A push for people in social housing to have their rent automatically deducted from welfare payments is being spearheaded by the New South Wales Government, which argues it will cut homelessness.

Social housing ministers from across the country are meeting in Brisbane today, where the NSW minister Brad Hazzard will propose a compulsory deduction scheme.

The Commonwealth runs voluntary schemes but Mr Hazzard said they were not working, and too many people who fell behind in their rent in public housing ended up homeless.

"In NSW, 80 per cent of evicted tenants in 2013-14 had previously participated in a voluntary scheme, but had then withdrawn and fallen into significant rent arrears," the minister said.

"There should be a compulsory deduction of rent for those people who receive Centrelink payments.

"We could then reduce if not eradicate the need to do any evictions, which cause massive social upheaval."

Rent for New South Wales tenants in public housing is between 25 and 30 per cent of income.

"Across Australia there is $30 million in rent arrears in social housing, so the first issue is we could build another 1,000 social houses a year if we didn't have that arrears in rent," Mr Hazzard said.

"Secondly, it also means families who end up being evicted may well end up being homeless and that's just a horrible scenario, so if we can avoid that by getting a compulsory payment of rent that's a good outcome."

The Social Housing Minister said the majority of tenants in public housing paid their rent.

"But there is a small component who don't, and those people sadly often have children who may end up being homeless on the street," Mr Hazzard said.

"If we can head that off by simply saying, alright we recognise that's an issue, deduct the rent first, I think that's a positive social outcome."

Government must repair public housing, too: Opposition

The Opposition's spokeswoman on social housing, Tania Mihailuk, said the Government should lift its own game before tightening conditions for tenants.

"The Government must ensure that if they're going to automatically deduct rent then they should also be automatically repairing homes that are dilapidated," Ms Mihailuk said.



"Plenty of elderly people are living with leaking plumbing, broken hot plates, busted up heaters and the Government's not rushing to fix those homes up."

Warren Wheeler from the Tenants Advice and Advocacy Services on the NSW south coast said the idea was rejected by the federal coalition in 2013.

"The minister for social services at the time, Kevin Andrews, refused to support it," he said.

"It's not a one-size-fits-all kind of issue and for people on all kinds of income, juggling your finances is an important life skill.

"When you have limited income, a Centrelink income, a simple thing such as an unexpected illness or traffic fine can really throw everything into disarray, so it's important for people to be able to manage their own finances."