Events - AHURI Symposium 2004

15-17 June 2004, St Kilda, Melbourne

The second AHURI PhD symposium was organised again by the Swinburne-Monash AHURI Research Centre. This year the symposium was held between Tuesday 15 and Thursday 17 June 2004 at St Kilda, Melbourne. It involved students from across Australia.

The program featured:

• review of theoretical frameworks
• student presentations on theses with discussants
• supervisor input, and
• presentation on issues and challenges linking research to policy practice by Professor Duncan MacLennan from Glasgow, and currently chief economist with the Victorian Department of Sustainability and Environment.

More information:

• Program
• Abstracts

Program

The program has been developed in consultation with last year's participants and comments from AHURI representatives. There will be up to 18 students participating, plus several supervisors, representatives from AHURI, and an external presenter. A list of the participants and contact details will be forwarded later.

A symposium dinner will be held on Wednesday evening in the hotel dining room. Drinks will also be organised at the bar the night before. Dinner and drinks will be sponsored by AHURI.

The symposium will be fully catered. If there are any special dietary requirements please let us know in advance. On the first evening students will be expected to make arrangements and pay for their own dinner. There are plenty of reasonably priced eating-places just around the corner in Fitzroy St and Acland St.

A background reading will also be forwarded shortly. Theoretical Frameworks for Housing Studies by Chris Paris is available for new students.                  

Venue: Hampton Room, Novotel, 16 the Esplanade St Kilda

Also see www.ahuri.edu.au

Abstracts for AHURI Top-Up Scholars (at 8 June 2004)

Tom Alves, Swinburne Institute for Social Research
Research Thesis: Managing Medium Density Housing Development - A Municipal Case Study

As policies to increase urban densities in existing residential areas have come into effect in most Australian capital cities over the past ten years, medium density housing provision has become a contentious issue for planners, councillors , developers and residents alike. State government planners have presented urban consolidation as a necessary policy direction for various economic, environmental and social reasons, associated with the negative effects of "urban sprawl". These policies, combined with a property boom that has caused an unprecedented escalation of house prices in all major Australian cities, has also made multi-unit housing very attractive to property developers. The same enthusiasm cannot be attributed to local residents. State intervention in local communities has questioned the very nature of local democracy, and certainly has inspired some of the strongest levels of political engagement many local communities have experienced.

Despite frequent reference to medium density housing in the media, the academic literature specific to this form of housing in Australia is not extensive. Several studies have challenged the theories on which urban consolidation is premised, and there has also been criticism of the development process in Australia's cities, but there is scant critical literature that reflects upon what medium density housing means for local communities, and the problems faced by local government in managing the process of its development. Most academic literature on the subject consists of studies of residents' responses to medium density housing but makes little comment on the broader social and economic context. Overseas studies are of limited value because the context of recent medium density housing development in Australia - the predominantly middle-class, middle-ring suburbs traditionally characterized by the single detached house on its own allotment - has not pertained.

This thesis seeks to examine the range of the planning, management and political problems posed by the provision of medium density housing at the local level, through a close examination of how local government functions in their intermediary role concerning this important and topical issue. Local councils are frequently caught at the centre of political conflict surrounding the consolidation of the urban environment, being both the locus of representative democracy at the local level, and the implementing authority for policies initiated by the state, from whom they derive their statutory authority. This raises questions about the role of local government in the planning of Australian cities; citizenship rights and participation in local democracy; and the nature of local community and identity in the global economic context. Assessing the social and economic implications of medium density housing on a local community can provide understanding that may assist local and state governments to better manage the process of future residential development.

Ron Aspin, Swinburne Institute for Social Research
Research Thesis:   Public-Private Partnerships as a Solution to Housing Affordability Problems   - A Case Study of Inner Urban Development

This research is a study into one of Australia's few public-private partnerships in low- income housing provision outside of the public housing area.   The project will be studied from its conception, planning and approval, to post-occupancy.   The research will draw out the community, financial, political and institutional impediments to the development of such ventures, assess how they were overcome in this particular case, and offer policy recommendations which might see the PPP model ease the shortage of low income housing in Australia.  

The project to be case studied is the Inkerman/Oasis development currently under construction in Inkerman Street St Kilda with the City of Port Phillip and Inkerman Developments Pty Ltd as the partners.  

David Brosnan, Policy, Housing New Zealand Corporation
Research Thesis:

The primary analytical framework in housing policy (at least in NZ over the last 15-20 years) has been based on economic theory.   While that approach is productive in understanding housing issues at the level of individual transactions, it is problematical as a tool for looking at the role of government action relating to housing.

I would like to explore alternative theoretical approaches of the relationship between individuals and the communities/societies they exist within - particularly as that applies to housing policy issues.

The theory of social capital may provide an alternative framework through which to understand the role of housing policy.   That is, to what extent does a country's housing policy posture contribute or detract from the development of social capital?

Research outline

• look at the philosophical tradition of the relationship between the individual and state            (Rawls/Nozick/Dworkin/Mill/Locke/Hume/Rousseau/Hobbes/Aquinas/Plato);
• cover the theory of economics and the underlying assumptions about rational utility maximisers;
• discuss the implications of the above for housing theory;
• discuss the theory of social capital (Putnam);
• discuss social conditions which are constructive/destructive of social capital development;
• discussion of the role of housing policy frameworks and settings which are constructive/destructive of social capital development.

Rae Dufty, University of New South Wales
Research Thesis: Gender and Property: The consequences of this relationship in rural public housing

The process of rural restructuring in Australia has had, despite its many hardships, the benefit of bringing the presence and multiple roles and identities of rural women to the fore of academic research. Similarly since the late 1980s both government and academia have recognised a need to include a gender dimension in the research and development of housing in Australia. However, while certain reports have skirted around the subject very little research to this date has been done to link these two subject areas - rural women and women and housing - together. This paper intends to outline my project proposal in the context of the previous literature relevant to the topic area and provide an outline of the research methodologies intended to be used in the fieldwork stage of the thesis development.

Hazel Easthope, University of Tasmania
Research Thesis: Going Home

Young Tasmanians have been leaving their state at a rapid rate for a number of years. This outward migration has generated much concern and comment from the media, academics and policy-makers in Tasmania. Statistics have been bandied around to describe (eg. the numbers leaving) and attempt to explain (eg. unemployment rates) these movements and their effects and the 'negative impact' on 'communities' have been reported by those who stand to lose as a result of these migrations. Less attention has been paid to those young people who return to their state from the 'mainland'. While the out-migration of young people has been 'explained' by reference to such 'factors' as high unemployment rates and the pull of the 'big city lights', the return migration of young people is much harder to understand in these terms. Unemployment rates remain comparatively high in Tasmania as compared to much of the rest of Australia, and the 'bright lights' haven't moved. So why are - often highly qualified and educated - young Tasmanians returning 'home'?

This thesis examines to what extent it is 'home' itself which attracts young people back to their state. It is important therefore to clarify what is meant by the 'home'. For the purposes of this thesis, 'home' is understood to be simultaneously spatial, social, psychological and emotive. Spatially, home can be a house, a suburb, a city, a state or a country (and anything in-between). Socially, home can be a family unit, a neighbourhood, a far-reaching social network, a nation. Psychologically, home is a place where one experiences ontological security. Emotively, home is a place where deep emotions are experienced and 'stored' or remembered. All of these aspects are examined with respect to the decision of young Tasmanians to return 'home'.

The advantage of adopting such a broad definition is that 'home' is not treated as yet another variable in a list of 'factors' influencing the mobility of young Tasmanians. Further, it allows both the structural pressures on young Tasmanians' decisions and their individual agency to be addressed (as well as the interactions between the two). This is important, because these young people are not simply vessels of competing pressures, pushed in one direction by 'unemployment' and another by 'attachment to home', they are competent social actors.

Focus groups and semi-structured interviews with young Tasmanians were used to investigate their experiences of the decision to return, and the lived experience of returning, 'home'. X young Tasmanians between the ages of 18 and 28 participated in x focus groups around the state (in x,x and x) which discussed the decisions to leave, and experiences of leaving, their homes as well as their decision to return and the lived experiences of returning. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted, which recorded in depth the 'migration' and 'home' histories of x young Tasmanians.

Ellie Francis-Brophy, University of Tasmania
Research Thesis: Communication Strategies and Social Housing Regeneration

This research project explores the connections between social housing redevelopment with housing reimaging by examining State Housing Authorities (SHA) communication strategies for urban and community renewal initiatives.   Central to SHA vision for post-regeneration is the need to change the negative image of communities.   The stigma associated with living at an estate is a widespread phenomenon with international literature indicating that non-residents are far more negative about social housing than actual residents.   The primary research questions are: What are the perceptions (general public and government agencies) of urban and community renewal programs?   To what extent are these perceptions informed by communication texts and strategies?

The research is based on a qualitative study using textual, discourse and content analysis of both SHA communication strategies and mainstream press coverage.   The Tasmanian experience constitutes the major case study with considerable reference also being made to the communication strategies and publications of other states' renewal initiatives.   An overview of international literature will also be provided and contextualised.   Interviews will be conducted with key policy actors, renewal professionals, residents, non-residents, communication producers and journalists.

Communication strategies are seen as a central site where perceptions and meanings for 'insiders' and 'outsiders' are constructed.   The chapter structure centres on the dynamic communication environment or 'circuit of culture' being examined, this includes: actual texts, production and interpretation processes, relationship to housing policy formation and implementation and external framing by the media and housing advocates. The qualitative interdisciplinary approach covers sociology of media, media theory and housing studies.   Throughout this study of the practices of meaning-making in communication strategies a social justice, policy implication framework will be developed.

Andrea Jardine-Orr, Murdoch University
Provisional Title:   Sustainable Environmental Technology in Remote Western Australia: Social and Institutional Assessment as a Tool to Improve Indigenous Living Environments

Social Assessment is a tool that is better known in the context of Environmental Impact Assessments (Taylor, Bryan et al. 1990; Burdge and Vanclay 1995; Dale, Taylor et al. 2001) .   The thesis aims to broaden the methodology to include institutional analysis and apply this new methodology to remote indigenous housing. Social Assessment employs a practical problem solving approach applicable to both policy and project areas.   Institutional analysis adds a further dimension that is particularly useful in understanding complex institutional interrelationships.

Indigenous Housing is an appropriate field to explore the use of social assessment. The historical development of housing policy in Australia has favoured non-indigenous Australians. There are considerable cultural differences between the majority of non-indigenous and the majority of indigenous Australians, particularly those living in remote areas.   Nevertheless, these differences in lifestyle are inadequately recognized in housing delivery. Housing is generally narrowly defined to focus on 'bricks and mortar' and not the non-tangible aspects such as community involvement.   In addition, housing is often delivered in an externally determined form that is generally more suitable to the lifestyles of non-indigenous Australians (Heppell 1979; Ross 1987; Read 2000; Neutze 2000a; Memmott and Moran 2001) .  

Guy Johnson, RMIT
Research thesis: Longitudinal analysis of households currently experiencing homelessness

This project is undertaking a longitudinal analysis of people exiting short-term supported accommodation (transitional).   The project is designed to examine what happens, over time, to urban and rural tenants of transitional housing after they leave. In particular, it is attempting to discover why it is that some households remain vulnerable to homelessness or precarious housing, while others are better able to achieve independent and stable housing .

Understanding homelessness as a dynamic process suggests the importance of examining housing insecurity over time. In the international literature, there has been a marked shift towards research tracking what happens to homeless people over time, and to assess what factors contribute to success or otherwise in achieving housing stability. Recent examples include a large-scale longitudinal study in Sweden (Stenberg et al 1995), and smaller, more localised projects in America (Dworsky and Piliavin, 2000; Culhane et al, 1998; Shinn, 1997; Piliavin et al, 1996). Despite recognition for almost a decade of the temporal dimension of homelessness, few longitudinal studies have been conducted in Australia.

In response to these issues Argyle Street Housing Service commenced a pilot longitudinal study in 1998 to test the durability of the exit outcomes for a sample of households exiting transitional accommodation. This pilot formed the basis of a new funding submission which, was supported by a linkage grant from the Australian Research Council, a top-up scholarship from AHURI and a research consortium comprising of four agencies and RMIT. The four participating agencies provide services to a representative cross-section of homeless persons in various locations in urban and rural Victoria. The services are:

• WAYSS Ltd   - Transitional housing in outer metropolitan Dandenong and the semi-rural region of Westernport
• Salvation Army Crisis Services, St. Kilda   - Crisis accommodation in the inner city
• Salvation Army Housing Services - Transitional housing in the rural area of Leongatha and the Geelong-Barwon region
• Argyle Housing Services   - Transitional accommodation in the inner city.

In order to identify and assess the relative impact local structural conditions have on the level of housing stability, the data collected during the interviews will be linked to the local housing and employment markets in each of the four locations the research is being undertaken in.

The research posits two primary research questions based the duration of homelessness and the housing outcomes secured by people exiting transitional accommodation. They are

• It is hypothesised that the longer households have been homeless the lower the probability of maintaining stable exit accommodation, and
• The research will examine whether exit destination (housing outcome) affects the likelihood of returning to the homeless population.
• Apart from the collaboration of the participating agencies with RMIT, the most significant elements of this research are:
• The development of a longitudinal method and generic sample attrition strategies,
• The integration of urban and rural experiences,
• The inclusion of non-housing outcomes linked to regional conditions,
• The opportunity to contribute to the development of an objective definitional framework, and
• The development of effective performance indicators for agencies assisting households experiencing or at risk of homelessness

Project Status: 103 first round interviews had been completed as at 24/5/03.   Data from these semi-structured interviews are currently being analysed.   Second round interviews are scheduled to commence 24/2/04.

Thesis completion date:   15/6/05

Asif-uz-Zaman Khan, Faculty of Architecture, University of Sydney
Research thesis- tentative title:   Housing Mobility and Children's School Achievement

This research will primarily explain the relationship between housing mobility and children's school achievement. The findings of this research have a number of policy implications. For example, if it is found that housing mobility and school outcomes are strongly correlated, then it would highlight the importance of security of tenure.

The literature review reveals that housing moves result in detachment from the neighbourhood, implying loss of social network and hence loss of peer support. Lack of motivation in establishing a new network may result in social isolation. On the other hand change of schools is related to loss of peer group and relationship with the teachers, and increased pressure of acclimatising to the new environment. Every move is associated with high financial costs for the family. All these contribute to increased stress and possibly even depression resulting in poor health, absenteeism, and possible poor academic performance.

To establish the relationship between residential mobility and educational performance, this study will primarily depend on a secondary panel data set of Queensland Education. The longitudinal design will be used for this research. As school outcomes are also dependent on other variables, such as ethnicity, gender, socio-economic status of the parents, these confounding variables will have to be statistically controlled during the data analysis stage. Limitations of the Queensland Education database will mean that supplementary survey research will be required to gather the additional information. It will also help in the triangulation process leading to stronger research outcomes.

Katherine Martindale, University of Sydney
Research Thesis:   Community Participation and Large-scale Events

It is commonly presented within the literature that governing bodies consider that community participation in hallmark events is an untenable situation, and that community groups and organisations will only bring bad publicity, and disrupt and delay preparations [Newman, 1989, Thorne & Munro-Clark 1989].   The inclusion of host city residents has, to date, been very limited with organising committees adopting the role of parent in the relationship, which has rarely been appreciated by the community [Rutheiser 1996.].   The public's perception of their inclusion and power within the process has traditionally been manipulated in an attempt to reduce friction and increase pacification.   This thesis will examine the extent to which community participation has historically been integrated into the preparations for, and hosting of, international hallmark events, and the potential to which consultations could be more effectively integrated into the planning and developmental processes of such events.

Sharon Parkinson, RMIT
Research Thesis: Homelessness and Unemployment: A Spatial Connection?

Structural changes within housing and labour markets are repeatedly cited as important factors in the causal pathway of those experiencing homelessness. Existing literature suggests that there is a connection between housing and labour markets and the reproduction of spatial inequality. While providing some insight into housing and labour market linkages, current Australian homelessness literature does not adequately explain causation and in particular, why it is that some are more vulnerable to homelessness as a result of housing and labour market change than others.

Drawing on both quantitative and qualitative methods the following study seeks to understand the relationship between homelessness and unemployment within specific case study localities across the state of Victoria. The purpose of this research is to gain an understanding of the interaction between homelessness and unemployment within the context of spatial dimensions of local housing and labour markets.

Peter Young, University of Queensland
Research Thesis: Housing assistance and non-shelter outcomes     

The research will examine the effects of governmental housing provision on people's well-being, including a range of non-shelter outcomes relating to employment, health, education, family relationships and community participation. This will be achieved through a large-scale longitudinal survey of recipients of housing assistance that will assess housing status and circumstances, feelings of efficacy and related psychological responses, and non-shelter outcomes. The research has direct implications for a whole-of-government approach linking housing policy to other areas of public policy, including health, education, employment, and family services.

Housing assistance in Australia is undergoing a fundamental shift.   Funds allocated for social housing through the Commonwealth State Housing Agreement are no longer sufficient to allow State and Territory Housing Authorities to sustain the current stock of social housing.   The Commonwealth Government has indicated that this reflects a change in priority towards a preference for the provision of rental assistance, through the Commonwealth Rent Assistance scheme. Social housing, and public housing in particular, provides low-income households with the opportunity to live in stable, secure, well maintained and affordable housing. As funding for housing declines, housing authorities are faced with a number of strategic policy challenges, including:

• how to ration access to the remaining portfolio of housing in a context of growing demand;
• whether to maintain the same level of subsidy to social housing tenants, or whether to reduce the subsidy so as to assist more households;
• whether to maintain the effective tenure for life offered by public housing in the past, or whether to encourage tenants to leave once they are in less pressing need in order to facilitate improved access for those in greater need;
• whether to offer other housing assistance measures
• what will be the social and economic impacts of reduced access to public housing for growing numbers of low-income households

These strategic policy questions need to be considered in the context of the broader welfare reform process under way nationally and internationally.   In simple terms, welfare is increasingly expected to encourage recipients to become more financially and socially independent.   Housing assistance is no exception, and the current renegotiation of the CSHA includes a focus on reform so as to remove poverty traps and encourage workforce participation.

Answering these strategic policy challenges requires an understanding of why housing matters, and for whom.   For example, knowing the likely consequences of poor housing for various groups of households can assist in determining the relative priority for access to public housing.   Knowing which aspects of housing matter most to various groups can assist in developing new, lower subsidy housing assistance programs.

Tony Chalkley, RMIT
Research Thesis: Ethnographies of housing: exploring the role of housing officers in public housing service provision

This thesis is related to the Australian Research Council supported research project Ethnographies of housing: exploring the role of housing officers in public housing service provision.  

This research will examine the everyday practice of public housing officers working in the Victorian Office of Housing within the Department of Human Services.   It aims to analyse the ways that workers exercise discretion, and the patterns of meanings that they construct, through their interactions with clients, departmental managers and other human service providers.   It will be the first ethnographic study of front-line work in housing services in Australia and will build on comparable work done in the United Kingdom and America.   The knowledge generated will inform innovation in public housing services, housing policy debates and emerging programs designed to integrate housing with other human services.  

Joanne Quinn, UNSW
Research Thesis: Housing Ageing (title tbc)

The ageing of Australia's population is expected to increase, particularly as post-WWII 'baby-boomer' children are approaching retirement age.   Currently representing around 12% of the total Australian population, the 'over 65 years' cohort is expected to grow close to 25% of the population within the next fifty years.   The benefit of increased life expectancy is offset by the care (and resulting cost) requirements of this population as they age and become increasingly mentally and physical frail (ABS 3222.0, 2000, p12).

The Government provides care funding for older people in two forms: residential care and community care packages.   Residential care consists of nursing home (high level) or hostel (low level) care; community care packages consist of Extended Aged Care at Home Packages (EACH) (high level) and Community Aged Care Packages (CACP) (low level) in the home.   Currently only about 10% of the population over 70 years are in residential care or receive community care packages.   The remaining majority of older people are independent, fit and healthy, receive care from a spouse or other family, or receive home and community care services such as meals on wheels or home nursing (AIHW, 2002c, p21).  

The housing options for ageing Australians include remaining in general housing, living in age-specific housing or living in residential care, such as a hostel or nursing home.   Most older people prefer to remain independently 'at home' rather than in residential care, and it is less costly to the government for them to do so (AIHW, 2002b, p91).   Three problems exist with nursing home and hostel care.   First, despite an apparent preference by many older people not to leave their homes, the current demand for nursing home and hostel beds is very high.   Second, this type of care is costly to provide (AIHW, 2002b, p91).   Third, the move to a nursing home or hostel places an elderly person in an unfamiliar environment when they are at a vulnerable stage, which can have a profound affect on their remaining independence and mental state.  

To address this, there has been a growth in non-residential care such as the EACH program and CACPs, which have increased from just over 2500 packages in 1995 to nearly 25,000 packages in 2001 (AIHW, 2002a,p14).   Unfortunately for the caregivers, the home environment is rarely geared for providing and receiving the type of care often required, unlike a hostel or nursing home.

An appropriate home environment could have a number of advantages:

• it could reduce the incidence of home-based falls and other 'catastrophic' events, that necessitate transfer to residential care
• it could assist in maintaining the independence of the older occupant
• it could assist the family carer to safely provide care, eliminating the need for residential care
• it could provide the occupational health safety and efficiency requirements for home based residential care

Very few existing homes provide this optimum environment.   Some homes are modified for the older occupant, for instance through the installation of stainless steel grab bars and ramps, often after a fall or once the occupant is already very frail.   These can be supplemented by specialised equipment such as hoists and shower chairs.   These home modifications are generally very clinical in appearance, with little consideration of the home's interior style or architecture.

There is seldom the opportunity to refurbish or renovate the older person's home to provide an appropriate environment for the care of a frail, elderly person.   Yet, many people do actually renovate their home or relocate at the 'empty-nester' stage of life: when their children leave home.   This commonly occurs between the ages of fifty and seventy.   Unfortunately, few take advantage of the opportunity to adapt their home or select a suitable new home to suit their requirements as they age.   This could be due to a number of reasons: perhaps they do not like to think of themselves getting older; they could be unaware of what is required; or suitable homes and products could be unavailable, difficult to access, unattractive, or overly expensive.

"Universal design is the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design" (Mace 1997). It results in the design of buildings, interiors and products being suitable for all users - able bodied or with a disability. This type of design has gained acceptance in the design field, but has had limited commercial application. There is potential for universally designed home interiors and products to address the issues of ageing in the home.

Min Hua Zhao, University of Sydney
Research Thesis: The interest rate sensitivity of the investment demand for housing - Is there a difference between the owner-occupier and the rental investor?

It has been long recognised by both policy regulators and economic analysts that the housing sector is one of the most interest rate sensitive sectors of the economy. This comes as a result of the expense; size; and illiquid nature of housing market transactions, and of the heavy reliance by households on debt instruments to finance their purchases. As a result, the rate of interest is a critical factor in determining the ability of the household to undertake the housing purchase. While monetary policy in Australia does not specifically target the housing sector, given its interest rate sensitivity, it is nonetheless important that we gain an able understanding of the effect that an adjustment in the rate of interest would have on housing demand, as housing demand affects the attainment of social and economic benefits at both the household and macroeconomy level. Thus, one question which could be asked is: given an interest rate adjustment, whether, and to what extent, the response of housing demand would differ between first-home-buyers and private residential rental property investors. The implication of this potential difference is two folds: (1) it aids in the understanding of the relationship between interest rates and aggregate housing demand, and (2) insofar that this provides a measure of the degree of sensitivity towards interest rate adjustment on the part of first-home-buyers and rental property investors, implications also carry over to the analysis of the sustainability of housing debts in response to interest rate changes.  

The housing demands of both the first-home-buyers and rental property investors have been extensively studied. However, the analysis have largely evolved in two distinct literatures - one focusing on the housing demands of fist-home-buyers, and the other focusing on the housing demands of rental investors. Thus, while the response of housing demand to interest rate changes have been analyzed in previous studies, the scope of the analysis has been restricted to either the first-home-buyer or the rental investor, without an examination of the potential quantitative differences in their responses; why the responses may differ; or of the significance of such differences. There are three main elements to the view that, given an interest rate adjustment, the response of housing demand for first-home-buyers can differ to those of rental investors. Firstly, the housing demands of first-home-buyers and rental property investors are driven by a distinct set of motivations and constraints that arises mainly due to the distinct roles that the family home and the investment property play in the household portfolio, and of the differences in tax treatments between owner-occupied and rental investment properties. While these differences warrants the separate analytical treatment of first-home-ownership and rental investment, what is common is that a critical factor in the determination of their housing demand is the loan instrument, and that a change in the rate of interest would - via the loan interest rate - have important implications for both the housing demand of first-home-buyers and rental investors. Thirdly, changes in the rate of interest affects housing demand through both the cost of borrowing and the borrowing criterias imposed by housing lenders. For both of these channels, the extent to which it affects housing demand is dependent on the financial capabilities of the household. Given that the financial characteristics of first-home-buyers are shown to be markedly different to those of first-home-buyers, this gives rise to the potential for housing demand for these two groups of investors to respond differently to the given interest rate adjustment.

The methodological concerns of the proposed research also represent areas in which potential improvements can be made to existing models. There are three main methodological concerns that relates to the proposed research question. Firstly, the response of housing demand to a change in the interest rate can take the form of either (1) a change in the ownership decision, or (2) a change in the housing quantity demanded decision. That standard approach is to assume that only one adjustment - either the ownership, or the quantity adjustment, is made. Thus, the question arises as to whether the joint adjustment could feasibly be measured (or simulated). Secondly, the evaluation of the effect of a change in the interest rate on housing demand is sensitive to the source of the increase. Thus, the question is: when it is said that there has been a change in the nominal interest rate, does this imply a change in the real rate, or the expected rate of inflation. The prevalent approach in existing studies has been either to specify the source of the change, or to impose a structural relationship between the nominal rate and its two components. However, under realistic settings, what households observe is only a change in the nominal rate of interest. The existing approach thus effectively evades the issue of how nominal interest rate is incorporated into the housing demand choice process. Thirdly, the concept of a reduction in the rate of interest is distinct to the concept of a continuation of a low interest environment. Both has important influences on housing demand. However, while the effect of a reduction in interest rate on housing demand can be analysed via known channels, the way in which expectations of future interest environment affects housing demand has not been examined in previous studies. This has particular relevance in the current housing market upswing, since much of the extended increase in housing demand has occurred under a low interest environment, rather than any significant downward adjustment in interest rates.

Victoria Long, University of South Australia
Research Thesis: Relations of Power or Representations/Stigma and Tenants in the Public Housing Sector

The proposed research is in the field of housing studies, and is concerned specifically with relations of power and the construction of identity, and stigma of public housing tenants.   It is intended that the findings of the research yield a better understanding of the ways power can be seen to operate in public housing, not only at a housing authority/client level or within public housing areas, but in the wider social context, especially the way the media depicts public housing.  

The study is concerned with the relations of power impacting upon the public housing sector from within and outside, and the ways in which being 'a public housing tenant' impacts upon the identity of people in public housing through social stigma and popular representation.   The interlocking effects of the notion of 'the public housing tenant' and its various associations along with other identity shaping factors such as gender, race and sexuality, must also be considered here.  

The research methodology will comprise:

• Literature review - academic literature;
• Content analysis of public policy and administrative documents, in order to identify how particular images are invoked by these sources and consider the ramifications;   
• Analysis of representations of public housing and its occupants in the print and television media; and
• Interviews with tenants in the public housing system to reveal how tenants position themselves compared to their positioning in the other sources for analysis.

The study aims to explore and interpret the different and perhaps competing portrayals of tenants in the contemporary policy context of public housing.   Attention will be drawn to the impacts of such representations for people in public housing, and thus for to possible future directions in public housing policy.

Paul Antonelli, Murdoch University
Research Thesis: Making Ecovillages Happen - The Economic Imperative

My research topic will be utilizing the Somerville Ecovillage project as a basis for conducting research and looking at aspects of the process that will facilitate the development of ecovillages. This will then be supported and tested by research, including overseas visits to key ecovillages around the globe. As the project is one with a foundation in sustainable development - it will have a broad scope looking at all three key areas: economic, social and environmental. Integral to such development will be how to find a new way of achieving social housing as well as ecological housing.

Critical to the model being developed is a new way of creating a co-operative structure for the housing that is less dependent on the state. This will be dependent on using the skills of the group to help develop the site as well as using their funds.

The Somerville Ecovillage project currently has over 106 members involved. There will be much activity and research in many areas undertaken from the existing membership base, which will support my research activity. This research activity will be, where relevant, part of my research process with an aim of connecting it together.

The research will thus be based on objective assessment of other eco-villages around the world but also on an intensely subjective involvement in the development of an actual, on-the-ground model of a group housing project attempting to create a better housing outcome. This is in very essence what sustainable development is all about - an integrated holistic approach to building living communities - in this case applied to housing.

Information about the Somerville Ecovillage project can be found online at:

www.greenedge.org