Our housing crisis has become a political football. Here's where you come in

A survey of Australian voters by lobby group Amplify revealed 94 per cent of respondents, who aligned with both sides of the political spectrum, supported increased density in housing stock, particularly near public transport corridors.

The respondents were selected from across Australia and represented a diverse range of ages, locations, educational levels and voting tendencies.

Though a small sample size of 100 people was used, Amplify's chief executive Georgina Harrisson said the survey was comprehensive enough to confirm participants on both sides of the political spectrum wanted increased housing stock.

"There is absolutely a clarity and message from the community that the only way through this crisis is actually to build more houses," she said.

But the politicisation of housing at both state and federal levels meant only short-term solutions were being proposed by governments, Ms Harrisson said.

The federal government's goal of 1.2 million new homes by 2030 under the National Housing Accord was likely to be missed by 462,000 dwellings, according to Amplify's tracking.

Tracking from the Master Builders Association ACT, released April 16, showed the territory was likely to miss its 21,000 target by 1751 homes due to red tape and low development application approval rates.

"At the minute, [the major parties] are stoking demand without reaching that challenge for supply, so we should all be looking to see a shift towards greater supply to meet that 1.2 million new homes," Ms Harrisson said.

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Amplify's survey and earlier research found a growing trend of distrust in governments to solve the housing crisis.

As a result, people needed to "turn up" to meetings and community initiatives if they wanted to see change, Ms Harrisson said.

She hoped non-partisan community groups would reach agreements that countered the "adversarial" nature of Australian planning systems.

Territory-based advocacy group Greater Canberra includes members of both major political parties, who together advocate for stronger medium-density housing to meet supply demands.

Ramon Bouckaert, who ran on a Liberal ticket in the 2024 ACT election, works with his Labor-aligning teammates at Greater Canberra to support missing middle housing in the territory.

The organisation is a proponent of Labor-initiated plans for changes to RZ1 zoning, which would unlock more homes.

"These issues cross partisan lines. Particularly a lot of young people feel the same kind of anxieties about the housing market and are looking for practical solutions that are not entirely idelogical, but are actually just based in [reality]," Mr Bouckaert said.

He said Greater Canberra removed partisan debate in their own decision-making by ensuring their policies were "considering the interests of people not currently in the housing market".

"We try actively to make sure we have political balance in events we host and endorsements we do.

"Both sides of politics acknowledge there are problems with housing," Mr Bouckaert said.