Housing assistance, social inclusion and people with a disability

Summary

This project addresses the primary research question: What impact does housing assistance have on social inclusion for persons with a disability and how can governments ensure that they maximise the social inclusion benefits from the housing assistance they provide now and into the future? There has been significant policy innovation around social inclusion. State Housing Authorities and other social landlords are increasingly focussed on meeting the housing needs of persons with a disability and this direct provision of housing assistance has important implications for the degree of social inclusion experienced by persons with a disability.


Project Number: 40585
Research Theme: Health_Ageing_and_Disability, Social_Wellbeing
Project Leader: Beer, Andrew
Funding Year: 2009
Research Centre: Southern

Description

This project examines three core research questions:

  • Do non-institutional or mainstream forms of housing assistance promote social inclusion for people with a disability?
  • What are the implications of the social inclusion impacts of housing assistance on the development of public policy and the delivery of housing assistance programs into the future?
  • How can housing assistance and other policies be best integrated to achieve social inclusion outcomes for persons with a disability?

The research project will contribute to housing policy development by:

  • making explicit the contribution housing assistance – including public housing – makes to the social inclusion aspirations of governments;
  • providing a greater depth of understanding of the ways housing assistance programs contribute to social inclusion for persons with a disability;
  • identifying those aspects of housing assistance that have social inclusion impacts in order to produce policies which produce stronger social inclusion outcomes in the future;
  • documenting the ways in which social inclusion amongst persons with a disability varies by location (metropolitan/non metropolitan; inner versus outer urban) and type of disability, as well as the role housing assistance plays in contributing to better outcomes;
  • examining the housing transitions of persons who have moved from institutional to more independent forms of housing and how this has affected their level of social inclusion;
  • considering ways in which housing assistance and support services could be integrated to maximize social inclusion outcomes.

The research uses a number of methods to meet these objectives, including face-to-face interviews in NSW, Victoria and SA with persons with a disability, focus groups with service providers, a review of the published and grey literature and interviews with social housing providers. 

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