Defence Housing Australia at a glance
Our mission and vision
We will strive for excellence in the provision of housing and related services to members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and their families by:
- supplying quality, integrated community housing
- achieving an exceptional degree of client and customer satisfaction
- providing quality, environmentally sound and economic housing that fits community needs
- achieving financial results that meet or exceed shareholder and investor expectations.
Who we are
DHA is a commercially focussed Government Business Enterprise (GBE) that provides housing and related services to ADF members and their families in accordance with the Defence Housing Australia Act 1987 (DHA Act) and service agreements with the Department of Defence (DoD).
We are accountable to the Australian Government for our performance against stated objectives in our Corporate Plan. We sit within the Defence portfolio and report to the Minister for Defence and the Minister for Finance as Shareholder Ministers. Responsibility for operational matters is typically delegated to the Assistant Minister for Defence.
We are self-funded and a full tax paying entity—we do not receive funding from the Federal Budget. We are required to maintain a strong balance sheet and to meet shareholder return obligations, including paying the Australian Government an annual dividend.
We are committed to working in partnership with our shareholders, clients, customers, all levels of government, industry, small-to-large businesses, and the public to fulfil our role and contribute to ADF retention, recruitment and operational goals.
What we do
- Housing ADF members
We provide housing solutions to ADF members and their families in accordance with service agreements with the DoD; Services Agreement on Housing and Related Matters (Services Agreement) and the Agreement on Members Without Dependants (Choice Accommodation). - Property and tenancy management
We provide property allocation and tenancy management services to ADF members and their families, and property management services to lessors. - Property provisioning
We buy individual land lots and major sites for development, and then undertake construction activities with assistance from the private sector as necessary. We also purchase and/or lease new and established properties as needed, and manage on-base, regional and remote housing for the DoD under annuity (finance lease) arrangements. - Capital raising
We generate capital to meet our provisioning commitments through our Sale and Leaseback (SLB) program, through the sale of surplus land, and the disposal of properties surplus to requirements. - Lease management
We establish new leases (through SLB and leasing directly from owners), extend existing leases using options and, where appropriate, negotiate new leases to meet provisioning requirements. - Investment management
We manage a portfolio of properties retained for investment reasons (rather than selling them under the SLB program).