Addressing housing affordability for essential workers

“In high-cost housing markets, key workers can struggle to find suitable housing, leading to recruitment and retention challenges,” explains Dr Catherine Gilbert, one of the report's authors. 

With soaring housing prices, fewer essential workers now live within 15 kilometres of Sydney and Melbourne’s CBDs, where jobs are concentrated. Long commutes from more affordable areas impact not only key workers’ quality of life but also place immense pressure on vital public services, potentially jeopardising their efficiency and quality.  

In a report for HOPE Housing, Dr Gilbert, Dr Zahra Nasreen and Professor Nicole Gurran conducted an in-depth analysis of the housing landscape for essential workers across metropolitan and regional areas. Drawing on data from recent Australian censuses and local housing market statistics, the findings reveal a sharp decline in housing affordability in urban centres. Currently, there are no Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Sydney or Melbourne where early-career essential workers can afford a median-priced home. Even townhouses and apartments, which were once more accessible, are now largely unaffordable.

Rising rental stress further compounds this issue. Median rents in inner Sydney and Melbourne are out of reach for workers on moderate incomes, increasing the strain on essential workers. Moreover, affordability issues have spread from inner cities to outer suburbs and coastal regions, areas historically more affordable. This shift highlights the growing geographic spread of housing challenges facing essential workers across Australia. 

The mismatch between where essential workers live and work poses significant risks to essential services.

“Examining where essential workers live, where they are moving to, and rates of housing stress and overcrowding across three consecutive censuses showed that this is a systemic and worsening problem,” says Dr Gilbert.

The study found only 11% of police officers working in the City of Sydney also live there, with more than 350 commuting from distant areas like the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, and Illawarra. In City of Melbourne, over 600 police officers commute from Geelong and the Mornington Peninsula.

The ongoing increase in commuting distances, coupled with a shortage of affordable housing, places further strain on staffing levels for critical services that rely on essential workers living near the communities they serve. 

“What this research really highlights is the risk worsening housing affordability presents for staffing essential services, with implications for the health, safety and functioning of cities,” says Dr Gilbert.

So how can governments reverse this worrying trend and ensure essential workers can access affordable housing?

“The report shows that small interventions to increase the supply of affordable housing options across Australia’s cities and regions could make a significant difference to where essential workers can live,” shares Gilbert.

One approach is for governments to require affordable rental housing in new residential developments that are enabled through land rezoning, which would help alleviate the housing burden on essential workers. Another recommendation involves prioritising government land near major employers for workforce housing developments, ensuring essential workers have access to housing close to their jobs. Additionally, shared equity models for home purchases would offer essential workers a sustainable path to home ownership, allowing them to buy homes at a lower initial cost.

These strategies collectively reveal a path toward better housing access for essential workers, and the moderate income labour force more broadly, across Australia.

Creating impact through research requires translating insights into solutions that serve the public good.  By bridging the gap between discovery and real-world solutions, this work with HOPE Housing demonstrates how research partnerships can advance our understanding of urgent housing challenges while offering clear, actionable pathways forward.

Working closely with policymakers, developers, and communities, our partnerships can bring about innovative and more equitable approaches to housing that support essential workers and strengthen Australia’s urban and regional resilience.

Our School is proudly committed to world-class research and partnerships to address housing futures. Learn more about working with us.