Australia’s immigration-driven housing crisis is set to get worse, experts have warned, after new official data revealed a record number of permanent and long-term migrant arrivals.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released new figures on Tuesday showing that net permanent and long-term immigrant arrivals in May were 33,230, the highest ever for that month, and a 6% increase on the previous May record of 31,310 set in 2023.
And in the 12 months to May net arrivals were 447,620, the second-highest on record after the 482,450 a year earlier, dwarfing the Albanese Labor government’s net migration forecast of 335,000 for the 2024-25 financial year.
The ABS defines permanent arrivals as travellers who arrive on permanent migrant visas for the first time, New Zealand citizens who indicate for the first time an intention to migrate permanently, and those otherwise eligible to settle, such as the overseas-born children of Australian citizens.
Long-term arrivals are defined as overseas visitors who intend to stay in Australia for more than 12 months, but not permanently.
Deputy Executive Director of the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) Daniel Wild said the ongoing high level of unplanned migration was damaging Australian living standards and exacerbating the housing crisis.
“Out-of-control migration intakes, and housing shortfalls, are making it impossible for Australians to get ahead,” he said.
“Excessive migration has played a significant role in pummelling Australia’s economic productivity, creating extended periods of negative per capita economic growth, and exacerbating the housing and rental crises being experienced by Australians and new migrants alike.”
Mr Wild also referred to leaked Treasury data that showed Mr Albanese’s National Housing Accord target of 1.2 million new homes by 2029 would not be met, and warned that a focus on overall GDP growth had left individual Australians with an “ever-shrinking slice” of the economic pie.
“Despite the fact that the federal government has failed to deliver on a single target under its Accord, it continues to ramp up migration intakes, at a time when the nation is simply not building the houses it needs to accommodate a rapidly rising population,” he said.
“Failing to rein in unsustainable migration intakes actively drives down living standards when Australians are already struggling with rapidly rising house prices and rents,” Mr Wild said.
“The federal government has overseen negative per capita economic growth in nine of the last eleven full quarters recorded since May 2022.”
Only 179,410 new homes were completed in the year to March, the capital city vacancy rate was 1.3% in June, and Australia has been in a per capita recession since the first quarter of this year, and experienced negative per capita GDP growth from 2023 to the third quarter of last year.
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