18-Oct 2005 National Housing Conference - the future of Australian housing

Tuesday 18 October 2005

Fundamental social, political, economic and demographic changes in Australia will have a major impact on future housing needs, demand and design.

These are among a host of important issues to be raised and discussed at the 4th National Housing Conference (NHC) at the Perth Convention Exhibition Centre from October 27-28.

With its main theme “Building for Diversity”, the conference starts from the premise that Australian society is moving away from a singular population structure with the traditional nuclear family at its core, to a highly diverse population with varying demands for an ever increasing range of different household structures.

This diversity is being driven by population growth, an ageing “baby boomer” generation close to retirement who represent 30 per cent of the population, and the changing housing demands of successive generations as they make the transition through various housing arrangements from “cradle to grave”.

NHC Convenor Jane Vallance said housing change throughout Australia was unprecedented and the conference program reflected a multitude of responses from industry and Government to tackle issues from affordability, to sustainable design, to future funding streams.

"Industry, Government and the community sector are all coming to grips with rapidly changing fundamentals in housing,” Vallance said.

“It's becoming clear that responses that may have been effective even five years ago are struggling with converging issues, particularly affordability and rising property markets, diverse household types and demographic change.

"A major part of this conference will reflect on and discuss what has become a real melting pot of issues and how best to get a mix of innovative and effective solutions into the housing system,” she said.

"These issues and responses are all applicable to WA's housing situation, particularly those associated with Indigenous housing, first home ownership, and the ongoing challenges for the public and community housing sectors.”
Keynote speaker Bernard Salt, Partner of Property KPMG, will expand on the demographic shifts currently sweeping across Australia in a lively expose of cultural, social and technological change.

To capture the theme of “Building for Diversity” while appealing to delegates with a wide range of housing interests, the conference has been organised into four specific streams which will run concurrently over two days.

The four streams are:

Market and Policy Responses to Changing Socio-Demographics;
Planning and Design for Diversity;
Meeting the needs of Indigenous Australians; and
Challenges for Public and Community Housing.

Market and Policy Responses to Changing Socio-Demographics

This conference stream will examine:

how population growth and ageing are altering socio-demographics around the nation, and how this is likely to have a significant impact on future housing planning and outcomes over the next two decades;
how the Commonwealth, States, Local Governments and the building industry are responding to the impact of generational change, with each new generation demanding different housing responses;
how the housing industry is responding to a growing shift towards meeting the needs of single parents, one- or two-person households, as opposed to catering to nuclear families by building four-bedroom, two bathroom homes which are now increasingly redundant;
how the responsibility for meeting housing needs of people with disabilities is shifting from Governments back to the community;
how the emerging “working poor” should be housed. These are Australians who cannot afford their own homes because of minimal wages or low incomes. The majority of them are in rental housing, risk “housing stress” and can only survive with rent assistance;
how the National Affordable Housing Framework, currently under discussion between State Government, planning officials, local Governments and Housing Ministers, is going to emerge.

The highly regarded Andrew Beer of Flinders University will open the concurrent session by speaking on “Housing Careers in the 21st century”, while Professor Judith Yates of the University of NSW and former Deputy Prime Minister Professor Brian Howe will be among seven speakers to address the hot topic of Affordable Housing.

Up to six speakers in this stream will focus on housing for the aged, among them Helena Herklots of Age Concern UK.

There will also be a plenary session on how the States have responded to population growth and demographic shifts through specific programs they have implemented. This should provide a chance for delegates to hear whether top planners from around the nation have developed concepts to deliver the diversity that the community will need over the next 20 or 30 years.

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Planning and Designing for Diversity

“Building for Diversity” is the conference’s overarching theme, so it is up to the planners, designers and architects to come up with new housing models for communities if the demands of the new diversity are to be met.

Local government planners have an increasingly important role to play in this regard because if communities demand different kinds of housing, the planners will be the first to bear the brunt of that pressure.

Speakers will tackle a range of housing asset management issues, including:

· what to do with the current housing stock into the future;
· how State Governments are dealing with urban renewal in terms of providing public housing:
· how architects should tackle Indigenous housing design issues;
· how the current issues of housing energy efficiency and sustainability are being tackled nationwide;
· how Local Governments are dealing with the “Sea Change” phenomenon that’s happening across Australia. Alan Stokes of the National Sea Change Taskforce will address the issue of “Pressures on Housing from the Population Shift”;
· how to make appropriate changes to housing stock to meet diverse demands – whether to redesign or retrofit;
· how to design for people with disabilities;
· how to match the housing needs of the aged into the future; and
· how to encourage the building industry to come up with new products and new directions.

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Meeting the Needs of Indigenous Australians

The challenges facing Australia’s Indigenous communities in terms of housing and other needs is substantial, and these issues will be discussed in one of the conference’s most important sessions.

This concurrent session will be introduced by Leilani Fahra from the National Working Group on Women and Housing, who will highlight the Indigenous experience in her native Canada, particularly for women.

Western Australia is at the forefront of a number of major Indigenous initiatives, particularly with the work being done by Steve Zubrick and Fiona Stanley of the Telethon Institute of Child Health. Zubrick will discuss why “Housing Really Matters”, particularly as it affects child health.

Challenges for Public & Community Housing

The public and community housing systems are facing the challenge of developing alternative funding sources as traditional funding through mechanisms such as the Commonwealth-State House Agreement continue to diminish.

The system is already under pressure servicing people in housing need, particularly the five per cent of households at the lower end of the socio-economic scale who are public housing tenants.

Increasingly, public housing agencies have been required to deliver their support to those most in need in the community. The agencies’ traditional public housing role of providing low income worker housing is being lost as the targeting to those on very low incomes intensifies.

Hal Pawson from Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh, will provoke delegates with his assessment of how “Restructuring Social Housing in Britain”.

Another highlight in this stream will be a Forum of Public Housing CEOs from Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland on “The Future of Public Housing”.

Increasingly, the Community Housing sector has started to play an important role in relieving some of the pressure that exists on public housing.

Other issues to be debated include whether the Community Housing sector relies on hand-to-mouth Government handouts, and whether community housing bodies of the future can operate independently.

A Panel session, led by the Complementary Healthcare Council (CHC) of Australia, will discuss whether Community Housing is a social service or a business, and what role it will play in the future.

Meanwhile, further into the program, the Australian Housing Institute will hold an Innovators Forum – “Great Ideas in Housing Practice” followed by an AHI Awards Presentation.

The conference organisers believe they have structured the conference well, saying they have provided a complete stream of issues for every single delegate attending, no matter what their role in the housing industry.

“When it comes to selecting the speakers, we believe we have achieved a good balance between researchers and practitioners, who will serve up enough food for thought to keep delegates sated for weeks after the conference has ended,” Conference Convenor Jane Vallance said.

The conference is being hosted by the Western Australian Department of Housing and Works, in conjunction with the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI).

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