Hal Pawson - Housing Policy in Australia: A Case for System Reform

Hal Pawson , Vivienne Milligan and Judith Yates

Housing Policy in Australia

A Case for System Reform

Australia has avoided a recession in its economic system for nigh on 30 years. Good management our political leaders claim. But Australias housing system has failed throughout this time: homelessness has risen; insecure and unaffordable rental are common-place; the over-valuing of homeownership has escalated; and a massive shortage of social and affordable housing has been allowed to develop. How is such neglect or mismanagement of Australians housing dreams possible? This book explains why and what to do about it.

Pawson, Milligan and Yates carefully document compelling evidence on these issues to provide a contemporary and robust analysis of the when, where, how and why of housing problems in Australia. Moreover, the authors provide the policy solutions and actions to be taken by Federal, State and local governments, as well as the development, finance and property management industries.

Pawson, Milligan and Yates are Australias foremost housing analysts. This book is essential reading for anyone with an interest or a care in reforming Australias housing system to be once again fit for all Australians.

Ian Winter,Housing consultant, and Director, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute 200017

Housing policy and housing systems are rapidly changing and profoundly reshaping access to affordable and high quality housing across all Australias cities and regions. Housing Policy in Australia superbly harnesses international evidence and more than two decades of experience to not only analyse but also provide potential solutions to the current housing policy impasse. The books comprehensive canvassing of housing system diversitytenures, social differentiation, historical trendswill become necessary reading for housing practitioners and students. The ambitious reform agenda proposed by the book deserves to be carefully digested and implemented by professionals working across the housing sector.

Robyn Dowling,Professor of Planning and Dean of Architecture, Design and Planning, University of Sydney

Despite 27 years of uninterrupted economic growth, Australia confronts a crisis of structurally-embedded housing unaffordability and insecurity across all tenure types. Debt-fuelled speculative investment has driven high rates of after-housing poverty and declining access to home ownership, particularly for young Australians. The nations growing ranks of renters, most seriously those on low and moderate incomes, are trapped in a cycle of housing stress, at increasing risk of homelessness.

In this important book, three leading Australian scholars combine their respective and collective research and deep, industry-engaged policy expertise to explain how and why the bipartisan post-war commitment to secure, affordable housing as a fundamental platform for social and economic participation, has collapsed. They present a searing indictment of the very real and profound consequences of three lost decades of housing policy reform for all Australians, not only the most vulnerable.

Underpinned by a sophisticated analysis of the evolution and dynamics of housing policy, the institutions and systems in which it is embedded and with which it interacts, and informed by comparative analysis, this volume is an exemplar not only for housing and urban studies, but for policy studies more broadly.

The authors present an urgent and compelling case for a transformational national housing strategyincluding enhancements to the policy-making framework, phased reforms to alleviate the worst of current affordability pressures and coordinated, longer-term measures to tackle structural challenges. It is essential reading for policy-makers and those who advise them, including researchers, whose collective failures have created and sustained Australias housing policy vacuum. The book is accessible to all Australians concerned about future prosperity, social cohesion and wellbeing.

Anne Tiernan,Professor of Politics and Public Policy and Dean (Engagement), Griffith Business School, Griffith University, Australia