Online forum: Missing Middle Housing – the equity and affordability implications of reforms
On 13 February 2026, ACT Shelter hosted an online forum for over 100 participants examining the ACT Government’s proposed missing middle housing reforms and the equity and affordability implications of policy and planning frameworks designed to increased medium density housing.
While increasing housing supply in established suburbs is a central plank of current reform proposals, evidence from Australia and overseas shows that supply-focused approaches alone do not necessarily deliver affordability — and can generate unintended consequences such as displacement, speculative activity and windfall gains for landowners.
The forum brought together leading experts in housing policy, taxation, strata law, community housing and planning to explore the equity implications and to discuss what complementary policies, safeguards and regulatory settings are needed to ensure missing middle reforms deliver better outcomes for low- and moderate-income households.
See below for the forum speakers and the ACT Government presentation.
Speakers
Ed is an Associate and Special Adviser at SGS Economics and Planning and a Research Fellow at the City Futures Research Centre at the University of New South Wales. He is an experienced planner, researcher, policy analyst and academic, with experience across government, the private sector, non-government organisations and professional associations, as well as research and teaching roles at several Australian universities. Ed has a long track record of working with local governments across Australia on a range of policy and practice issues, including native title and agreement-making, integrated local area planning, local housing solutions, environmental protection, waste management, natural resource management, and cultural and historic heritage protection and management. Ed has published extensively and continues to contribute across a broad range of public policy fields.
Cathy is a leading Australian expert on strata and community title. Cathy is a Professor in the Macquarie University Law School, an executive member of the Smart Green Cities Research Centre, and a member of the Macquarie University Housing and Urban Research Centre. Her research focuses on the legal, social and economic complexities of strata and other forms of collectively owned property, particularly in higher-density housing. She is the author of Strata Title Property Rights: Private governance of multi-owned housing (2017), and regularly advises governments in Australia and overseas on laws governing multi-owned properties and higher-density housing.
Tim is the Director of Research and Policy at think-tank Prosper Australia. An economist specialising in taxation, housing, and infrastructure, he has worked as a freelance consultant and at Ernst & Young and the Victorian and New Zealand Treasuries. Tim has worked for local, state and federal governments on transport, housing and taxation, and regularly provides advice to inquiries, policymakers and media. His PhD from the University of Melbourne examined the economics of land tax.
Nathan joined CHC as CEO in 2024 and brings nearly 30 years’ experience in public policy and advisory roles, with deep expertise in housing policy. He previously spent six years as CEO of Housing Australia and its predecessor, the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation, where he was the inaugural CEO and led the design and delivery of major national initiatives including the Bond Aggregator, the Home Guarantee Scheme and the Housing Australia Future Fund, alongside an influential research program which included the annual State of the Nation Housing Report. Nathan has held senior roles across the Commonwealth, served as a senior economic adviser to Shadow Treasurers, and as a non-executive director of AHURI. Internationally, he has represented Australia at the UN on sustainable development financing and was posted to Indonesia’s Ministry of Finance. He holds a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Economics (Hons) from the University of Newcastle.Accordion Content
James is the Executive Branch Manager of the Building, Design and Development Branch within the City and Environment Directorate of the ACT Government. James has responsibility for policy development relating to urban design and the Territory Plan, buildings performance, the building and construction industry, design review and development advice. This includes overseeing major reform projects such as the Missing Middle Housing Reforms, the ACT Sustainable Buildings Pathway and the introduction of property developer licensing. James is the ACT representative on the Australian Building Codes Board. James has university qualifications in law, specialising in environmental and property law.
ACT Government Presentation (James Bennett)
- Context for reform
- Key proposals
- How policy design and implementation can deliver equitable housing
- Policy intent
- Next steps