Research Themes

Select one of the following themes for further information or to browse related projects and documents.

Housing Policies and Programs

Research in this theme examines

  • the nature, costs and benefits of the range of different housing management models and practices
  • how to integrate housing assistance with other care and support programs to improve overall outcomes
  • the effectiveness of current and prospective ways of delivering housing assistance that help secure different housing outcomes (affordability, security, adequacy, appropriateness),
  • the attributes of housing assistance that make a difference (positive and negative) to the economic and social participation outcomes of individuals, households and communities.

Housing Affordability

This research theme considers how government's use of housing assistance and other policy levers can increase the supply of affordable housing. The research examines the range of factors shaping the supply of affordable housing and what policy responses across housing, planning, taxation and other portfolios might effectively improve affordable housing outcomes.

Indigenous Housing

The research in this theme addresses different aspects of Indigenous housing. It examines:

  • how housing need is shaped by subjective aspirations and preferences and by trends in family and household formation, labour market participation and residential mobility
  • the dynamic interrelationships between the different tenures, their associated forms of housing assistance and their role and function in the overall housing system
  • how housing policy and housing assistance might be designed to assist the development of better environmental health, education and employment outcomes for Indigenous people
  • the longer-term economic, social, environmental and cultural outcomes of current housing policies and programs
  • the 'place, house and home' needs of Indigenous peoples and how to address these needs through housing and other service responses that secure sustainable solutions and support stable life conditions.

Homelessness

This research theme examines the needs of those in housing crisis or at immediate risk of homelessness, and how to assist the homeless to secure sustainable housing solutions as a basis for supporting stable life conditions.

Care and Support Services

Research in this theme examines how to integrate housing assistance with other care and support programs to improve overall outcomes for:

  • the elderly;
  • people with mental illness;
  • people with disabilities;
  • and other groups with significant health or related problems.

Urban and Regional

Research in this theme situates housing markets and housing assistance within the broader analytical context of urban and regional development. The research examines how infrastructure, land, and environmental resource pressures associated with urban and regional development impact upon local housing markets and sustainable housing outcomes.

Housing Markets

Research in this theme examines:

  • the dynamics of the overall housing system in Australia in particular the interrelationship between the different tenures and their role and function in the overall housing system
  • the impacts of different forms of housing assistance upon the balance of supply and demand across different tenures
  • how housing (tenure, type, price, location, density) and housing markets make a difference (positive and negative) to the economic and social participation of households and communities, and the implications of these for housing policy

Research Theory and Practice

This research theme examines the key concepts that provide the foundations of housing studies and their relationship to housing policy making and housing program implementation. As well, it includes research on how we do housing research.

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