WEL has long campaigned to improve housing justice for women. WEL and other key women’s organisations are urging the government to end the Capital Gains Tax Discount, a tax break for property investors which deepens the housing crisis and inequality, including the gender wealth gap.

The March Report of the Select Committee on the Operation of the Capital Gains Tax Discount found that the CGTD and negative gearing have skewed housing ownership away from owner-occupiers and towards investors and have implications for wealth inequality and intergenerational inequality.

The Select Committee heard evidence that these tax concessions benefit women less than men and that the CGTD combined with negative gearing had turbocharged housing prices and increased inequality. They also contribute to driving housing unaffordability and reduce available government funds for social and public housing and other services upon which women rely.

The economic pressure on women is starkly illustrated by the over 10% jump in homelessness among women recorded in the last Census in 2021, with the most dramatic increases being in the number of women aged 34-44 years and young women aged 12 to 18 years. The housing crisis has deepened since that time, exacerbating housing pressures for women in all tenures. 

WEL has written to the Prime Minister, Minister for Finance and Minister for Women and the Treasurer in the leadup to the Federal Budget to highlight the gendered impact of the capital gains tax discount and negative gearing. . WEL has also joined with allied organisations to highlight the need for change.

WEL is aware that the government is considering changes to investor tax breaks and urges the government to end these deductions whose benefits are unequally distributed with implications for housing affordability and women’s economic security.

Fair Agenda has developed a tool to support individual representations about this. You can email your local member and Katy Gallagher the Minister for Finance and Minister for Women HERE.