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It is estimated that up to 40 per cent of Australian households who rent their housing may be experiencing energy hardship, due to a meeting of rapidly rising energy costs, a large stock of poor-quality and energy-inefficient dwellings in the rental sector, uneven access to efficient technologies and government interventions, and a large number of households in financial hardship.

‘Safety and security’ are fundamental to the housing aspirations of Australians, with 75 per cent of respondents to a national housing aspirations survey indicating these are the most valued housing attributes.

Low-income workers in Australia’s two largest cities face a trade-off between rent and commuting costs, with those who pay lower rents often spending more to travel to and from work, and vice versa, according to new research by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI).

AHURI has formed a collaboration with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to convene an international housing policy exchange in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This online policy roundtable will provide an important platform for international knowledge exchange and evidence building as global recovery commences.

Internationally, a key driver for the popularity of smart city initiatives has been their potential to deliver economic benefits for cities and their governments, businesses, and citizens, and their ability to increase a city’s competitiveness locally and internationally.