Find out who's been tasked with leading it
An interim Housing Supply and Affordability Council has been established with Mirvac Group CEO Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz at its helm. The interim council will commence operations next year until the council is more permanently created by legislation.
Federal Housing Minister Julie Collins welcomed the establishment of the new council as a crucial step towards bridging Australia’s housing gap. She said the Government was dedicated to ensuring its investments were founded on expert opinion.
“That’s why we’re creating a National Housing Supply and Affordability Council – to deliver independent advice to Government on ways to increase housing supply and affordability,” Collins said. “[Lloyd-Hurwitz’s] experience in the sector will be invaluable as we continue working to ensure more Australians have a safe and affordable place to call home.”
Today I have announced the formation of the interim National Housing Supply and Affordability Council, led by Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz.
— Julie Collins (@JulieCollinsMP) December 19, 2022
This new body will ensure all governments receive the very best advice to deal with Australia’s serious housing challenges. https://t.co/c7rgcrSMRJ
Before becoming the CEO and managing director of Mirvac – twin positions Lloyd-Hurwitz will step down from when she commences her new role in the interim council next year – Lloyd-Hurwitz was the chair of the Green Building Council of Australia and a past president of the Property Council of Australia. She is also currently the chair of Chief Executive Women.
Lloyd-Hurwitz’s expertise is augmented with the knowledge and reputation of the interim council’s deputy chair – Housing Choices Australia’s managing director and former Community Housing Industry Association chair Michael Lennon – as well as those of its interim board members:
- Rachel ViforJ, a housing economist and steering committee member of the Asia-Pacific Network for Housing Research;
- Helen Waters Silvia, CEO of the specialist homelessness service for those escaping domestic violence, Women’s and Girls’ Emergency Centre;
- Marcus Spiller, an urban economist and former member of the National Housing Supply Council; and
- David O’Loughlin, Urban Renewal Authority director and former president of the Australian Local Government Association.
Property Council of Australia chief executive Ken Morrison said the independent advice of the newly formed council was critical to finding a solution to the nation’s worsening housing supply and affordability gaps.
Read more: A ‘tsunami of homelessness’ about to hit Australia
“In selecting a leader as well-regarded and experienced in creating housing supply as Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz, the Minister has demonstrated her serious intent to tackle one of the country’s most persistent public policy challenges,” Morrison said. “These nominations to the interim council will enable the Federal Government to strengthen its role in addressing the need for affordable and social housing over the next few decades.”
Morrison said that the expertise of the new interim council would complement the support and goodwill of state, territory, and local governments via the new housing accord – which would also be ‘essential to making headway’.
Read more: Chalmers aims to ease investor concerns about housing accord
The interim Housing Supply and Affordability Council has already been tasked with reviewing the obstacles to harnessing institutional investment to create housing for Australians.
“Australia needs all the new housing it can get, so it makes sense to address the taxation settings which prevent more investment creating the new rental housing the country needs,” Morrison said. “As countries such as the US and the UK have demonstrated, with the right settings, build-to-rent housing could give Australians more choice in the housing market and become a key solution to the affordable housing equation.”
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