The St Vincent de Paul Society (Vinnies) is calling for federal tax rule changes to help make housing more affordable for residents in Chester Hill, New South Wales. In a media release published on 21 January 2026, the charity said the current Capital Gains Tax (CGT) discount is encouraging property speculation and contributing to rising housing costs that are pushing local families into poverty.
Vinnies is urging the federal government to reduce the 50% CGT discount and to direct the revenues toward building social and affordable housing. The Society estimates that reducing the discount could generate roughly $165 billion over the next decade — a figure from Vinnies’ own modelling that it says could be used to fund new social housing and relieve pressure on the private rental market.
Local Vinnies branches, including those serving suburbs such as Chester Hill, report rising demand for emergency relief. The Society links this to escalating rents and mortgage costs, and says that some people in steady employment are turning to food relief because housing costs are consuming very large shares of household income. The NSW Council of Social Service (NCOSS) 2023 Cost of Living report found around 62% of participants said they had gone without essentials in the previous year, underscoring widespread pressure on low‑income households.
Canterbury-Bankstown Council has highlighted the scale of local housing need: the council has identified a minimum demand of at least 39,500 new dwellings by 2036 to keep up with population growth. Vinnies says the revenue from CGT reform could help fund such local housing projects and reduce reliance on the private rental market.
“Changes to the capital gains tax rules could help ease the housing crisis and reduce poverty… we need homes for living, not wealth creation,” the St Vincent de Paul Society said in its 21 January 2026 media release. Mark Gaetani, National President of the St Vincent de Paul Society, is among those quoted by the organisation urging reform.
Vinnies says it hopes the proposals would mean shorter waitlists for social housing and fewer Chester Hill residents needing to rely on food banks and emergency services. The society’s $165 billion figure is an organisation estimate based on its modelling and remains an advocacy projection rather than an official government costings figure.
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