves room to question its strategic priorities.
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Environment + Energy
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Katherine Warwick, Western Sydney University; Ian A. Wright, Western Sydney University; Michelle Ryan, Western Sydney University
Platypuses are drowning in Australian waterways, tangled in fishing line and trapped in closed nets meant for freshwater crayfish or yabbies. But we can fix this.
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Matthew Hall, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington
Consumer NZ’s case against Z Energy under the Fair Trading Act may be a sign of things to come. But new legislation would be a cleaner way to regulate fossil fuel advertising.
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Anthony Rendall, Deakin University; Amy Coetsee, The University of Melbourne; Aviya Naccarella, Deakin University; Euan Ritchie, Deakin University
Translocation may have been the key to survival for the eastern barred bandicoot but it might not be the golden ticket for every species.
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Arts + Culture
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Alexander Howard, University of Sydney
While there is much to praise in The Lehman Trilogy, now playing in Sydney, the impression I was left with was one of a missed opportunity.
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Books + Ideas
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Alice Gorman, Flinders University
Alice B. Toklas and her partner, the influential modernist writer Gertrude Stein, hosted a celebrated Paris salon. Toklas would go on to write an unusual bestseller.
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Kristopher Wilson, University of Technology Sydney
Mykaela Saunders’ Indigenous speculative fiction collection Always Will Be, published in the year following the failed referendum, is a very timely endeavour.
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Business + Economy
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Flavio Macau, Edith Cowan University
Ingredients, manufacturing, transportation and marketing factor into higher prices for allergen-free products.
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