In a submission to the Senate Inquiry into the capital gains tax (CGT) discount on housing, unions are calling for it to be wound back from 50 per cent to 25 per cent.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) believes such tax changes will help address Australia’s housing affordability crisis.

“Too many workers can no longer afford to live near where they work, and a growing number of workers will never be able to save enough for a deposit,” said ACTU President Michele O’Neil (pictured. “At the same time, accelerating rents and house prices are outpacing the money people can save each week.

“The way the capital gains tax operates has become a tax avoidance scheme with most of the benefit going to the richest 1 per cent of Australians.”

Since the CGT discount was introduced under Prime Minister John Howard, the gap between house prices and workers’ incomes has widened dramatically.

Back then, it took six times the average income to buy a house; today it takes 11 years of average income to buy a house.