AbstractThis article explores the extent to which the deregulation of the Australian financial system over the past few years has borne out the claims of the Campbell and Martin Reports with regard to housing finance. It concludes that claims that there would be an increase in the availability of finance were optimistic but that claims that the effective rate of interest would not increase have been vindicated. It also concludes that the most significant innovations which have taken place have come, not from the private sector as predicted, but from the public sector.