The nation’s broken rental assistance support program is failing our older Australians, with many set to be plunged into homelessness if action isn’t taken as the number of Australians aged over 75 accelerates at nearly twice the rate of population growth.
They’re the findings of a new study by the Retirement Living Council, which has renewed its call for urgent reform to the Commonwealth Rent Assistance program.
Fresh data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) shows the number of Australians over 75 who receive CRA but remain in rental stress has risen nationally by 116 per cent since 2013.
Where there were 25,485 across the nation in this category in 2013, in 2025 there were a whopping 55,030 – an increase of $29,545.
This 116 per cent jump compares to a population increase in this age bracket of just 59 per cent.
Older Australians are doing it tough. Pic: Getty.
The areas where this increase is felt most acutely are the Northern Territory, which is up 223 per cent, Tasmania (up 139 per cent) and Western Australia (up 125 per cent).
Were they not to be receiving CRA, the number of people over 75 who would be in rental stress would total 125,185 across the nation, with the greatest number of these in New South Wales (43,515), Queensland (33,680) and New South Wales (43,515).
RLC Executive Director Daniel Gannon said this wasn’t a red flag – “it’s a siren”.
“Even with CRA, 55,000 older Australians remain in rental stress, while without it, that figure would triple to 180,000,” he said.
“This data reveals a deepening crisis in suburban Australia, where rental stress and housing shortages are colliding with an escalating care challenge for older Australians.”
He said CRA reform was needed to ensure vulnerable Australians didn’t slip through the cracks.
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“This isn’t a tweak‑around‑the‑edges problem. Rent assistance is broken, outdated and miles behind reality, and every delay is pushing more older Australians towards homelessness,” Mr Gannon said.
“This is no longer a marginal issue – it’s a national housing and care challenge that demands immediate federal action to prevent more older Australians falling into homelessness.
“At most risk are older women who are the fastest-growing group of people experiencing homelessness in Australia.”
ACT independent senator David Pocock backed the RLC’s calls for reform, saying Australians young and old were experiencing severe rates of rental stress and in desperate need of more affordable and appropriate housing.
“Our housing system is not working,” he said.
Senator David Pocock. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman
“Every single report of the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee that I got the Government to legislate has recommended a substantial increase in Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA).
“I have been urging the Government for years to listen to the experts and increase base rates of social security payments as well as the rate of CRA to lift people above the poverty line and out of housing stress.
“This costs money but means we don’t have Australians living in poverty and would save us money in other areas.
“As well as substantially increasing base rates of JobSeeker and related payments, the Government should further increase the rate of Commonwealth Rent Assistance to address the long-term reduction in adequacy and better reflect contemporary rents paid.”
While a household is considered to be in rental stress if they are spending 30 per cent of their income on paying the lease, many aged tenants are paying from 60 per cent to 90 per cent of their income towards keeping a roof over their head.
With compulsory superannuation payments not made law until 1992, many retirees were not benefiting from this — and even those who had saved for their retirement were facing situations where a rising cost of living was eroding their funds faster than anticipated.
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Housing for the Aged Action Group spokesperson Fiona York said CRA is not keeping up at all.
“Older people cannot age well in private rental properties,” she said.
“Looking at the last two Census’ we saw a 73 per cent increase in older renters and we are anticipating that’s a trajectory that will continue,” she said.
Dee-Anne Bock moved into her Parkside retirement village with her late husband in December 2012, dropping back from a double pension to a single pension when he died the following November.
She said she did not qualify for CRA, but said it would seriously ease her financial pressure of trying to get by week to week.
“I’m nearly 80 and I’m in need of some government assistance – I’m calling for the Federal Government to review this whole circumstance that they’ve got going on with the rent assistance for people that get it, because there are people like myself, which are usually women on their own like me whose husbands have died, and they’ve got to try and get by on the pension.
Deanne Bock is calling on the government to reform the CRA program. Picture: Tim Joy
“35 years ago they set the standards but it’s not relevant today – you’ve only got to look at the how the price of home ownership and everything else has escalated in today’s world.
“And women of my circumstances are out on a limb.
“Centrelink were very good, but they can’t do anything about it because it’s legislated, so the only thing we can do is ask for the legislation to be looked at.”
– with Nathan Mawby
Why we desperately need CRA reform
Opinion piece by Daniel Gannon, Retirement Living Council Executive Director
Australia’s rental crisis has quietly crossed a line that should alarm every policymaker, because it’s now hitting our oldest citizens.
Rental stress among Australians aged over 75 is surging at nearly twice the rate of population growth.
Since 2013, rental stress in this cohort has increased by 116 per cent, while the population aged over 75 has grown by just 59 per cent. This isn’t a lagging indicator. It’s a structural failure unfolding in real time.
And it’s not confined to the fringes. It’s happening in the suburbs policymakers still assume are immune to housing stress.
Older Australians who played by the rules – worked hard, saved diligently – are now being squeezed by rents that outpace pensions, assistance, and policy frameworks designed for an Australia that no longer exists.
Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA) is the last line of defence for tens of thousands of older renters. Yet even with CRA, more than 55,000 Australians aged over 75 remain in rental stress.
Daniel Gannon
Without it, that number would triple to 180,000. At that point, we’re not talking about affordability – we’re talking about a pipeline into homelessness, hospitalisation and premature entry into aged care.
New data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) reveals a stark trend – CRA usage among Australians aged 65 and over has jumped 70 per cent since 2013, making older people the fastest-growing group reliant on the scheme.
Over the same period, CRA usage among those aged 24 and under fell by 41 per cent. This isn’t a youth housing emergency slowly ageing. It’s a new crisis entirely.
Every state and territory has seen dangerous growth in rental stress among older CRA recipients. Western Australia, New South Wales and Queensland are all up around 120 per cent. Tasmania is higher again. Even South Australia – the lowest growth jurisdiction – has recorded an 85 per cent surge.
Geography offers no buffer – age is the risk factor. So why is policy still moving at horse-and-cart speed?
Two targeted reforms could ease pressure across housing, health and aged care.
The first is to abolish the outdated $258,000 retirement village purchase price threshold that locks 96 per cent of homes out of CRA. This rule is a relic of a housing market and economy that no longer exists.
Older Australians should be able to live comfortably.
The second reform is to lift the Age Pension assets test threshold for single homeowners who ‘rightsize’ to $550,000, with a proportional increase for couples. This adjustment would encourage older Australians to move into safer, more suitable housing without being penalised for making sensible financial decisions.
Together, these changes could unlock 60,000 homes nationwide, help older Australians escape housing stress, and free up homes for desperate young families.
This isn’t about handouts. It’s about removing roadblocks that actively trap older Australians in housing stress.
We cannot allow our parents and grandparents to spend their twilight years in fear of homelessness. The time for incremental change has passed. The Australian Government must act now, because a country that fails its elders fails itself.
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