The lack of private property rights on communal title land has prevented Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders from becoming homeowners. Even for those who can afford to purchase a house, banks will not provide financing for home loans without legal title over land. But the choice to become a homeowner should be available to all Australians regardless of who they are or where they live.

Private homeownership provides benefits and responsibilities that are absent from communal land ownership and public housing. Owning a home may provide the incentive to get a job, stay in employment, or look for a better paying position.

Recognising the benefits of homeownership, the Commonwealth government established a Home Ownership on Indigenous Land (HOIL) program to enable even low income Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders to purchase a home. But three years after it was initiated, only one HOIL loan has been granted. For the HOIL scheme to be properly implemented, individual land tenure arrangements need to be established.