Revealing the human side of why some people need social housing

Although federal and state governments have recognised the desperate need for more social housing and homes are being constructed (and demolished), the waiting list for social housing continues to grow. In NSW the number of “applicant households on the NSW Housing Register” (the official term for the waiting list) has increased from 66,698 (11,411 were on the priority list) in May 2025 to 70,257 (13,293 were on the priority list) in May 2026. To have any chance of accessing social housing within a reasonable time-frame applicants (waitees) invariably need  to be on the priority list. For example if a waitee chooses Mount Druitt as their “allocation zone” the waiting period for waitees on the general waiting list is 5 to 10 years for a studio or 1-bedroom property. 

Despite the immense difficulties around accessing social housing, people continue to apply. This article, drawing on 75 interviews conducted with waitees in NSW, Queensland and Tasmania, outlines why people apply for social housing. Not surprisingly the interviews indicated that people apply for several interrelated reasons. However, the fundamental motivation is that they conclude that accessing social housing will resolve or at least dissipate their extreme precarity. 

Waitees reliant on the private rental sector (PRS) 

Many of the waitees interviewed were reliant on the PRS. The cost and the insecurity of the PRS evoked enormous anxiety. Social housing was viewed as an exceptionally positive alternative as it was perceived as offering affordable, secure and hopefully adequate accommodation. Sophie (all the names used are pseudonyms) described how she could not afford basic items whilst renting. She was reliant solely on her government benefit (caring allowance) of around $550 a week. Her rent was $365 a week:  

I have a child with disability. I have to take him to like therapy, after childcare, you know, so much money. I have to buy food and medication. Sometimes it was quite difficult … It was quite embarrassing seeking help, but sometimes I had to because we had no food in the cupboard you know. It was like either I buy medication or buy a meal. Which one do you choose? … So obviously the medication for my son is important, so yeah.

Eventually she gave up her private rental and moved in with friends and then reluctantly with her father. 

Jill first applied for social housing as a single parent after her divorce in the early 2000s. At the time of the interview she was reliant on the Disability Support Pension: 

"Marriage broke up and, of course, I put my name down for a home. … So I was just doing private rentals, hoping I’d get something [social housing]. Never got a thing … and then I ended up getting a job … which was good for a few years. Then they took me off the [waiting] list there because of my income, and then I got ill. I went back on it. 

I ended up moving in with my mum who now is 91 and my daughter’s still with me. She’s 29 … and we share a bed … Yeah, she sleeps with me in my bed. It’s just a two-bedroom unit. It’s been really tough for the last 20 years and I’ve been waiting [for social housing] for a long time. … But yeah, we just share a very small room, which is really not appropriate."

Their low income meant that the capacity of waitees to access decent accommodation in the PRS was limited. Lynne and Jack were both reliant on the DSP for their income. They have four children and were forced to move from one dangerous situation to another: 

"Yeah, you knew it [the house] wasn’t far from either needing to be fixed or it was going to fall down.  …  We couldn’t stay, we just couldn’t. It was getting dangerous. … It was just scary."

Their next property was as rundown:

"We ended up moving out of there, because we found asbestos and … and the mould, and it was just – we were sick all the time. It was just getting too difficult to stay." 

Social housing was viewed as secure accommodation. Emily was constantly anxious about the possibility of being forced to vacate her rental. She had had a couple of bad experiences where she had had to leave her accommodation after the property was sold. When asked, “What led you to apply for social housing”, she responded,     

"I just wanted to feel a bit of security. That I would not be asked to leave, or you know once you get settled, I was in that place in Hobart for nine years before, they said, 'Oh well, we've retired now, we want to sell'."

Waitees who have escaped family and domestic violence (FDV) 

The data indicate that a large proportion of people who approach Specialist homelessness services (SHS) in Australia have experienced family and domestic violence (FDV); in 2024-25, 117,00 people assisted by SHS (two in five SHS clients) had experienced FDV (AIHW, 2025). Of the 75 waitees interviewed at least 22 were women who had escaped FDV. Most were living in emergency housing.  

Lucy had left her private rental property with her three children due to FDV. Her lack of stable and safe accommodation had led to her children being removed. She was desperate to access social housing:  

"Okay, so I'm 40 years old. I'm single. I've been on the housing waiting list for about seven years. I'm currently facing homelessness again in about seven weeks.  At the moment, I'm in transitional housing. My last period of homelessness was just before Christmas … I have three children. Now, because of all the instability DOCS have removed them from my care because I was, I guess, somebody who suffered from DV on a regular basis …  So in the last three months I've had my children removed from my care because I'm waiting for a house, a safe house …" 

Glenda was reliant on the DSP and had escaped DFV. She craved the stability that social housing offered:  

I want to know that I can finally like [settle]. I'm sick of f…ing moving. I always move because of bloody domestic violence and I'm sick of moving and the rents keep going up and I didn’t even buy wardrobes or anything … I just want to know that I can settle, that I'm not going to have to move because I can't afford rent.

The interviews showed that social housing was desperately desired. The waitees and their families were forced to live in highly precarious situations that had a major impact on their capacity to lead a decent life.