Secure and affordable housing is fundamental to the wellbeing of Australians. Home ownership continues to be a widely held aspiration in Australia, as it affords owners with security of housing tenure and both long-term social and economic benefits. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are a national priority cohort in the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement, as Indigenous people have historically been overrepresented among people experiencing homelessness and among those seeking assistance with housing.

Census data provides the most comprehensive long-term view of housing tenure among Australian households and can be used to show the changing rate of home ownership by reported Indigenous status and across age groups over time.

Home ownership rates refer to the year the household reference person was born. That is, the number of private dwellings by age of household reference person and tenure type was used to calculate the proportion of homeowners of specific age groups from total households. Note that the source data excludes where age was not stated, and data for the 1991 time point was interpolated.

Census data on home ownership rates in Australia is also used in the following dashboard menu options: Indigenous home ownership by birth cohort, Home ownership by age group and Home ownership by birth cohort.

See ABS Housing: Census  (https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/housing/housing-census/2021) for further information, including in-depth commentary and analysis, in particular the source data Quality Declaration. Source reference AIHW analysis of customised ABS Census data, 1971–2021.