New housing dashboard aims to put spotlight on solving our growing housing crisis, writes Adrienne Picone.
Once considered desirable for those seeking a beautiful, natural environment, a peaceful lifestyle and affordable housing, Tasmania is now grappling with an escalating housing crisis that threatens to unravel the social fabric of our island state.
It’s evident that we’re in the grip of a housing crisis that is growing more acute by the day. As this crisis intensifies, so too does the need for decisive and coordinated action.
As politicians debate supply and demand, planning laws and investment incentives — and pat themselves on the back for small wins — those living on the lowest incomes are too often left out of the conversation about the dire housing situation in this state.
For these Tasmanians — single parents on JobSeeker, aged pensioners, people with disabilities and low-wage workers — the housing market has become not just unaffordable, but unliveable.
Rents have skyrocketed across the state, with Hobart consistently ranking as one of Australia’s least affordable cities relative to income. According to Anglicare Tasmania’s latest Rental Affordability Snapshot released last week, there are no rental listings in Tasmania deemed affordable for someone on JobSeeker or Youth Allowance. Not one.
Behind every one of these data points is a human story. The young person couch-surfing between friends’ homes or sleeping in doorways. The woman and her two children living in a caravan park after escaping family violence. The aged pensioner facing eviction after a rent hike they simply can’t afford.
Stories like that of Rhyan Davey, who knows better than most the immense toll of not having a stable, affordable home, having spent two years living out of a motel room with his two young children.
Rhyan put his all into finding a home for his young family, including applying to the social housing waitlist, but with limited support and knowledge of how the system works and lack of timely, appropriate housing options available, it quickly dawned the enormity of the challenge he was faced with.
Two years on, Rhyan was eventually successful in sourcing housing though a community provider for his family and for that he is grateful. But two years is too long to wait.
Sadly, experiences like Rhyan’s are not rare exceptions, they are fast becoming the norm in our highly precarious housing market.
Speaking to housing providers and the broader community, TasCOSS has become increasingly concerned that the housing situation on the ground is only getting worse.
In March 2025, Tasmania quietly hit a new record high of 5,056 applicants on the social housing waitlist. The worst it has ever been.
Homes Tasmania also tells us that the average wait time for priority applicants is still more than 80 weeks. That’s too long to wait for most people. Too long to wait for people like Rhyan and his young family, and too long to wait for the 3,871 Tasmanians on the waitlist who are homeless or sleeping rough.
This must ring alarm bells for a Government committed to ‘end homelessness in Tasmania by 2043.’
We hear the ‘10,000 social and affordable homes by 2032’ initiative remains on track. But what impact is it having? Is it enough?
A shared understanding of the scale and scope of the housing crisis, as well as how well Homes Tasmania is performing against its targets, is essential for coming up with effective policy solutions.
To cut through the spin, we have developed a new, interactive Tasmania’s State of Housing Dashboard, which will track a number of housing indicators against the Tasmanian Government’s much-vaunted housing targets and initiatives.
This dashboard will provide timely, accessible and evidence-based housing insights, as well as a platform for robust debate about the current housing crisis in Tasmania.
Starting with a spotlight on the social housing waitlist and the Government’s 10,000 ‘homes’ target, the dashboard will grow over time to also highlight rental affordability, short-stay accommodation, and ‘affordable’ home purchases, among other topics.
We know that years of underinvestment in social housing, combined with an explosion in short-term rentals, rising rental prices and booming house prices, have left the most vulnerable behind.
Solving it will require coordinated efforts from many actors, including the community services industry and housing developers.
What’s needed most, though, is bold leadership from the Government, including a clear commitment to meeting the housing needs of Tasmanians on the lowest incomes.
As a starting point, the Government should take another look at adequacy of the 10,000 homes and 2,000 social homes targets; commit to a significant expansion of social housing; and urgently bring forward the slated review of the Residential Tenancy Act 1997 to strengthen protection for renters, including putting an end to no-grounds evictions.
Tasmanians are proud of their sense of community and resilience in the face of challenges. But these values are at risk if more and more Tasmanians simply cannot find a safe, secure and affordable home to live in.
This is not just a housing crisis. It is a test of the Government’s priorities, leadership and drive to ensure every Tasmanian has a place to call home.
The Tasmania’s State of Housing Dashboard can be accessed at tascoss.org.au/state-of-housing.
Adrienne Picone is the chief executive of the Tasmanian Council of Social Service (TasCOSS).