Where we've come from

Helping people to achieve and maintain safe and appropriate housing is an essential role of government, and in South Australia that role is led by the SA Housing Authority. The Authority has a long and proud history of fulfilling this role by providing housing support for South Australians.

Originally established as the South Australian Housing Trust by the state government in 1936, the Trust’s main role in those formative years was to build new housing to respond to migration and a population boom that followed World War II. As well as building thousands of new homes for low income working families, the Trust was also a significant driver of local planning, industrial and economic development, and population growth. Since then the Authority has helped build new suburbs (such as Elizabeth) and communities, which has helped create jobs and career paths for many South Australians.

The Authority’s role has evolved over the decades, from a builder of new homes to providing a broader range of services and supports for vulnerable South Australians and people experiencing housing challenges. As a result, functions such as private rental assistance, community housing, and affordable housing have been developed.

The Authority continues to adapt to ensure we are responding to the needs of our customers and the community.

For more than eight decades, the Authority has been at the heart of building our state’s housing infrastructure. We have been building homes and communities for generations of South Australians and we are proud to be a national leader in ensuring people have every opportunity to have a place to call home.