February 18, 2026
South Burnett residents hunting for accommodation during the current housing crisis will enjoy some new options, thanks to two motions passed unanimously at Wednesday’s South Burnett Regional Council meeting.
The motions were put forward by Cr Jane Erkens:
- That South Burnett Regional Council introduce a Temporary Planning Instrument to allow a landowner to reside in a temporary dwelling, provided it meets relevant health and safety standards, until the housing crisis is over. This Temporary Planning Instrument will be reviewed two years after it takes effect.
- That South Burnett Regional Council investigate a Temporary Planning Instrument, or a review of the Local Laws and compliance approach, for family occupation (or those who relate as family) of sheds or caravans with basic amenities during the housing crisis. The proposal seeks to enable property owners to provide safe accommodation for family members, or those who relate as family members, within existing or new sheds or caravans that contain basic, compliant sanitary facilities with Council adopting a supportive and proportionate compliance approach for the duration of the housing crisis. This to be reviewed two years after it takes effect.
Cr Erkens said there was a severe housing crisis within the South Burnett local government area, including a near absence of available rental accommodation.
Rental prices were exceeding the financial capacity of many local residents who had been renters all their lives.
She said there was no reasonable alternative housing available which meant families were being forced to live in cars, tents or public spaces.
Cr Erkens said preventing landowners from living on their own land under these conditions did not prevent homelessness.
And family members who sought to support relatives by allowing them to live in sheds or caravans were constrained by the interpretation of planning laws.
She said prohibiting safe, low-impact accommodation had shifted homeless families into less safe and less managed environments.
Council manager Simon Ginn said children living in non-standard accommodation could be at risk.
However, Cr Erkens said they were also at risk when living in tents in places such as Tipperary Flat, which were at risk of flooding or below-freezing temperatures in winter.
Cr Potter, who seconded the motions, admitted she had allowed family members in the past to sleep in a caravan in her driveway while they were waiting to secure permanent accommodation.
The changes remain subject to checks against State legislation and do not include commercial arrangements.
Good to see the council taking practical steps to address what is clearly a real crisis — families living in tents and cars is not acceptable when there are landowners willing to help. The focus on health and safety standards is the right instinct.
That said, the devil will be in the detail. “Those who relate as family” is a pretty broad definition, and without clear guidelines it could be open to exploitation by people looking to sidestep normal tenancy rules and standards.
The two-year review is welcome, but council will need to be proactive about monitoring how these instruments are being used in practice, not just wait for complaints. Done well, this could be a genuine lifeline for people doing it tough.
I like your optimism: “until the housing crisis is over”.
I’m so happy we decided to move to the South Burnett 5 years ago. SBRC is the best council I have ever had any thing to do with.
Cr Erkens, THANK YOU – you’re an inspiration, and this is a model for the whole country to look at.
Well done for showing such common sense leadership at a time when the screws are tightening on people’s ability to keep their families safe and housed. Not everything is about money. We live in a society and need compassionate policies that put human wellbeing first.
I believe this is a good rule. Many older people have a house, but their children do not. I have known adult kids who lived in a van in mum and dad’s backyard, because the spare bedroom was taken by the kid who moved in first!
I also applaud “relate to as family” because I have friends I class as family and would help under any circumstances, including offering to park a van, and biological family that I would not. Well, what’s the Aussie saying regarding fire and bodily functions?
That said, I can see the point of a writer above. Those who own, say 100 acres, may see income as a caravan park without actually being a proper registered caravan park, opening a spot for a quick buck.
Perhaps a register of vans would be in order, and a limit of how many can be placed on a property?
All told, though, this is a good idea. And a nice van or shed can actually look better than some houses I’ve seen, when set up properly. And it’s a step in the right direction to help those we love who are doing it tough.
I can see this becoming a permanent thing because the housing crisis won’t be over, not in this century, anyway.
Other options include relaxing family sub-divisions for acreages over 2 acres, and allowing “Glendale units” (mobile homes based on the Glendale style, pioneered by that company in Caboolture) and those temporary site office buildings to be allowed to be put onto a block, along with the main house, providing there is enough room, as tiny houses are becoming a “thing”.
Many are using shipping containers as well, although they take a lot more work to be habitable.
Does this mean council will now enforce the short-stay rules at the free camps? Then ratepayers can cease providing accommodation sites to permanent residents.
Also I wonder how exposed ratepayers are? A short-term facility has long-term users. Does the insurance cover long-term residents when the parks are specifically short-term stays, and the owner knows it has long-term stays but does nothing to prevent that. A tree limb falls across a family in a tent and that family has been there for three months – covered by insurance?
With reference to the above proposed rules, any landlord or owner-occupier having family or friends live in their shed or yard ought to disclose to their insurer their change of circumstances: “My house burnt down because a fire started in my cousin’s caravan that he/she was living in next to my house…” Who is going to pay out my insurance or my cousins (if they have any)?
Unintended consequences can be a disaster.
Living in a van for 2 years now. Don’t see living in a house in the foreseeable future. Would be a dream if that ever happens. Never imagined this life. Doing the best we can. Hopefully one day.