Ms COLLINS (Franklin—Minister for Housing, Minister for Homelessness and Minister for Small Business) (09:14): This week our nation is once again marking Homelessness Week. Across the country, Homelessness Week is a time for reflection and a time for action. This year's theme is 'It's time to end homelessness'. Everyone in this place knows that Australia is facing a significant number of housing and homelessness challenges, with very real consequences for individuals and families. Although the rate of people experiencing homelessness has remained relatively stable over the decade to 2021, based on the latest census results across Australia there are around 122,000 people experiencing homelessness. This is a number that we must bring down. We also have to remember what this number represents. We must remember who it represents. This number is made up of sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, friends and family. These are people. We must continue to humanise these numbers so that we're reminded of the true cost of housing insecurity, because all Australians deserve to feel safe and secure. All Australians deserve stability. This government recognises that, sadly, for far too many Australians this is not a reality. It is why we're so passionate about creating real, lasting change—change spearheaded by our ambitious policies that are designed to directly address the challenges of housing security in Australia and which have been designed in consultation and collaboration with states and territories and the housing and homelessness sectors. To enact change that effectively targets the issues surrounding housing insecurity, the voices of those with lived experience must also be heard. It is for this reason that our government places a strong emphasis on collaboration. We're committed to providing safe, accessible, affordable housing so that more Australians have that stability. The Albanese government understands this. It's why our agenda is broad as well as ambitious and designed to address the housing challenges. It's why we're taking a holistic approach that aims to strengthen a range of areas across housing and homelessness policy. The Housing Australia Future Fund is a key part of the government's ambitious agenda to improve housing outcomes and reduce housing insecurity in Australia. The Housing Australia Future Fund will be the largest single Commonwealth investment into affordable and social housing in more than a decade. It will help tens of thousands of Australians in need of the housing security they need to build a better life and to realise their full potential. The fund will deliver 30,000 new social and affordable dwellings for those that need them most, in the first five years, with 4,000 of the homes reserved for women impacted by family violence and for older women at risk of homelessness. I welcome the support the fund has already received from frontline organisations such as National Shelter, Homelessness Australia, the Community Housing Industry Association and Everybody's Home. They all know how vital this piece of legislation is. Our housing agenda also includes a new $2 billion social housing accelerator to deliver thousands of social homes across Australia. This investment will build more homes for more Australians in more parts of our nation. We're also working on delivering the new National Housing Accord, which includes federal funding to deliver another 10,000 affordable rental homes over five years from 2024, to be matched with a further 10,000 homes by the states and the territories. We're also increasing the maximum rate of Commonwealth rent assistance by 15 per cent—the largest increase in more than 30 years—from September. We're providing an additional $2 billion in financing for community housing providers for more social and affordable rental homes through the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation. We've already unlocked $575 million from the National Housing Infrastructure Facility, with social and affordable homes already under construction because of this decision. We've delivered a $1.7 billion one-year extension to the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement with states and territories, including a $67.5 million boost to homelessness funding over the next year. The formation of the interim National Housing Supply and Affordability Council has already begun its work to deliver independent advice to government on how to get more supply on the ground. We've already held four meetings with state and territory housing colleagues to ensure we're all working together. And, of course, the states and territories have committed, through National Cabinet, to improve renters' rights, which we've also been working on together. These significant changes will deliver positive and practical outcomes for those Australians that need them most. Another plank of our agenda is the development of a National Housing and Homelessness Plan. The plan will set out a shared vision on tackling the country's housing challenges across the responsibilities of different levels of government. Together with states and territories, it will aim to deliver lasting change for Australians facing housing challenges by setting out key short-, medium- and long-term reforms needed to improve outcomes across the entire housing spectrum, from homelessness and rental stress through to homeownership. The plan will not shy away from the significant challenges in the housing and homelessness sector but face them head on, identifying actions that can be taken to help improve the housing landscape in Australia. We know we cannot achieve this alone. The plan is already being developed in close collaboration with state, territory and local governments—the three tiers of government all working together. We must also engage in meaningful consultation with those on the front line of housing and homelessness services, experts in the sector, and, importantly, people with lived experience of housing insecurity. We're ready to listen, to help to shape a vision to guide future development of housing and homelessness policy in Australia. This week, we entered the next phase of making this plan a reality. I was pleased to release the issues paper for the National Housing and Homelessness Plan earlier in the week. This formally commences the public consultation and stakeholder engagement needed to develop the plan. Acknowledging the housing and homelessness challenges we currently face, the issues paper is a resource to promote discussion and provide guidance for people and organisations when formulating submissions. The issues paper seeks views on areas including homelessness, prevention, early intervention and services, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander housing, social housing and home ownership. Through considering a range of perspectives on these and other areas, the goal for the plan is to provide a better understanding of the current state of housing and homelessness in Australia and the drivers of homelessness and housing insecurity throughout urban, regional, rural and remote Australia. Most importantly, it is for the plan to set out strategies on how all levels of government can work together more effectively with the private sector and the community sector to better support people experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity. This is a plan that the country will all own. It is all of us working together that will solve this housing challenge. Consultation on the issues paper opened this week and will run until 22 September 2023. Over the next six weeks, the Australian public and stakeholders are all invited to share their stories, experience and expertise. It's through such extensive collaboration that we can ensure the plan will set out a shared national vision and a strategy for how we can better support those that need it most. We want to hear from as many people as possible, and I welcome the organisations that have already responded, like the Property Council who stated, 'The federal government are leaning in to the challenge,' and the Urban Development Institute, who congratulated the government for 'starting this important conversation'. I also welcome comments from the Liberal government in my home state of Tasmania, who on Monday said: We welcome the National Housing and Homelessness Plan Issues Paper released today to mark the start of Homelessness Week. Our government is committed to improving housing outcomes for all Australians, ensuring that more Australians have a safe, secure, affordable place to call home. Work on the plan will not stop us delivering on our broad and ambitious housing agenda. We know we have to be ambitious because our challenges are significant. Homelessness Week highlights these challenges but also invites us to act, which is exactly what the government is doing. We're working hard every day to end homelessness because all Australians deserve a safe, affordable place to call home.