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Defining ‘good’ housing outcomes

Four major components to good housing outcomes were identified:

• choice and control in housing type, location, who shares the home and who provides support
• inclusive and accessible community where people with disability are accepted, existing relationships can be sustained, and amenities and public transport are accessible
• safety—in terms of both home quality and physical and emotional safety
• stability and security including of tenure and the ability to age in place.

Those with disability at greatest risk of poor housing outcomes

There is inequity in the housing experiences within the population of people with disability. Those at greatest risk of poor housing outcomes are:

• people with intellectual or cognitive disability
• older people
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
• people experiencing multiple or intersecting forms of disadvantage or marginalisation.

Barriers to good housing outcomes

The main barriers to good housing outcomes for people with disability include:

• affordability of housing to buy or rent in the private market
• accessibility issues within the home, to community amenities and supports, and travelling to and from home
• lack of funding for housing, home modifications and assistive technology
• discrimination and disadvantage in securing private rental housing
• limited availability of appropriate housing provided through Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) funded by the National Disability Insurance Scheme
• availability, quality and limitations in the skills of paid disability support staff.

Overriding all of these is the mismatch between housing supply and demand, and a lack of diversity in housing design and innovation.
 

Integrate the needs of people with disability in mainstream housing policy

Policy development should take into account the needs of people with disability. This could include requiring new homes across all jurisdictions meet a minimum accessibility standard.

Noting that further updates to the National Construction Code are frozen until the end of the National Housing Accord in mid-2029, future reviews could consider a more expansive understanding of the inclusive principles of Universal Design.

Greater investment is needed in social housing that meets the diverse needs of people with disability, including considerations of housing type and location. This could include the Housing Australia Future Fund making people with disability a named priority group.

Inclusion of information on accessibility features in rental advertisements would assist people with disability in identifying and securing appropriate properties. 

New models such as build-to-rent, tailored home loans and preferential eligibility criteria for first homebuyers with disability could increase opportunities for people with disability in the private housing sector.

Greater focus on improving access to disability funding, housing and support

In addition to reviewing eligibility criteria to expand access to SDA funding, greater strategic oversight could be applied to procurement and legislation guiding SDA providers and developers. This includes locating SDA housing in areas that enable people with disability to maintain access to community and their support networks. 

Mechanisms that match people with disability to available housing should be introduced as a disability support. The National Disability Insurance Agency could take a facilitator role to enable engagement between people with disability, those that support them, and housing providers.

Solutions to the bricks-and-mortar aspects of housing are not sufficient to ensure good outcomes. The quality of support is also critical. These two aspects of policy and provision need to be linked, such that decisions about one are not made without proper consideration of the requirements of the other.

Co-design and engagement to identify needs and priorities

Central to achieving good housing outcomes is policy reform that is guided by co-design processes involving people with disability, their families, service providers and those involved in housing and disability policy development.

There is a need to expand the horizons of people with disability and their advocates about housing options. This will require innovation in information design and support for skills in decision-making to ensure genuine choice and control.

Well-designed information must be provided for all housing and support services, including social housing.

The study comprised an Investigative Panel approach, engaging experts across research, policy, industry and community sectors to focus our research inquiry. It also employed a rapid desktop review of peer-reviewed and grey literature, focus groups and interviews, and an online survey. Participants included people with disability, family members, support coordinators, housing providers and international experts.