The peak union body has urged the Albanese government to push ahead with tax reform to help get more young workers into homes, as fresh data shows Australia falling behind its housing supply target.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The Australian Council of Trade Unions called for the capital gains tax discount to be cut in half from 50 per cent to 25 per cent, arguing the generous concession incentivises professional landlords to invest in property, driving up prices.
In a submission to a Greens-led parliamentary inquiry into the discount, the ACTU said it was at best "a failed tax policy long in need of an overhaul".
At worst, it is a "tax avoidance scheme for the richest Australians that is helping to drive record inequality and is pricing mostly younger people out of home ownership".
"Too many workers can no longer afford to live near where they work, and a growing number of workers will never be able to save enough for a deposit," ACTU president Michele O'Neil said.
"At the same time, accelerating rents and house prices are outpacing the money people can save each week."
Calls to scale back the discount, which was introduced by the Howard government in 1999 and aims to compensate investors for inflation, have been echoed by think tanks such as the Grattan Institute and NSW Treasury.
In a recent interview with Nobel-prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz published in The Monthly, federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the government was instead focused on other ways to make housing more affordable, by encouraging new supply.
On Tuesday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed just over 195,000 new homes were approved nationwide in 2025, after dwelling consents fell 14.9 per cent in December to 15,542.
To meet the national housing accord target of 1.2 million new homes over five years, the industry needs to be building new homes at a rate of 240,000 each year.
The drop in approvals in December was driven by a 29.8 per cent fall in approvals for private dwellings excluding houses, ABS head of construction statistics Daniel Rossi said.
It comes after a 29.6 per cent rise in November and demonstrates the volatile nature of the data.
While approvals are still below target, the trend rate has been steadily rising since the start of 2024.
"We've seen three years of increases in building approvals and building approvals in 2025 were up 13 per cent on the year prior," Housing Minister Clare O'Neil said.
"We know there's still much more work to do to turn around a housing crisis a generation in the making."
Home prices rose 8.6 per cent in 2025, according to property data firm Cotality.
Values climbed another 0.8 per cent nationally in January, underpinned by chronic undersupply, Cotality research director Tim Lawless said.
Australian Associated Press
