A Home

A House Isn’t
Always a Home.

A person can live in a suburban house and still have no say over meals, visitors, staff or when they go out.

Meanwhile, public wealth is buying rent from students and income from the services everyone needs.

Newsprint cut-out of a weatherboard house.
$1.6bn

Student accommodation bought by Greystar with the Future Fund in December 2024.[1]

5,662

Student beds in that deal.[1]

7.44

The Disability Royal Commission recommendation to phase out group homes.[2]

0

Joint work governments had started on 7.44, according to the 2025 progress report.[2]

Group Homes by Another Name

Supported independent living (SIL) pays for help with daily life. Specialist disability accommodation (SDA) pays towards the building. Plenty of people get both. Neither tells you whether they chose who they live with.

Commissioner John Ryan’s recommendation 7.44 included stopping approval of new four-to-six-bedroom SDA group homes and admitting people to group homes only as a last resort.[2]

The government’s own 2025 progress report said governments hadn’t started working together on it.[2]

The Test

  1. Can you choose who comes into your home?
  2. Can you leave when you want?
  3. Can you sack an unsafe provider without losing the roof over your head?

If not, it’s an institution with a street address.

What the Future Fund Owns

The Future Fund is public wealth. It reports direct stakes in assets people can’t avoid paying for.[3]

Direct ownership, 30 June 2026

Per cent owned by the Future Fund

Perth Airport
30%
CDC data centres
29%
Port of Melbourne
20%
Transgrid
8%

Add student rent through Greystar.[1] Withdrawals from the Fund are deferred until at least 2032–33.[4]

Buying an existing asset changes who owns it. Building new homes adds some. Parliament should be told which one the Fund is doing.

The Housing Revolving Door

Coming soon

The people moving between government housing bodies, disability housing and the funds that invest in it. That includes Nigel Ray, who sits on the NDIA board and Housing Australia’s board.[5]

  • Implement recommendation 7.44, with dates.
  • Publish how much SDA and SIL money goes to rent, debt and owners.
  • Give residents a right to change provider without losing their home.
  • Report what the Future Fund earns from housing and essential services.
The Buy-upsWho’s buying the providers. Read itFollow the MoneyWhere the public money ends up. Read it

Sources

  1. Future Fund, Year in Review 2024–25; Greystar student accommodation acquisition announcement, 16 December 2024. A$1.6 billion is the value of the joint acquisition. https://content.futurefund.gov.au/2024-25%20Future%20Fund%20Year%20in%20Review.pdf
  2. Australian Government, Disability Royal Commission Progress Report 2025, recommendation 7.44. https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/disability-royal-commission-progress-report-2025/volume-7-inclusive-education-employment-and-housing/recommendation-744-a-roadmap-to-phase-out-group-homes-over-a-generational-timeframe
  3. Future Fund, Periodic Investment Report, 30 June 2026, Table 1, including direct infrastructure ownership percentages. https://content.futurefund.gov.au/Periodic+Investment+Report+30+Jun+2026+-+Future+Fund+(A1435346).csv
  4. Jim Chalmers and Katy Gallagher, Future of the Future Fund, 21 November 2024. https://ministers.finance.gov.au/financeminister/media-release/2024/11/21/future-future-fund
  5. NDIA, Board profiles. https://www.ndis.gov.au/about-us/about-ndia/ndia-board/board-profiles