Indicators

Topic 1: Waiting for social housing

Applicants — total
5,069
March 2025
Applicants — homeless or temporarily housed
3,871
March 2025
Highest priority applicants
753
March 2025
Average wait time (weeks)
82.2
March 2025
What’s happening in Tasmania?

Demand for social housing has grown significantly over the last decade, and is outstripping new supply, as reflected in continued growth in the social housing waitlist. 

Tasmania’s wait time for social housing for ‘greatest-need households’ is now the second highest in Australia, after the Northern Territory (see the latest Productivity Commission data). 

This lengthy waiting period is putting financial, practical, relationship and emotional strain on many Tasmanians who urgently need access to safe, affordable and appropriate housing. 

Recent research by Dr Catherine Robinson and others exploring people’s experiences of lengthy waits for social housing in Tasmania, New South Wales and Queensland found that waiting for social housing was detrimental to people’s health, wellbeing and safety. People described waiting a long time for social housing as horrible, demoralising, traumatic, nerve-wracking, tiring, dreadful, disappointing and soul-destroying.  See: Waithood: The experiences of applying for and waiting for social housing 

What does the data show?

Indicators: 

In March 2025: 

  • There are 5,069 applicants on the social housing waitlist — the highest number ever. 
  • There are 571 homeless applicants on the social housing waitlist who are entirely without housing (e.g. sleeping in a tent or car). There are another 3,300 applicants staying in temporary or insecure accommodation, such as a shelter or they’re couch surfing. 
  • There are 753 applicants on the social housing waitlist who are ‘highest priority,’ which includes those leaving homelessness services, prison, hospital or out-of-home care.
  • The average wait time for social housing for priority applicants (highest priority and standard priority) is 82.2 weeks, which equates to more than 18 months.  

Figure 1.1: The number of applications on Tasmania’s social housing waitlist increased from 3,809 in January 2021 to 5,069 in March 2025. This is an increase of 33% over about four years. 

NB: See our Glossary for explanations of:

  • Different definitions of homelessness; and
  • Priority categories used for the social housing waitlist. 
What does the data show? #2

Figure 1.2:   

Tasmania’s social housing waitlist and wait times increased between 2020 and 2024: 

  • The number of ‘highest priority’ applicants increased by 73% from 406 in 2020 to 707 in 2024. 
  • The number of ‘standard priority’ applicants increased by 30% from 2,390 in 2020 to 3,098 in 2024. 
  • The number of all applicants increased by 41% from 3,373 in 2020 to 4,745 in 2024. 
  • The number of people on the social housing waitlist increased by 34% from 6,197 people in June 2020 to 8,273 people in July 2024.  

NB: See our Glossary for an explanation of the number of applicants versus the number of people waiting for social housing. 

TasCOSS’s view 

It is unacceptable that Tasmanians are waiting for many months or even years on the social housing waitlist before being allocated a home. Moreover, Tasmanians are waiting longer on average for social housing than people in other states and territories.

This means that, for many Tasmanians, social housing is currently not a realistic solution to their housing insecurity, and many are continuing to struggle in overcrowded, unsafe or unaffordable housing — or sleeping rough.

There is an urgent need for new social housing in Tasmania in addition to what has already been committed. Many organisations, including Shelter Tasmania the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) and Everybody’s Home, have called on governments to deliver more social housing to achieve a target of 10% of all dwellings in Australia being social housing. Homes Tasmania has committed to delivering around 3,100 social housing dwellings by 2032 — that’s far too few to meet the growing demand in Tasmania.  

TasCOSS’s recommendations 

TasCOSS is calling on the Tasmanian Government to:  

  1. Take targeted action to significantly reduce the number of applications and people on the social housing waitlist, and reduce the average wait time for social housing for priority applicants. 
  2. Commit to an accelerated program of delivering more social housing, including a clear pathway to social housing being 10% of all dwellings in Tasmania.