Glossary

The purpose of this glossary is to define terms commonly used in our research as well as in housing, homelessness, urban and cities policy. It is a useful reference to help you familiarise you with housing-specific terms used across our publications and on our website.

This glossary is limited to terms and acronyms most used by Australian academics and governments.

If there is a term you would like to see included in the AHURI Glossary, please contact us at information@ahuri.edu.au.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

O

Out-of-home care

A temporary, medium or long-term living arrangement for children and young people who cannot live in their family home. Housing can be in:

Foster care: a child is taken into care by a foster carer who has been trained and approved to look after children.
Kinship care: a child is taken into care by a relative or family friend allowing them to remain within the family or local network.
Permanent care: a child is placed into the care of a permanent carer (including foster or kinship carers where it is intended the child will remain in their care until age 18 or beyond) prior to a Permanent Care Order being made by the Children's Court.
Residential care: a young person is placed into a home staffed by carers.

Overcrowding

See crowding

Owner occupier

See tenure types

Owner-purchaser or purchaser-owner

Owner-purchaser (or purchaser-owner) includes homeowners who are still paying for their home through a mortgage and those homeowners who own their home outright.