Defence Housing Australia Amendment Bill 2025

The majority voted in favour of a motion to pass the bill in the Senate. In parliamentary jargon, they voted to read the bill a third time. Since the bill has already passed in the House of the Representatives, it will now become law.

What does this bill do?

According to the bills digest, which is a document created by the parliamentary library:

Australia is hosting an increasing number of foreign military personnel as a result of expanding defence cooperation with allies.

Key initiatives include Submarine Rotational Force-West (SRF-West), the US Force Posture Initiatives, the Australia-Japan Reciprocal Access Agreement, and the Australia – Singapore Military Training Initiative.

The Bill will amend the Defence Housing Australia Act 1987 to expand Defence Housing Australia’s (DHA) main function to include the ability to provide housing and housing-related services to foreign government and defence personnel, and philanthropic organisations assisting the Australian Defence Force, to meet Defence’s current and future operational requirements.

At the time of writing, the Bill had not been referred to or reported on by any parliamentary committees.