Former Labor senator Doug Cameron says Australia’s housing market has failed ordinary Australians and argues governments should return to building public housing directly, as New South Wales expands its use of modular and 3D-printed homes to tackle growing pressure on social housing.
“I agree, the housing market is broken!” Cameron wrote this week, responding to Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ warning that housing stress is driving voters away from major parties.
“Previous Labor govts acted to ensure there was an alternative-public housing. Stop feeding a failed market and invest in modern, efficient public housing. Create a new hi tech modular housing industry building public housing for Australians.”
The comments come as NSW ramps up investment in modular construction and modern methods of construction, known across the sector as MMC, following the completion of the state’s first 3D-printed social housing project in Dubbo.
The project, completed in May 2025 on Wiradjuri Country, delivered two two-bedroom duplexes for Aboriginal Housing Office tenants in about 20 weeks. The concrete walls were printed in around 16 days using Contour3D’s gantry-based system and a proprietary concrete mix containing recycled materials.
The homes are now occupied, with no major public issues or delays reported since completion.
According to the Aboriginal Housing Office, the Dubbo development formed part of a wider target to deliver 165 new homes by mid-2025. The pilot attracted attention nationally because of its build speed and its attempt to reduce waste, labour intensity and ongoing energy costs.
At the time, the NSW Government said the homes were built more quickly than traditional social housing and used fewer materials than conventional construction methods. The duplexes were designed with high thermal efficiency to reduce heating and cooling costs for tenants.
Questions around cost remain part of the debate.
The Dubbo build reportedly cost about $814,000 for the two duplexes. Critics argued the figure appeared high for social housing, though supporters pointed to the project’s status as a first-of-its-kind pilot incorporating new technology, compliance testing, specialised equipment and regional transport costs.
Housing analysts say the economics of modular and 3D-printed housing are expected to improve if governments scale procurement and create stronger competition among suppliers.
That shift is already underway in NSW.
“Previous Labor govts acted to ensure there was an alternative-public housing. Stop feeding a failed market and invest in modern, efficient public housing. Create a new hi tech modular housing industry building public housing for Australians.”
The Minns Government has committed $25 million under its broader $6.6 billion Building Homes for NSW package to expand modular and prefabricated housing. An MMC taskforce has been established, planning approvals have been streamlined, and a procurement panel involving more than 28 companies has been created to speed up delivery.
Modular social housing projects are now moving beyond pilot status.
Three modular homes were delivered in Shellharbour in February 2026 through Moov Modular, with a fourth completed in April. The average timeframe from development approval to occupancy was reported at around 14 to 16 weeks.
Earlier projects delivered eight modular social homes across Wollongong and Lake Macquarie.
NSW is targeting around 90 modular homes across Greater Sydney and regional centres including Dubbo, Wagga Wagga, Wollongong and Shellharbour. The homes are expected to accommodate up to 200 people.
The broader housing pressure facing Australia continues to intensify.
National rents remain near record highs and housing supply has struggled to keep pace with migration, population growth and rising construction costs. Build times for traditional homes have increased sharply over the past decade amid labour shortages and supply chain disruptions.
That has created growing interest in prefabricated and off-site construction systems.
Industry estimates suggest modular and prefabricated housing currently account for roughly eight per cent of new housing supply in Australia, though some forecasts expect that share to rise sharply within the next decade.
Supporters argue factory-built homes can reduce waste, minimise weather delays and shorten project timelines while creating manufacturing jobs. Critics warn that early pilot projects still carry large upfront costs and that long-term durability data for newer 3D-printing systems remains limited.
Contour3D has already moved into follow-on projects after Dubbo, including the Genesis development in Woolooware in Sydney’s south. The company describes it as Australia’s first full-scale 3D-printed homes project, combining printed lower levels with lightweight modular upper-storey construction.
The homes reportedly achieved a 7.9-star energy rating and are being promoted as a scalable model for future housing delivery.
Other states are now testing similar approaches.
Queensland has begun exploring robotic 3D-printing technology aimed at producing homes more rapidly, while the ACT is examining modular construction options as part of its long-term housing targets. Private developers, including Mirvac, have also entered the space with trial projects.
For Cameron, the issue extends beyond construction technology.
His intervention reflects a broader debate inside Labor circles about whether governments have relied too heavily on private markets to solve housing shortages that increasingly affect working Australians.
The rise of modular and 3D-printed public housing will not close the national housing gap on its own. But as governments search for faster and cheaper ways to build homes, NSW’s experiments are moving from trial phase into regular production, placing public housing construction back into the centre of political discussion.
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