Housing policy comprises a large collection of policy concerns and interventions. Some are clearly housing specific and belong to a core group of policy concerns. Others touch on more peripheral areas such as immigration, monetary policy and urban planning. Meanwhile, services are delivered by a complex multi-provider network of government and non-government participants. This variety of policy problems, solutions and actors in the housing policy space makes organising housing policy challenging.

This research explores how changes to government administrative structures and processes affect housing policy in Australia. It outlines what can be done to reduce some of the negative impacts of these changes. 

The allocation of responsibility for areas of public policy is often called 'machinery of government'. While some Australian portfolios have remained stable over long periods, housing policy has been governed by various organisational units across the federal and state governments. Policymakers need to understand the effects of machinery of government changes, particularly in housing where debates about housing policy goals are ongoing.

Key points

• Housing policy, which is composed of a small ‘core’ and a wide ‘periphery’ of policy concerns, is especially vulnerable to machinery of government changes.
• Central coordination and long-term planning are essential for effective governance of housing policy.
• A central agency or department should be tasked with responsibility for all core areas of housing policy.
• When machinery of government changes for housing are required, care should be taken to preserve in-house expertise and policy capacity, cohesion of units and morale of staff.