What if everything we’re told about fixing Australia’s housing crisis is just scratching the surface? That’s the starting point for our conversation with Michele Adair, Managing Director of the Housing Trust and a long-time advocate for meaningful housing reform. Michele brings decades of experience and doesn’t hold back when talking about what’s really broken in the system.

Throughout the episode, we cover key issues that are often ignored or oversimplified in the national conversation around Australia’s housing crisis, including:

• Why political promises rarely translate into real, on-the-ground housing outcomes
• The limitations of the private market and why it can’t deliver genuinely affordable homes
• How capital gains tax discounts cost the federal budget $23 billion a year – funds that could support social housing
• The gap between housing policy and delivery, and how that disconnect keeps communities in crisis
• Why the Housing Australia Future Fund is a step in the right direction, but severely underfunded and politically vulnerable
• The urgent need for a 20-year national housing strategy that includes all levels of government and addresses workforce shortages
• How community housing providers are being stretched to the limit, despite being more efficient and regulated than many think
• Why defining “affordable housing” matters, and how that definition has been lost at a federal level

If you care about what’s happening in housing, or you’re just tired of hearing the same old solutions that clearly aren’t working, this one’s worth a listen. Let's get started!

Episode Highlights:

00:00 - Introduction

01:21 - Who is Michele Adair?

01:59 - Could the election results have an impact on the ongoing rental crisis?

04:36 - What Michele believes the Labor Party still needs to address beyond supporting HAAF

07:06 - How Michele views the investment fund approach vs direct housing build

09:56 - What’s currently preventing good affordable housing proposals from moving forward

11:02 - Why Michele believes political messaging around “supply” misses the real issue

13:48 - Why housing affordability can’t be fixed by doing the same thing over and over

16:07 - Why housing policy shouldn't be a one-size-fits-all

27:17 - What’s changed, or hasn’t, in the rental crisis since the last conversation

29:49 - How having three levels of government makes fixing housing more difficult

36:50 - Michele’s views on how tax structures and hidden costs affect affordability

38:44 - How community housing is currently financed, and why it’s becoming harder

49:21 - How poorly designed rental laws are putting pressure on both renters and landlords

52:22 - Will regional oversupply outpace urban rental demand?

58:06 - Michele Adair’s property dumbo

59:34 - Thoughts on the 3D printed house

About Our Guest:

After seven years as CEO at Housing Trust, Michele Adair has now moved into the role of Managing Director to focus on portfolio growth. A courageous and pragmatic driving force in housing policy and advocacy, she was named one of the five most powerful people in property by the AFR in 2023 and won the UDIA’s national award for leadership excellence the same year. Michele was the inaugural Chair of Homes Tasmania and joined the Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network as their housing industry expert in 2024.

Connect with Michele Adair:

• Website https://www.housingtrust.org.au/
• LinkedIn https://au.linkedin.com/in/michele-adair

Resources:

• Visit our website https://www.theelephantintheroom.com.au
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