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A Queensland government audit has identified gaps in record-keeping around social housing applications cancelled because applicants could not be contacted, prompting calls for clearer rules and stronger monitoring.
Queensland’s social housing system is facing renewed political scrutiny after an audit found gaps in the way applications are monitored and cancelled when housing applicants are considered uncontactable.
Queensland Housing Minister Sam O’Connor told a July budget estimates hearing that 2,419 applicants were removed from the social housing waitlist during 2025–26 because they were considered uncontactable. The figure represented almost one-third of all cancelled applications during the financial year.
The issue was highlighted in a Queensland Audit Office report examining the delivery of social housing services. According to the audit findings reported by ABC, the Department of Housing did not collect enough information to determine how applicants had been contacted or how many attempts had been made before an application was cancelled.
Current department policy requires housing officers to make “reasonable attempts” to contact applicants before cancelling an application. However, the policy does not specify a minimum period or a fixed number of contact attempts that must occur before someone can be classified as uncontactable.
Housing and homelessness organisation Q Shelter has called for clearer rules. Its chief executive, Fiona Caniglia, said the department should have defined requirements, including a proposed six-month period and multiple attempts to contact applicants before their applications could be removed from the register. Her comments are an advocacy position rather than a government policy change.
The Queensland Government disputes any suggestion that applications are being cancelled prematurely for political reasons. Minister Sam O’Connor told ABC that housing officers make reasonable and multiple attempts to contact applicants and said no direction had been issued to prematurely cancel applications. He also said applications are cancelled only in limited circumstances.
The government has separately reported that Queensland’s social housing waitlist has fallen as additional housing has been delivered and applications have undergone more frequent reviews. Earlier official figures showed the register had decreased substantially from its previous peak.
The latest debate therefore involves two separate issues: the government's reported progress in reducing the number of people waiting for social housing, and concerns from the Queensland Audit Office and housing advocates about how cancelled applications are recorded and reviewed.
For applicants, remaining contactable with the housing department remains important. Queensland's housing guidance says applicants can have an application removed if the department cannot contact them in certain circumstances, including when an offer is not responded to.
The Queensland Government has not announced that the existing cancellation rules will be replaced following the latest reporting. The audit findings and calls from housing advocates have, however, placed the department's application-management procedures under renewed public scrutiny.
HousingApplicationsQueenslandApplicantsCancelled
Queensland’s social housing system is facing renewed political scrutiny after an audit found gaps in the way applications are monitored and cancelled when housing applicants are considered uncontactable.
Queensland Housing Minister Sam O’Connor told a July budget estimates hearing that 2,419 applicants were removed from the social housing waitlist during 2025–26 because they were considered uncontactable. The figure represented almost one-third of all cancelled applications during the financial year.
The issue was highlighted in a Queensland Audit Office report examining the delivery of social housing services. According to the audit findings reported by ABC, the Department of Housing did not collect enough information to determine how applicants had been contacted or how many attempts had been made before an application was cancelled.
Current department policy requires housing officers to make “reasonable attempts” to contact applicants before cancelling an application. However, the policy does not specify a minimum period or a fixed number of contact attempts that must occur before someone can be classified as uncontactable.
Housing and homelessness organisation Q Shelter has called for clearer rules. Its chief executive, Fiona Caniglia, said the department should have defined requirements, including a proposed six-month period and multiple attempts to contact applicants before their applications could be removed from the register. Her comments are an advocacy position rather than a government policy change.
The Queensland Government disputes any suggestion that applications are being cancelled prematurely for political reasons. Minister Sam O’Connor told ABC that housing officers make reasonable and multiple attempts to contact applicants and said no direction had been issued to prematurely cancel applications. He also said applications are cancelled only in limited circumstances.
The government has separately reported that Queensland’s social housing waitlist has fallen as additional housing has been delivered and applications have undergone more frequent reviews. Earlier official figures showed the register had decreased substantially from its previous peak.
The latest debate therefore involves two separate issues: the government's reported progress in reducing the number of people waiting for social housing, and concerns from the Queensland Audit Office and housing advocates about how cancelled applications are recorded and reviewed.
For applicants, remaining contactable with the housing department remains important. Queensland's housing guidance says applicants can have an application removed if the department cannot contact them in certain circumstances, including when an offer is not responded to.
The Queensland Government has not announced that the existing cancellation rules will be replaced following the latest reporting. The audit findings and calls from housing advocates have, however, placed the department's application-management procedures under renewed public scrutiny.
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