High honours awarded to housing researchers

AHURI has awarded researchers from Curtin University and the University of Tasmania at the recent Australasian Housing Researchers Conference, held in Adelaide.

Respected academic Professor Rachel Ong ViforJ, Professor of Economics at the School of Economics, Finance and Property, Curtin University, was awarded the Professor Mike Berry Award for Excellence in Housing Research.

Known as The Berry, the Professor Mike Berry Award for Excellence in Housing Research is an annual award presented yearly at the Australasian Housing Researchers Conference. Winners receive an engraved award and a $1,000 cash prize, sponsored by Housing Choices Australia.

At the conference Rachel presented on ‘Population ageing and falling rates of home ownership: Implications for housing assistance programs in Australia'. The paper shows that the combined implications of population ageing and falling home ownership rates will have significant impacts on the demand for housing assistance in the future.

The Federal Minister’s Early Career Housing Researcher Award, which is sponsored by AHURI, recognises an up and coming housing researcher. It was awarded to Dr Kathleen Flanagan, Deputy Director of the Housing and Community Research Unit at the University of Tasmania.

Dr Flanagan’s research, ‘Social housing as infrastructure: concepts, perspectives, critique’, considered whether reconceptualising social housing as a form of essential infrastructure could attract additional investment into the social housing system, especially from private sector sources.