Social and Sustainability Bonds

    Investing in social and sustainability bonds

    Housing Australia’s Social and Sustainability Bonds support a sustainable community housing sector and help our community housing partners deliver better social and affordable housing for their tenants.

    How it works

    Housing Australia issues Social and Sustainability Bonds in Australian wholesale debt capital markets to raise funds for new and existing social and affordable housing projects. The funds are provided to registered Community Housing Providers (CHPs) as low-cost, long-term loans through the Affordable Housing Bond Aggregator (AHBA).

    The AHBA aggregates CHP funding requirements. These are then financed through bond issuances as well as a line of credit that Housing Australia can access from the Australian Government to provide shorter-term construction finance or bridge funding ahead of a bond issuance.

    In each case, the cost of the AHBA’s funding is passed through to CHP borrowers plus a modest lending margin to cover Housing Australia’s operating costs and to build capital reserves over time.

    Why invest with Housing Australia?

    • Australian Government guarantee
    • AAA (stable) credit rating from Standard & Poor’s
    • Fully aligned with Housing Australia’s Sustainability Bond Framework
    • Compliant with ICMA Social Bond Principles and Sustainability Bond Guidelines
    • Proven track record: over $2.8 billion in social and sustainability bonds issued to date
    • Full transparency via annual Social Bond Reports and external verification by Ernst & Young
    • Typical tenors of 7-12 years.

    Bond issuances 

    Housing Australia has issued over A$2.8 billion in social and sustainability bonds since 2019.

    BondVolumeESG Bond typeTenorInitial issue date
    Bond 1A$350mSocial10 years28 March 2019
    Bond 2A$315mSocial10.5 years27 November 2019
    Bond 3A$695mSocial12 years29 June 2020
    Bond 4A$435mSustainability15 years02 June 2021
    Bond 5A$362mSocial10 years15 June 2021
    Bond 6A$100mSocial10 years15 June 2021
    Bond 7A$582mSustainability15 years08 November 2023

    Sustainability Bond Framework

    Housing Australia’s Sustainability Bond Framework is aligned with the International Capital Market Association’s (ICMA) Social Bond Principles (SBPs), Green Bond Principles (GBPs) and Sustainability Bond Guidelines (SBGs). It is governed by ICMA’s four core principles: use of proceeds, process for evaluation and selection, management of proceeds, and reporting.

    Sustainability Strategy

    External verification

    Housing Australia follows market best practice by obtaining annual external verification by an independent assurance provider. Ernst & Young provides pre-issuance and post-issuance assurance to confirm that Housing Australia’s social and sustainability bonds are, in all material aspects, in accordance with the Sustainability Bond Framework. The post-assurance statement is included in Housing Australia's annual Social Bond Report, published every October.

    Handy document downloads

    Latest Social Bond Report and Past Reports

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    Sustainability Bond Framework

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    Find out more

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