Three priorities at the 2025 Federal Election
We're calling on the government to prioritise safe housing, end poverty, and support for young people.
Ahead of the 2025 Federal Election, we’re calling on all candidates and parties to invest in safe and affordable housing, support young people, and end poverty and homelessness in Australia. To help build a fair future for all, here are our three priority areas at the 2025 Federal Election.
1. Everyone has a safe and affordable home
In Australia, more than 122,000 people experience homelessness on any given night.1 In recent years, the number of Australians who are homeless or at risk of homelessness has increased by 63% between 2016 and 2022.2 Over the past year, Mission Australia's frontline teams saw a 19% increase in demand from people seeking support from our homelessness services.3
To address the growing homelessness crisis, the government should focus on investment into social and affordable housing, and homelessness prevention and early intervention. This ensures that everyone has a home and that homelessness is rare, brief and non-recurring.
We’re calling on the government to implement the following measures:
- Build more social and affordable housing: Boost social and affordable homes to 10% of all housing stock. Mandate a portion of affordable homes in all new large-scale apartment developments across Australia.
- Create a $500 million Prevention Transformation Fund: Shift the homelessness system from a crisis-driven approach to one that actively prevents homelessness before it occurs.
2. Boost assistance so no one lives in poverty
No one in Australia should be without a safe home or live in poverty. To create a more equitable tomorrow, we urge the government to:
- Increase support payments: Raise the rate of Jobseeker and other income support payments to at least $82 a day. Increase Commonwealth Rent Assistance by 60% and ensure it remains effective.
- End child poverty: Legislate an end to child poverty and prioritise children in the Measuring What Matters national wellbeing framework.
“Preventative measures and early intervention benefit not only people in need but support flourishing communities and greater economic participation and resilience.”
3. Support for young people facing adversity
Young people are overrepresented in the homeless population, making up almost a quarter of all homeless people.4 In 2023–24, 53,000 young people sought support from homelessness services like ours.
At Mission Australia, we know the severe impact that homelessness can have on young people and their future. Ahead of the 2025 Federal Election, we’re calling on the government to provide critical intervention through the following policies:
- Additional funding: Provide 15,000 youth tenancies each year across Australia to meet demand for medium- to long-term housing. Fund additional alcohol and drug recovery services and aftercare supports.
- Invest in Youth Foyers: Allocate $184 million to build ten new 40-unit Youth Foyers over the next three years, offering vital housing, education and employment opportunities.
1 ABS Census of Population and Housing: Estimating Homelessness, 2021
2 Report on Government Services 2024 Housing and Homelessness, Productivity Commission
3 Mission Australia Homelessness Impact Report, 2024
4 Specialist Homelessness Services Annual Report, AIHW, 2023–24