The Queensland Department of Communities, Housing and Digital Economy assesses a household’s eligibility and need for social housing based on established criteria. The housing register (the register) is a central list of all applicants approved for social housing. It has grown by 78 per cent over the last 4 years. In March 2022, there were 30,922 households on the register. The department does not forecast how the register will grow in coming years.

Social housing applicants are assigned to a need category on the register. The need categories are low, moderate, high, and very high. Around 61 per cent of the households on the register are classified as having very high need and are able to be contacted by the department. These are the only applicants likely to be allocated housing. Since 2019, the department has classified all new applicants as very high need. The department has not clearly communicated this to the existing households on the register and other stakeholders.

The remaining 39 per cent of applicants are in lower need groups, cannot be contacted or have inactive applications. These should be reviewed and removed from the register if they are no longer eligible.

The department’s assessment and allocation processes have not been consistently applied. We found examples where needs were not recorded correctly in applications or eligibility was not confirmed before making a housing allocation. Some assessments and allocations were missing requisite internal checks.

This report makes 8 recommendations to improve the department’s management of the register and application process, its housing allocation procedures, and its approach to managing housing allocations over time.