This paper contends that key details of the Australian Government’s flagship Help to Buy scheme have been hidden from proper parliamentary oversight. It reveals how the Help to Buy Program Directions 2025 hand sweeping powers to the executive, exempting crucial policy rules from parliamentary disallowance and scrutiny. 

The Help to Buy Program Directions 2025 are made under the Act, and provide Directions from the Minister to Housing Australia in relation to the administration of the program. The Directions provide important details on how a significant policy of the government in relation to the housing crisis will operate. 

The Senate’s Scrutiny of Delegated Legislation Committee condemned the approach in its initial technical assessment of the Directions, noting that substantive policy matters – such as eligibility rules, compliance requirements and resource allocation – should be in primary legislation, not in delegated instruments.

This paper concludes that these details should have been included in primary legislation and subject to full parliamentary consideration. At the very least, they should have been included in a disallowable instrument. The overuse of exemptions from disallowance erodes Parliament’s role, weakens accountability and undermines democratic legitimacy.