The government's announced a major shake-up of social housing beginning in this year's Budget - which will boost weekly support for 110,000 families by almost $15 but leave another 80,000 families worse off by $30 a week.
The change will be paired with more stringent criteria for getting a social house - and possibly new tenancy duration limits and regular check-ins.
Housing Minister Chris Bishop made the pre-Budget announcement at Parliament on Thursday, launching the planned multi-year reform programme he says will said would make the social housing system fairer, better targeted and more focused on encouraging independence.
He acknowledged the changes could be done in a way that didn't leave as many households worse off if "money was limitless", but he said it wasn't so the government had to make "tough choices".
He said the social housing situation currently was "incredibly backwards" and "inequitable", calling the system "unfair", because similar households can get different support depending on whether they are in social housing or a private rental.
