Briefs

With housing costs in New Zealand rising rapidly (up 23% in just 12 months),  the New Zealand Government has introduced reforms intended to reduce incentives for housing investors while increasing the supply of new housing. What exactly are the reforms being introduced in New Zealand and are there any lessons for Australia?

Although issues with the design and quality of living spaces in high density, high rise residential apartment buildings existed pre-COVID, the pandemic response restrictions that forced people to stay and work at home have focussed community concern on the problems of poor design and operation in some of these buildings.

When extremes of weather sweep in, either colder or hotter, the impacts of energy poverty for lower income households become severe, with more than 6 per cent of deaths in Australia each year due to living in cold environments and one per cent of deaths heat related.

The physical and psychological benefits of having a pet have been recorded by a number of studies and include decreased blood pressure and cholesterol levels; increased physical activity;  improving self-esteem; and reducing rates of depression and loneliness; with one study estimating Australian cat and dog owners saved approximately $3.86 billion in health expenditure over one year.

The recent release of the final report from the Royal Commission into Aged Care revealed poor living circumstances for many in residential aged care homes as well as lengthy wait times (e.g. in 2017–18, one-quarter of eligible people waited more than 30 months to get a Level 4 Home Care package) for people living at home who rely on Home Care support.