Our history

The Queensland Government established the Workers' Dwellings Act 1909 to provide subsidised housing for workers.

The Workers' Dwellings Branch was established as part of the Queensland Government Savings Bank to lend money and provide housing construction expertise to Queenslanders.

The Commonwealth Housing Commission recommended an integrated national and state plan to address the post-war housing shortage, and housing subsequently became a priority. The first Commonwealth State Housing Agreement was signed and the State Housing Act 1945 was passed. The Queensland Housing Commission was established with an initial asset portfolio of 198 rental properties.

To meet the post-World War II demand for housing, the Queensland Housing Commission started building the State's first rental homes.

New houses were built to meet the growing housing demand. Ex-wartime barracks were converted into temporary accommodation and the asset portfolio of the Queensland Housing Commission had grown to 1,241 dwellings.

There was a world-wide material shortage. As a result, Queensland was the first state to sign contracts to import European pre-fabricated houses made to Queensland designs.

The Queensland Housing Commission had constructed nearly 23,000 houses across the State.

In the prior three decades, the Queensland Housing Commission worked towards addressing the needs of a rapidly changing Queensland community. To meet this changing client demand, the Commission branched out from large estate developments to unit blocks and attached houses. In 1981, the Commission adapted its first house to address the needs of people with a disability.

People who could not afford to pay a full bond to secure accommodation in the private rental market were offered financial assistance.

Queensland received a Commonwealth Government funding boost to develop the community housing sector. Partnerships were developed with not-for-profit organisations and local governments to provide community-based housing assistance. The Crisis Accommodation Program was established, and the Australian Government initiated the Local Government and Community Housing Program to provide locally managed long-term rental housing for people on low incomes.

The Department of Housing and Local Government was formed. While the Commission would continue to exist as a legal entity for almost another 15 years, the creation of the department saw the emergence of a new philosophy of service provision.

The Boarding House Program and the Community Rent Scheme were established. The Housing Resource Service was introduced, later to be renamed the Tenant Advice and Advocacy Service (Queensland).

The Department of Housing, Local Government and Planning was formed. Responsibility for the Aboriginal Rental Housing Program transferred to the department.

The department's single service delivery point in Brisbane was decentralised with 17 area offices opened across the State. The Home Assist / Home Secure service was introduced.

The Department of Public Works and Housing was formed.

The Department of Housing was created as a single department. The Smart Housing initiative was introduced, and the Community Renewal Program was established.

The Brisbane Housing Company was created in a partnership through agreed funding arrangements between the department and the Brisbane City Council. The department established the Kelvin Grove Urban Village via a Deed of Corporation between the department and the Queensland University of Technology.

A Research House in Rockhampton was constructed to test and demonstrate sustainable design principles and contemporary technologies and building products.

Parliament passed the Housing Act 2003, repealing the State Housing Act 1945.

The Housing Act 2003 took effect, officially marking the end of the Queensland Housing Commission as an entity. From this date, the State of Queensland, through the Department of Housing, assumed the work and responsibilities of the Commission.

The department assumed a leadership role for the Queensland Government's four-year Responding to Homelessness initiative after earlier leading work aimed at improving cross-agency responses to homelessness.

The department embarked on the most significant social housing reform seen in Queensland for 60 years with the phased implementation of a new strategic direction to realise one social housing system. This saw the department move away from a wait-turn system for social housing towards the integration of services across housing providers and allocating assistance based on the level of client need, for the duration of that need.

The Housing Improvement Program for Indigenous communities was introduced to increase supply and improve the standard of housing within the 34 Indigenous communities across the State.

A major element of one social housing system, a new client intake and assessment process, was implemented. An applicant's assessed level and nature of housing need determined when and how they were assisted. The system integrated the delivery of housing assistance and housing-related services across social housing providers from the community sector, local government and the department. The department commenced a trial of RentConnect, and also became the Queensland conduit for the National Rental Affordability Scheme, a joint Federal and State Government initiative to stimulate the supply of up to 50,000 new affordable rental dwellings across the nation.

Following the State Election on 21 March 2009, the Department of Housing was abolished with the Department of Communities assuming responsibility for the Housing Act 2003 .