The Australian Housing Programme1
| Date | 01 June 1948 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.1948.tb02642.x |
| Author | Ronald Mendelsohn |
| Published date | 01 June 1948 |
The
Australian Housing Programme'
By
RONALD
MENDELSOHN, M.Ec.,
Department
of
Wmks
and
Housing,
Canberra.
~.-INTRODUCTION
THIS study is concerned with Australian housing plicy, which during and
dnce the war has undergone
a
swift and considerable development.
In
an
impartant sense it may be regarded as a case-history in Commonwealth-State
relatims, partly because the Housing Agreement between the Commonwealth
and States is the most significant use of the conditional grant-in-aid, and partly
because the new housing policy, while clearly due to Commonwealth leadership,
is administered by the States-a real partnership, despite some deficiencies.
For the sake of those not familiar in detail with the Australian constitution
it will therefore be necessary at the outset to give
some
indication
d
the formal
relations between Commonwealth and States, and
the
day-today arrangements
which have
grown
up around the constitutional provisions.
Australia is
a
federation constituted by an Act of the Imperial Parliament
proclaimed
in
1901.
The Constitution assigns definite functions to the Common-
wealth Parliament, but those functions not specifically mentioned rest with the
States.
For
example, aviation, except for defence, has remained
a
State func-
tion, despite efforts to transfer it
to
the Commonwealth. The Constitution may
be altered either by poplar referendum or by
"
reference
"
of
powers by State
to Federal Parliament; but neither process has yielded much change.
By implication the States have power over housing matters, since
"
housing
"
is not mentioned
in
Section
51
of the Constitution as one
of
the powers
d
the
Commonwealth Parliament. Some qualification is
necessary
here; for on three
counts the Comonwealth may be said to have absolute or qualified rights to
act.
It
has power
to
house its servants in any part of the Commonwealth;
it
has unrestricted power in the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory,
Papa and the Mandated Territory of New Guinea; and it has certain indefinite
powers to house ex-Service personnel.
The
Constitution gives the Common-
wealth specific functions in connection with the naval and military defence
of
the
Cosmmonwealth and of the several States. There is no mention of the repatria-
tion
of
ex-Servicemen, but the duty
has
been assumed as part of the defence
pcrwer.
As
one
repatriation function the Commonwealth
in
1918
set
up
a War
Service Homes Commission (now the War Service Homes Division of the Depart-
ment of Works and Housing) which lends money to former volunteer servicemen.
Its present activities are slight,
but
it is questionable whether Commonwealth
powers are exhausted by its activities; rental housing for ex-Servicemen, for
example, may be quite constitutional. Be that as it may, the Commonwealth
Government has acted in the consistent belief that its direct housing powers are
circumscribed. Despite the real difficulties, it certainly seems worth exploring
to see whether Commonwealth rental housing for ex-Servicemen cannot be
used
to supplement State activities-specially if materials in better supply, such as
steel
and
concrete are relied upon.2
'This
essay
was
one
of
two
which shared
second
place
in the Hddane Campetition
of
1946.
2Since
this
was
written
a
new
Minister
has
decided that
the
War
Service
Homes
function
should
be
extended to cover
group
housing
for
sale
to
ex-Servicemen-an
interesting example
of
the
effect
of
merent
interpretations
of
the Constitution.
1
00
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