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The Commonwealth government has unveiled a new package designed to improve housing affordability for currently serving defence personnel and the veteran community.
The Albanese government has announced a $46.2 million investment in the expansion of the eligibility criteria for the Defence Home Ownership Assistance Scheme, designed to improve access to home ownership for eligible Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel.
The scheme includes the provision of mortgage repayment subsidies for eligible applicants. For example, an eligible applicant with a mortgage of $500,000 could be able to access a monthly subsidy payment of $422.
Changes to eligibility criteria under the expanded program include:
- Halving the minimum service required for access by current ADF members from four to two years for permanent service, and from eight to four years for Reserve service.
- Removing the access cap altogether for veterans who have left the service (previously five years).
- Opening eligibility to veterans who served on or after 1 July 2008, enabling them to access the scheme at any point after entering civilian life.
- Reducing the minimum service thresholds for each subsidy tier.
“This $46.2 million investment helps our ADF members and veterans with cost-of-living pressures that make it increasingly difficult to achieve the great Australian dream of home ownership,” Matt Thistlethwaite, Assistant Minister for Defence, said.
“We know that Australians are struggling with the cost of housing and our ADF members and veterans are not immune from that.
“That is why we have expanded the Defence Home Ownership Assistance Scheme by making access to it much more accessible.
“We are now removing the post service cap that existed for veterans to access this scheme beyond their five years of service.”
This latest announcement comes less than a month after the Albanese government tabled the 2022-23 federal budget, announcing a raft of new funding measures to support veterans and their families.
This included spending to support implementation of recommendations of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, which include:
- Investing $233.9 million to recruit 500 additional staff in the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
- Providing $87 million in funding to help reduce processing times in the claims system.
- Committing $9.5 million to develop and consult on a pathway to simplify and harmonise veteran rehabilitation and compensation legislation.
Further, the government has pledged a $1,000 increase in the annual rate of the Totally and Permanently Incapacitated Payment for eligible disabled veterans to offset cost-of-living pressures; and $46.7 million for 10 Veterans’ and Families’ Hubs across Australia.
[Related: RSLA welcomes new veteran support funding ]
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