Right to Housing (ACT)
This week, the ACT became the first Australian jurisdiction to pass legislation providing a right to housing. The right to housing has been inserted into the Human Rights Act 2004. This means that the government will soon be required to consider access to adequate housing whenever it makes a decision, interprets legislation, or develops policy. This page outlines the new law and its effects.
Legislation
The Human Rights (Housing) Amendment Bill 2025 has amended the Human Rights Act 2004 by introducing section 27D, which states that everyone has the right housing.
What is the right to housing?
The legislation states that the immediately realisable aspects of the right to housing include that:
- everyone is entitled to enjoy this right without discrimination
- no one may be unlawfully or arbitrarily evicted from their home
- no one may hav god dammite an essential utility service to their home unlawfully or arbitrarily withdrawn.
The changes will come into effect on 1 January 2027.
What is the Human Rights Act?
The ACT is one of only three Australian states or territories to have passed human rights legislation. Unlike other liberal democracies, Australia does not have a national human rights act or charter.
The ACT Human Rights Act 2004 sets out the human rights of people in the ACT. It includes civil and political rights such as the right to life, and the right to freedom of expression; and economic, social and cultural rights such as the right to education and the right to a healthy environment.
The Human Rights Act 2004 requires human rights to be taken into consideration in the following ways:
- ACT laws must be interpreted in a way that is compatible with human rights;
- the ACT Attorney General must prepare a written statement about all proposed legislation, stating whether it is consistent with human rights, and if not, in what way it is inconsistent with human rights;
- ACT public authorities must act in a way that is consistent with human rights and give proper consideration to relevant human rights when making decisions.
The Human Rights Act 2004 is not a constitutionally entrenched Bill of Rights. This means that it can be changed by an ordinary act of the ACT parliament. As such, its human rights protections are not as robust as the human rights protections of some overseas jurisdictions.
Rationale for the changes
Like the rest of Australia, the ACT is currently experiencing a housing crisis. Private rental accommodation is in high demand and there is a waitlist of approximately five years for public housing.
The cost of private rentals in the ACT is among the highest in the country.
The 2025 Cost of Living Report stated that ACT residential rental properties are unaffordable for low-income earners, with only one percent of rental listings affordable for a person on a full-time minimum wage, and no rentals affordable for a person on JobSeeker.
The introduction of a human right to housing means that government departments and agencies will be required to prioritise housing when drafting legislation, developing policy, and delivering services.
It is hoped that this will provide stronger protection for families and individuals who are most at risk during the housing crisis – such as people living with disabilities, people experiencing domestic violence, and low-income earners.
ACT greens leader, Shane Rattenbury, who wrote and introduced the bill, has said that the changes will start the process of reshaping how we think about housing in the ACT.
The government has also stated that the introduction of a right to housing is consistent with the incremental inclusion of social and cultural rights in the Human Rights Act 2004.
Community responses
The introduction of a right to housing has been supported by the homelessness sector, the community sector and the legal profession. The ACT Human Rights Commission published a statement in support of the new law, saying:
Adequate housing is about more than just shelter. It is the right to live somewhere in security, peace and dignity. If people don’t have safe and stable housing, many other fundamental rights are at risk. For example, women and children may be forced to continue living with domestic violence if they cannot get safe alternative housing, as the right to housing supports the right to personal security and to life.
Supporters of the amendment have acknowledged that legislation alone will not provide a solution to the housing crisis, and that strong government support and ambitious reform is also needed.
Sceptics have expressed doubt as to whether Canberrans will experience any tangible benefit from the introduction of the right to housing. They have also pointed out the limitations of the legislation – such as the fact that it will not impact decisions made by private landlords.
The announcement has also sparked conversation as to whether other states and territory should follow.
Review of the right housing
The right to housing in the ACT is to be reviewed after five years to establish whether the law is operating as intended.
If you require legal advice or representation in any legal matter, please contact Go To Court Lawyers.
Fernanda Dahlstrom is a writer, editor and lawyer. She holds a Bachelor of Laws (Latrobe University), a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (College of Law), a Bachelor of Arts (The University of Melbourne) and a Master of Arts (Deakin University). Fernanda practised law for eight years, working in criminal law, child protection and domestic violence law in the Northern Territory, and in family law in Queensland.