Minister for Housing and Public Works and Minister for Youth The Honourable Sam O’Connor
Tenant Reviews Expose Wealthy in Social Housing
- The Crisafulli Government is delivering fairness as public housing tenants have rent reduced after years of paying too much under Labor.
- Queenslanders have now seen 10 months of delivering under the Crisafulli Government, after 10 years of decline under Labor.
- More than 2,000 reviews have been initiated since 1 July, with 76 households identified as high-income and 9 public housing tenants identified as owning property.
- Tenants able to live in taxpayer funded housing despite being above eligibility income threshold, while tens of thousands of vulnerable Queenslanders were stuck on Labor’s social housing waitlist.
The Crisafulli Government’s return of tenancy and rent reviews is already exposing how broken Labor’s social housing system was – and delivering fairer outcomes for the most vulnerable Queenslanders.
Under Labor, 45 per cent of Queensland’s public housing tenants had not had their rent or ongoing eligibility assessed in more than five years.
The set-and-forget approach failed tenants at both ends – allowing some to underpay or remain in homes they may no longer qualify for, while others were overpaying far more rent than they should have.
After 10 months, the Crisafulli Government has capped rent increases at $15 per week – decreases are not – with many households already seeing reductions of around $70 per week to ensure they are paying 25 per cent of their income in rent.
Some tenants have been able to live in taxpayer-funded housing despite earning well above the ongoing eligibility income threshold — all while thousands of vulnerable Queenslanders remain stuck on Labor’s social housing waitlist.
The Crisafulli Government’s 2025-26 Budget is delivering a record $5.6 billion to deliver social and community housing over the next four years to ensure more Queenslanders have a place to call home.
The small number of tenants no longer eligible for public housing will be supported to transition to the private market with access to bond loans, rental grants and other assistance products.
One example includes a couple in Townsville with a joint income of more than $168,000 paying just $187 per week in rent.
Since 1 July more than 2,000 tenancy reviews, 4 per cent of the total anticipated, have been initiated state-wide with early results showing:
- 76 tenancies have been initially identified as exceeding the ongoing eligibility limit of $80,000.
- 9 tenancies identified as owning property despite holding a social tenancy.
- 13 households have been advised they are no longer eligible for ongoing public housing and placed on market rent after failing to provide income information.
- 1 in 4 tenancies have had their rent reduced following a rent review
Under the Crisafulli Government’s strengthened tenancy management approach introduced on 1 July 2025:
https://statements.qld.gov.au/statements/103390