Housing Australia Amendment (Accountability) Bill 2025: what it would change and why it was introduced

The short answer

Housing Australia Amendment (Accountability) Bill 2025: what it would change and why it was introduced

The Housing Australia Amendment (Accountability) Bill 2025 is a private senator's bill introduced by Senator Andrew Bragg that would amend the Housing Australia Act 2018 to make ministerial directions under subsection 12(1) — collectively known as the Housing Australia Investment Mandate, which governs programs including the Home Guarantee Scheme — subject to parliamentary disallowance. The bill passed the Senate on 26 March 2026 and was introduced in the House of Representatives the same day. It has not yet been debated or voted on in the House.

This is a federal system guide. State constitutions, parliaments and local-government laws can allocate comparable functions differently.

The useful question is not only “what is the rule?” but also “who administers it, which document controls it, and when might it change?” That distinction prevents an accurate general explanation from becoming wrong advice in a particular election, chamber or policy setting.

Evidence review

What the bill proposes

The Housing Australia Amendment (Accountability) Bill 2025 is a short, single-schedule bill that amends the Housing Australia Act 2018. Its core change is to make ministerial directions issued under subsection 12(1) of that Act subject to the parliamentary disallowance process under section 42 of the Legislation Act 2003.

Currently, directions made under subsection 12(1) — which together constitute the Housing Australia Investment Mandate — are legislative instruments but are expressly exempt from disallowance. The existing Act contains a note stating that these directions are not subject to disallowance. The bill would repeal that note and insert a new subsection 12(4) that expressly overrides any exemption and subjects the directions to disallowance.

The bill also includes an application provision (Item 4 of Schedule 1) that would apply the disallowance regime to all directions made under subsection 12(1) that are in force at commencement, not just future ones. This means the current Housing Australia Investment Mandate — including the rules governing the Home Guarantee Scheme — would become disallowable immediately upon the bill receiving Royal Assent.

The bill contains only four operative items in its single schedule: Item 1 repeals the existing note that says directions are not subject to disallowance; Item 2 makes a consequential renumbering change; Item 3 inserts the new subsection 12(4) making directions disallowable; and Item 4 provides the application provision for existing directions.

Evidence review

The political context: Labor's Home Guarantee Scheme expansion

The Explanatory Memorandum makes clear that the bill was prompted by a specific policy action: on 25 August 2025, the Albanese Labor Government announced a large expansion of the Home Guarantee Scheme (HGS) to take effect from 1 October 2025.

According to the EM, the expansion removed income caps on HGS participants, removed caps on the number of HGS places, and allowed the scheme to be used to purchase more expensive properties. The Explanatory Memorandum characterises these as changes that 'fundamentally alter the original design of this scheme.'

The Home Guarantee Scheme is a Commonwealth program administered by Housing Australia that allows eligible home buyers to purchase a property with a deposit as low as 5 per cent (for the First Home Guarantee) or 2 per cent (for the Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee), with the Commonwealth guaranteeing the remainder of the deposit normally required by lenders. Removing income caps and place limits represents a significant expansion of Commonwealth contingent liability exposure.

Senator Bragg's central argument, as expressed in the EM, is that 'changes of this scope and scale should be subject to the oversight of elected officials' but 'the existing legislation provides that these changes can be made by a simple instrument which is not disallowable.' The bill is designed to close what he characterises as an accountability gap.

Evidence review

What is parliamentary disallowance and why does it matter?

Under the Legislation Act 2003, most legislative instruments made by ministers or other delegated authorities can be 'disallowed' by either House of Parliament within 15 sitting days of being tabled. If a disallowance motion passes, the instrument ceases to have effect.

The disallowance process is one of the key mechanisms by which Parliament exercises oversight of executive action. It allows senators and members to scrutinise the detailed rules made by ministers and, if they consider those rules inappropriate, to veto them.

Currently, ministerial directions to Housing Australia under subsection 12(1) of the Housing Australia Act 2018 are exempt from this process. This means the government of the day can alter the parameters of major housing programs — including eligibility criteria, property price caps, and scheme limits — without giving Parliament the opportunity to veto those changes.

If the bill becomes law, any future changes to the Housing Australia Investment Mandate would be tabled in Parliament and subject to a potential disallowance motion. This would give the crossbench and opposition the opportunity to challenge changes to programs like the Home Guarantee Scheme, the Housing Australia Future Fund Facility, and other elements of Commonwealth housing policy administered by Housing Australia.

Evidence review

Parliamentary progress and current status

The bill was introduced in the Senate by Senator Andrew Bragg on 4 September 2025. The second reading was moved the same day. The bill was debated on three occasions — 30 October 2025, 4 February 2026, and 26 March 2026 — before the second reading was agreed to and the bill passed the Senate on 26 March 2026.

The bill was introduced in the House of Representatives and read a first time on 26 March 2026. As of July 2026, it remains before the House and has not been scheduled for second reading debate.

As a private senator's bill — meaning it was introduced by a senator who is not a minister — the bill does not have guaranteed government support or allocated government time for debate in the House. Private members' and senators' bills face higher hurdles to passage, particularly if the government does not support them.

The bill was introduced in the 48th Parliament. No proposed amendments have been circulated for either chamber.

Evidence review

Human rights compatibility

The Explanatory Memorandum includes a Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights, prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011. The statement concludes that the bill 'does not engage any of the applicable rights or freedoms' recognised in the international instruments listed in section 3 of that Act.

The statement notes that the bill 'is compatible with human rights as it does not raise any human rights issues.' This assessment reflects the bill's procedural nature — it does not change any substantive housing policy outcomes, but rather changes the parliamentary oversight mechanism that applies to ministerial directions.

Common questions

Before you rely on the answer