SA’s $784m Federal Budget GST Windfall Should Build Public Housing

The South Australian government should invest a substantial part of its $784 million GST windfall from the federal budget on more public housing, according to the South Australian Council of Social Service.

Tuesday’s federal budget revealed South Australia would receive an additional $784m over four years from the GST pool (see table below), even after accounting for the most recent revisions made by the SA Government in its mid-year budget review in December 2022.

Compared to what was expected in the last state budget, the windfall is much greater – a massive $2.8 billion over four years.

According to SACOSS CEO Ross Womersley, the extra funding creates the perfect opportunity for the SA Government to turbo-charge investment in public housing and apply real downward pressure on rental prices.

“The waiting list for public housing in South Australia currently stands at around 15,000 applicants – while the number of public houses has steadily declined over the last two decades,” Mr Womersley says.

“The SA Government has recently announced new public housing initiatives and promised to turn around the decline, but the reality is that we need to build over 300 public houses a year just to keep up with population growth. And in real terms, we actually need around 3,600 new public housing dwellings over the next four years to cover both population growth and make up for the housing lost.”

“Public housing investment provides housing for those who are excluded from the housing market,puts downward pressure on rents across the market, and builds the public wealth. That makes it a great investment when additional money like this becomes available.

“Investing a substantial portion of this $784 million windfall in public housing will deliver much-needed support for the thousands of South Australians who need it, and ongoing assets vital for the State’s long-term future.”

Table: SA GST revenue from 2022-23 to 2025-2026

Year	2022-23 State Budget $m	Mid-Year Budget Review $m	2023-24 Federal Budget $m	Diff. from last State Budget $m	Diff from Mid-Year Budget Review $m
2022-23	7378.2	7797	7702	323.8	-95
2023-24	8026.9	8596	8788	761.1	192
2024-25	8298.6	8786	9085	786.4	299
2025-26	8578.9	9185	9573	994.1	388
			Totals	2865.4	784