Action for Public Housing welcomes ACTU’s call for a mass public housing build and calls for unionists to meet Waterloo public housing tenants.

Housing campaign group Action for Public Housing and CAMP Waterloo (Campaign for Accessible and Maintained Public Housing) welcomes the call of the nation’s lead union body, the ACTU, for a mass public housing build to deliver housing security for workers.

The ACTU published a media release on August 19, 2026 calling on the government to scale-up public housing construction to its highest rate since the 1980s.

The ACTU is pushing for 1 in 10 new homes built to be public housing, representing a fivefold increase from the current rate, where just 1 in 50 new homes are public housing.

It aims to lift public housing to at least 6 per cent of Australia’s total housing stock. It is pushing for Australia’s standard rental lease doubled to two years for all private rentals.

A4PH welcomes this call and asks Unions NSW to follow suit.

We ask that ACTU representatives meet Waterloo public housing tenants who are resisting forced eviction and demolition of their public homes, to find out about the campaign.

Karyn Brown, Waterloo South resident, Action for Public Housing
Carolyn Ienna, former 82 Wentworth Park Glebe public housing estate tenant (which was demolished), Action for Public Housing
Soolin McCauley, formerly unhoused, public housing tenant Ultimo, Action for Public Housing ph. 0402 959 833
Grant Donohue, tenant representative for the Marton Building, Waterloo and Action for Public Housing, Waterloo North resident
Rachel Evans, Action for Public Housing ph. 0403 517 266