Federal Budget 2023
Commonwealth Rent Assistance increases
Commonwealth Rent Assistance is already available to Australians on pensions and benefits including JobSeeker, the Family Tax Benefit and Parenting Payment.
The budget has delivered funding to increase the maximum rates of the Commonwealth Rent Assistance payment by 15% in a bid to help ease pressures on low-income renters.
The maximum increase will be between $15.73 and $31.76 a fortnight.
Renters currently receiving Commonwealth Rent Assistance will receive up to $31 extra a fortnight from September, a measure aimed at assisting vulnerable lower-income renters. For most low-income earners, rent assistance is a targeted and cost-effective safety net.
Strong demand to rent, bolstered by the fast pace of immigration, is well outstripping the supply of available rentals, with the total supply of rentals in the capital cities sitting at historic lows in March, with the supply of available rentals down 18.3% year-on-year.
Meanwhile advertised rents in the capital cities increased by 13% over the year to March with the extreme shortage of rental stock weighing.
This increase to Commonwealth Rent Assistance is the largest in more than 30 years, but rent assistance payments have long fallen behind soaring rental prices.
In the capital cities rental prices are up 18% on pre-pandemic levels, while in regional areas rents are up 23%.
Capital city rental markets are significantly undersupplied. As a result, prices are rising briskly and vacancy rates trending lower.
