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Inquiries

Inquiries focus on addressing substantial and complex policy issues, engaging key experts in policy development. They are typically supported by two or more Inquiry Projects, which feed into an integrated Final Report.

They involve stakeholders from government, industry and community in Inquiry Panels supported by a research program to inform policy development and practice innovation.

 

Inquiries in progress

Inquiry into achieving a climate resilient housing stock by 2050

This Inquiry will establish a framework for building climate resilience into the Australian housing stock by 2050. Informed by a stock vulnerability audit, the research will determine what constitutes a climate resilient home, the cost of retrofitting the entire stock for resilience, and key actors, their roles and regulatory pathways.

Lead researcher: Associate Professor Lyrian Daniel, University of South Australia 
Project number: 32350

Supporting research projects

  • Climate resilient homes and households

    This project will review existing international guidelines for climate-resilient homes, develop guidelines for Australia, and test those guidelines against best-practice case studies. It will then use focus groups to examine the climate-resilience needs and experiences of householders and property professionals.

    Lead researcher: Dr Michaela Lang, Monash University
    Project number: 52351

  • The cost to deliver climate resilient housing in Australia

    This project investigates the extent of resiliency deficit across the Australian housing stock, and the costs and benefits (financial and non-financial) to retrofit this stock to resiliency best practice by 2050.

    Lead researcher: Associate Professor Trivess Moore, RMIT University
    Project number: 53352

 

Inquiry into developing a long-term governance and resource framework for sustainable and effective Indigenous housing

There is considerable variation in current approaches to Indigenous housing support across Australia and the system is experiencing significant challenges in improving housing outcomes. This Inquiry will allow us to move beyond this unsatisfactory situation to develop a long-term vision and framework to better support Indigenous housing.

Lead researcher: Dr Megan Moskos, University of Adelaide
Project number: 31320

Supporting research projects

  • Supply, management and resourcing of Indigenous housing

    The supply, management and resourcing of Indigenous housing has been inconsistent and fragmented across Australia. Drawing from a mapping of Indigenous housing models, a canvassing of key stakeholders and ethnographic case studies, this project will understand how Indigenous housing is best resourced, supplied and managed.  

    Lead researcher: Richard Benedict, University of Sydney  
    Project number: 73322

    Download the report here

  • Supporting self-determination in Indigenous housing policy, provision and outcomes

    Indigenous people in Australia are frequently excluded from decision-making processes about the policies and programs that affect them. With findings drawn from a literature review, stakeholder consultations and case studies of current initiatives, this project will identify how self-determination can be best supported in Indigenous housing policy, provision and outcomes.

    Lead researcher: Professor Mike Dockery, Curtin University
    Project number: 81321

 

Inquiry into housing policy and disasters: better co-ordinating actors, responses and data

This inquiry aims to improve housing policy concerning disaster preparedness, prevention, mitigation, response and recovery through enhancing coordination in three key areas: between implementing actors, between short-term recovery and longer-term mitigation actions, and through the use of spatially enabled data.

Lead researcher: Professor David Sanderson, UNSW Sydney
Project number: 71330

Supporting research projects

 

Inquiry into measuring vulnerability, costing risk and designing transitions to a climate resilient housing system

This Inquiry program measures climate vulnerability across Australia’s housing system. Combining insights from resilience science, architecture, property economics and planning, Inquiry research projects map household vulnerability, design technical solutions for making dwellings more climate resilient, identify who pays for transition and define policy pathways to a resilient housing system.

Lead researcher: Professor Nicole Gurran, University of Sydney
Project number: 73360

Supporting research projects

  • Insurance, finance and the cost of housing resilience. Who pays?

    Climate change and natural disasters are increasing risk profiles and costs for insurers, financiers, developers, and households. This project explores how key housing stakeholders, including households themselves, will adapt to this rapidly changing landscape and analyses who will pay for the cost of delivering climate resilient housing?

    Lead researcher: Dr Stephen Glackin, Swinburne University of Technology
    Project number: 51364

  • Measuring climate change vulnerability in Australia’s housing system

    This project uses resilience science to measure housing system vulnerability to climate change across Australia. A multi-dimensional risk index comprising socio-economic and housing risk factors will be applied at national and small area levels to identify priorities for policy intervention, informing the transition to a resilient housing system.

    Lead researcher: Dr Francesca Perugia, Curtin University
    Project number: 81361

  • Planning for a climate resilient housing system

    This project investigates the planning controls and approaches required to foster a climate resilient housing stock, and the extent to which current local plans across Australia embody these approaches. Through a national survey of local planning instruments and interviews with planners, the project charts a path for effective planning interventions.

    Lead researcher: Dr Catherine Gilbert, University of Sydney
    Project number: 73363

  • Strengthening Australian homes against climate risks

    This project assesses the resilience of Australia’s housing stock to climate risk, examining building typologies, hazard susceptibility, and adaptation strategies. It aims to enhance resilience in high-risk areas through informed guidelines and standards, leveraging architectural science to address future climate hazards effectively.

    Lead researcher: Dr Ozgur Gocer, University of Sydney
    Project number: 73362

 

Inquiry into overcoming construction constraints for the supply of new detached and high-rise housing

This research will investigate constraints in the housing construction sector associated with supply chain, workforce, technology, regulation, system of work, and markets. It will map the industry, model constraints and simulate potential solutions bringing these together with a review of international innovation to deliver policy options.

Lead researcher: Professor Ron Wakefield, RMIT University
Project number: 53340

Supporting research projects

  • Innovation for more efficient, resilient and responsive housing construction industry: international lessons

    Innovation is Australia’s pathway to a more productive, responsive and efficient residential construction sector. This project uses international data and literature, interviews international experts, and delphi techniques to identify the international innovations most likely to deliver housing construction productivity gains while achieving other social, environmental, economic objectives.

    Lead researcher: Professor Andrew Beer, University of South Australia
    Project number: 32341

  • Transforming detached housing construction: policy solutions to overcome productivity constraints

    This research will investigate the construction phase of detached housing development to understand how it impacts on new housing delivery and supply and what interventions may improve performance. Using a mixed methods approach stakeholder evidence will be modelled to identify policy options to increase productivity.

    Lead researcher: Associate Professor Ehsan Gharaie, RMIT University
    Project number: 53342

  • Transforming high-rise housing construction: policy solutions to overcome productivity constraints

    This research will investigate the construction phase of high-rise housing development to understand how it impacts on new housing delivery and supply and what interventions may improve performance. Using a mixed methods approach stakeholder evidence will be modelled to identify policy options to increase productivity.

    Lead researcher: Professor Chyi Lin Lee, UNSW Sydney
    Project number: 71343

 

Inquiry into supporting pathways in a social housing system

This Inquiry investigates prospects for transforming Australia’s straitened social housing sector into a system for socially supported housing pathways. It identifies opportunities for aligning assistance with people’s aspirations, managing access for greater responsiveness, improving support within and out of social housing and providing stakeholders with appropriate assurances about outcomes.

Lead researcher: Dr Chris Martin, UNSW Sydney
Project number: 71310

Supporting research projects

View more research in progress

View more research in progress