Minister for Housing (Australia)

The Minister for Housing is an Australian Government cabinet position which is currently held by Clare O'Neil since July 2024 in the Albanese government.

Minister for Housing
Commonwealth Coat of Arms
Flag of Australia
Incumbent Clare O'Neil since 29 July 2024 (2024-07-29)
Department of the Treasury
Style	The Honourable
Appointer	Governor-General on the advice of the prime minister
Inaugural holder	Bert Lazzarini (as Minister for Works and Housing)
Formation	13 July 1945 (1945-07-13)
Website	ministers.treasury.gov.au/ministers/clare-oneil-2025

In the Government of Australia, the minister administers this portfolio through the Department of the Treasury.

The first Minister for Housing was Les Bury, appointed in 1963, although there were Ministers in charge of War Service Homes from 1932 to 1938 and 1941 to 1945. In 1945, Bert Lazzarini was appointed Minister for Works and Housing and this title continued until 1952, when Wilfrid Kent Hughes became Minister for Works. No minister included "works" or "construction" in his portfolio after Stewart West lost this title in 1987, partly reflecting the progressive outsourcing of the Commonwealth's construction activities and even ownership of assets. The Howard government had no Minister of Housing, partly reflecting the decline of the significance of the commonwealth-state housing agreements as a means of providing new housing since the post-war years.

Between 2010 and 2013 and since 2020, the minister appointed to the position is also appointed the Minister for Homelessness.

List of ministers for housing

The following individuals have been appointed as Minister for Housing, or any of its precedent titles:^[1]

Order	Minister	Party		Ministry	Title	Term start	Term end	Term in office
1	Bert Lazzarini		Labor	1st Chifley	Minister for Works and Housing	13 July 1945 (1945-07-13)	1 November 1946 (1946-11-01)	1 year, 111 days
2	Nelson Lemmon			2nd Chifley		1 November 1946 (1946-11-01)	19 December 1949 (1949-12-19)	3 years, 48 days
3	Richard Casey		Liberal	4th Menzies		19 December 1949 (1949-12-19)	11 May 1951 (1951-05-11)	1 year, 143 days
4	Wilfrid Kent Hughes			5th Menzies		11 May 1951 (1951-05-11)	4 June 1952 (1952-06-04)	1 year, 24 days
5	Les Bury		Liberal	10th Menzies	Minister for Housing	18 December 1963 (1963-12-18)	26 January 1966 (1966-01-26)	2 years, 39 days
6	Annabelle Rankin			1st Holt 2nd Holt McEwen 1st Gorton 2nd Gorton McMahon		26 January 1966 (1966-01-26)	22 March 1971 (1971-03-22)	5 years, 55 days
7	Kevin Cairns			McMahon		22 March 1971 (1971-03-22)	5 December 1972 (1972-12-05)	1 year, 258 days
8	Gough Whitlam1		Labor	1st Whitlam		5 December 1972 (1972-12-05)	19 December 1972 (1972-12-19)	14 days
9	Les Johnson			2nd Whitlam		19 December 1972 (1972-12-19)	30 November 1973 (1973-11-30)	2 years, 169 days
				2nd Whitlam 3rd Whitlam	Minister for Housing and Construction	30 November 1973 (1973-11-30)	6 June 1975 (1975-06-06)
10	Joe Riordan			3rd Whitlam		6 June 1975 (1975-06-06)	11 November 1975 (1975-11-11)	158 days
11	John Carrick		Liberal	1st Fraser		11 November 1975 (1975-11-11)	22 December 1975 (1975-12-22)	41 days
12	Ivor Greenwood			2nd Fraser	Minister for Environment, Housing and Community Development	22 December 1975 (1975-12-22)	8 July 1976 (1976-07-08)	199 days
13	Kevin Newman			2nd Fraser		8 July 1976 (1976-07-08)	20 December 1977 (1977-12-20)	1 year, 165 days
14	Ray Groom			3rd Fraser		20 December 1977 (1977-12-20)	5 December 1978 (1978-12-05)	2 years, 319 days
					Minister for Housing and Construction	5 December 1978 (1978-12-05)	3 November 1980 (1980-11-03)
15	Tom McVeigh		National Country	4th Fraser		3 November 1980 (1980-11-03)	7 May 1982 (1982-05-07)	1 year, 185 days
16	Chris Hurford		Labor	1st Hawke	Minister for Housing and Construction	11 March 1983 (1983-03-11)	13 December 1984 (1984-12-13)	1 year, 277 days
17	Stewart West			2nd Hawke		13 December 1984 (1984-12-13)	24 July 1987 (1987-07-24)	2 years, 223 days
18	Peter Morris		Labor	3rd Hawke	Minister for Housing and Aged Care	19 January 1988 (1988-01-19)	15 February 1988 (1988-02-15)	27 days
19	Peter Staples			3rd Hawke 4th Hawke		15 February 1988 (1988-02-15)	7 May 1990 (1990-05-07)	2 years, 81 days
20	Brian Howe			4th Hawke	Minister for Community Services and Health	7 May 1990 (1990-05-07)	7 June 1991 (1991-06-07)	5 years, 309 days
				4th Hawke 1st Keating	Minister for Health, Housing and Community Services	7 June 1991 (1991-06-07)	24 March 1993 (1993-03-24)
				2nd Keating	Minister for Housing, Local Government and Community Services	24 March 1993 (1993-03-24)	23 December 1993 (1993-12-23)
					Minister for Housing, Local Government and Human Services	23 December 1993 (1993-12-23)	25 March 1994 (1994-03-25)
					Minister for Housing and Regional Development	25 March 1994 (1994-03-25)	11 March 1996 (1996-03-11)
21	Tanya Plibersek		Labor	1st Rudd 1st Gillard	Minister for Housing	3 December 2007 (2007-12-03)	14 September 2010 (2010-09-14)	2 years, 285 days
22	Mark Arbib			2nd Gillard	Minister for Social Housing and Homelessness	14 September 2010 (2010-09-14)	14 December 2011 (2011-12-14)	1 year, 91 days
23	Robert McClelland				Minister for Housing	14 December 2011 (2011-12-14)	5 March 2012 (2012-03-05)	82 days
24	Brendan O'Connor					5 March 2012 (2012-03-05)	4 February 2013 (2013-02-04)	336 days
25	Mark Butler				Minister for Housing and Homelessness	4 February 2013 (2013-02-04)	1 July 2013 (2013-07-01)	147 days
26	Julie Collins			2nd Rudd		1 July 2013 (2013-07-01)	18 September 2013 (2013-09-18)	79 days
27	Michael Sukkar		Liberal	2nd Morrison	Minister for Housing	29 May 2019 (2019-05-29)	23 May 2022 (2022-05-23)	2 years, 359 days
(26)	Julie Collins		Labor	Albanese		1 June 2022 (2022-06-01)	29 July 2024 (2024-07-29)	2 years, 58 days
28	Clare O'Neil					29 July 2024 (2024-07-29)	Incumbent	1 year, 14 days

Notes

¹ Whitlam was one of a two-man ministry consisting of himself and Lance Barnard for two weeks until the full ministry was announced.

List of assistant ministers

The following individuals have been appointed as Assistant Minister for Community Housing, Homelessness and Community Services, or any of its precedent titles:^[1]

Order	Minister	Party		Ministry	Title	Term start	Term end	Term in office
1	Herbert Johnson		Labor	1st Chifley	Minister assisting the Minister for Works and Housing	13 July 1945 (1945-07-13)	1 November 1946 (1946-11-01)	1 year, 111 days
2	Gary Johns		Labor	1st Keating	Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health, Housing and Community Services	27 December 1991 (1991-12-27)	24 March 1993 (1993-03-24)	1 year, 87 days
3	Andrew Theophanous			2nd Keating	Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Human Services	24 March 1993 (1993-03-24)	23 December 1993 (1993-12-23)	1 year, 1 day
					Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Human Services	23 December 1993 (1993-12-23)	25 March 1994 (1994-03-25)
4	Mary Crawford				Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Housing and Regional Development	25 March 1994 (1994-03-25)	11 March 1996 (1996-03-11)	1 year, 352 days
5	Melissa Parke		Labor	2nd Gillard	Parliamentary Secretary for Homelessness and Social Housing	4 February 2013 (2013-02-04)	1 July 2013 (2013-07-01)	147 days
6	Doug Cameron			2nd Rudd	Parliamentary Secretary for Housing and Homelessness	1 July 2013 (2013-07-01)	18 September 2013 (2013-09-18)	79 days
7	Sarah Henderson		Liberal	1st Morrison	Assistant Minister for Social Services, Housing and Disability Services	28 August 2018 (2018-08-28)	29 May 2019 (2019-05-29)	274 days
8	Luke Howarth		Liberal National	2nd Morrison	Assistant Minister for Community Housing, Homelessness and Community Services	29 May 2019 (2019-05-29)	22 December 2020 (2020-12-22)	1 year, 207 days

See also

• Minister for Housing (Victoria)
• Minister for Housing (New South Wales)
• Minister for Housing (Western Australia)