M2 - Learner Manual

Results from the 2018–19 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Survey (Health Survey) showed that Indigenous Australians were less likely to live in a home owned by a member of the household and were more likely to rent social housing when compared with non-Indigenous Australians.

In 2018–19, 31% (151,560) of Indigenous adults lived in households that were owned or being purchased by a household member (referred to as home owners), 34% rented through social housing (i.e., state or territory housing authority or community housing), and another 33% rented privately through a real estate agent or other arrangements. For non-Indigenous adults, 68% were home owners, 24% rented through a real estate agent or other arrangements, and 3% rented through social housing. 

The proportion of Indigenous adults who were home owners increased from 2002 to 2018–19, from 27% to31%. For the same period, the proportion of Indigenous Australians who rented privately or through other arrangements increased from 24% in 2002 to 33% in 2018–19. Indigenous adults renting through social housing providers decreased from 45% to 34% between 2002 and 2018–19. 

In 2018–19, Indigenous Australians were 3.7 times as likely to be living in overcrowded conditions as non-Indigenous Australians. Eighteen per cent (145,340) of Indigenous Australians were living in housing considered overcrowded, compared with 5% of non-Indigenous Australians. The 2018–19 rate represented a decline in overcrowding since 2004–05, when almost 27% of Indigenous Australians lived in overcrowded households. This reduction in overcrowding also represented a narrowing in the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians (from a gap of 22 percentage points to 13 percentage points)

The 2016 Census found that Indigenous Australians accounted for one-fifth of the homeless population nationally (20% or 23,440 people); that is, among people whose dwelling is considered inadequate, they have no tenure or their initial tenure is short and not extendable, and they have no control of and access to space for social relations. The 2016 rate was down from 26% in 2011. The 2016 Census found that of the total Indigenous population (649,000) 3.6% or 23,440 were homeless, a rate of 361 per 10,000. This decreased from4.9% (26,700) or 487 per 10,000 in 2011

Sourced on 22/3/23: https://www.indigenoushpf.gov.au/measures/2-01-housing