Social housing programs provide rental housing at below market rates to those who may otherwise struggle to find affordable housing. The National Social Housing Survey (NSHS) provides insights into the experiences of social housing tenants. Overall satisfaction includes tenant satisfaction with both their home and their social housing provider.  

The NSHS is managed by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and is conducted every two years. The survey provides information on social housing tenants, their housing histories, satisfaction with their social housing, satisfaction with the services and amenities provided, and information about their household’s use of other health and community services. The survey began in 1996 with public housing tenants and has expanded to include community housing tenants (2001), state owned and managed Indigenous housing (SOMIH) (2005) and Indigenous community housing tenants in Queensland (2018). While there are methodological differences between survey cycles and data over time should be interpreted with caution, the adoption of more consistent survey instruments since 2012 has allowed greater comparability across both social housing programs and states and territories since this time.

NSHS data are also used in the following dashboard menu option: Housing amenities - tenant ratings.

See the National Social Housing Survey 2021: Key results (https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/housing-assistance/national-social-housing-survey-2021/contents/about) for further information, including in-depth commentary and analysis, in particular, the survey methodological report and data Quality Statement. Source reference table S1.1.