The Reallocation
Bring it home.
A line-by-line proposal for the next Federal Budget. Every reallocation below is conservative — we leave core humanitarian, Pacific and disaster-response funding untouched. What we cut is consultancy overhead, geographically indefensible programs, and duplicative multilateral "core" contributions.
Total annual redirect
$669m/yr
Enough to fund the Housing Australia Future Fund shortfall twice over and still expand frontline homelessness services by 40%.
| Current aid program | Current $/yr | Reallocate | Domestic target | Estimated impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Multilateral core contributions (World Bank, ADB, UN agencies) | $620m | 30% | Housing Australia Future Fund top-up | ≈ $186m/yr → ~620 additional social housing dwellings at ~$300k Commonwealth contribution per home. Src: DFAT Budget Summary 2024-25 Table 3; HAFF unit cost estimate |
| Global Partnership for Education & multilateral education funds | $92m | 100% | Youth homelessness (Reconnect + Foyer expansion) | ≈ $92m/yr → ~4,000 additional at-risk youth housed in Foyer-model accommodation. Src: DFAT ODA Statistical Summary; AHURI Foyer cost 2023 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa bilateral program | $110m | 75% | Indigenous remote housing (National Partnership) | ≈ $82m/yr → ~250 remote-community dwellings, reducing overcrowding for ~1,500 residents. Src: DFAT bilateral tables; NIAA remote housing cost data |
| Consultancy & 'aid effectiveness' contracts | $340m | 50% | Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) frontline | ≈ $170m/yr → 40% uplift on Commonwealth SHS contribution; ~35,000 additional support periods. Src: AusTender; AIHW SHS 2022-23 |
| Latin America & Caribbean regional program | $21m | 100% | First-home deposit guarantee expansion | ≈ $21m/yr → guarantee capacity for ~1,700 additional first-home buyers. Src: DFAT regional tables; Housing Australia guarantee data |
| Governance & 'democracy strengthening' programs | $195m | 60% | Build-to-Rent affordable pipeline | ≈ $117m/yr → co-investment unlocking ~1,500 affordable BTR units. Src: DFAT sector tables; Treasury BTR modelling |
What we do NOT cut
- Pacific Step-Up bilateral programs (Solomon Islands, PNG, Fiji, Vanuatu)
- Humanitarian emergency response & UN OCHA appeals
- Regional health security & pandemic preparedness
- Southeast Asia disaster resilience
Why housing, why now
- 122,494 Australians counted as homeless on Census night 2021 (+5% since 2016).
- ~175,000 households on state social housing waitlists.
- Median rent up 39% nationally since 2020 (CoreLogic).
- HAFF disbursement pipeline is capped; direct grants unlock supply faster.