By Prof Martin Loosemore, UNSW First published in the Fifth Estate. Read the original article here. What is interesting about Dame Judith Hackitt’s final report that was commissioned by the UK government following the Grenfell Tower disaster is that it didn’t pin the blame on the cladding, but identified a wider systemic problem in the […]
Siloed construction industry reform will fail: We need systems thinking
October 11th, 2019 · No Comments · Uncategorized
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Does NSW really need to double its social housing output?
June 23rd, 2018 · No Comments · Uncategorized
By: Hal Pawson, Associate Director, CFRC ‘Homelessness: NSW government ‘must double public housing’ soberly declared the Daily Telegraph’s Saturday headline. This, above a story warning that ‘The NSW government needs to double the amount of social and affordable housing it aims to build to prevent a huge leap in homelessness’ according to ‘experts’. Further, ‘the […]
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Public housing transfers move to a new level
January 23rd, 2017 · 1 Comment · Government, Housing supply
By Hal Pawson, Associate Director, City Futures Research Centre With the New South Wales Government’s recently announced tranche of public housing transfers to not-for-profit providers, Australia’s community housing sector is set for a new growth spurt. The addition of the 14,700 former Housing NSW properties – the largest transfer program yet – will expand existing […]
Too little…but not too late?
November 29th, 2016 · No Comments · Cities, Housing supply, Planning reform, urban renewal
by Judy Stubbs, Judith Stubbs Associates Like most public policy announcements, the Greater Sydney Commission’s recent release of its six Draft District Plans has some good news, and some news that housing researchers and public interest bodies would likely regard as not so good. GSC District Plans – two steps forward In many ways, the […]
The Greater Sydney Commission could deliver a step-change policy advance on affordable housing
November 2nd, 2016 · No Comments · Planning reform
The latest CityWest Housing affordable rental block, Portman Street, Zetland, under construction in 2015 Make no mistake; in the ranking of Australian urban governance innovations, the founding of the Greater Sydney Commission looks set to prove a major league event. Established by the NSW Government at the start of 2016, the GSC’s role is to […]
Productivity Commission stance could hold potential for social housing gains
September 27th, 2016 · No Comments · Government
By Hal Pawson, Associate Director, City Futures Research Centre. Originally published at The Conversation. The new Productivity Commission report favouring “greater competition, contestability and user choice” in social housing has caused concern among advocates for low-income tenants. The report is an interim output from an ongoing review of the nation’s human services – including public […]
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More questions than answers in NSW ‘strategic housing’ announcement
January 26th, 2016 · 1 Comment · Government, Housing supply, Uncategorized
By Hal Pawson and Vivienne Milligan Finally, the long wait is over. Five years after taking office the State Government’s Family and Community Services Department (FACS) has at last pronounced on ‘Future Directions for Social Housing in NSW’. All of the paper’s broad themes – modernisation, additional supply and supporting tenants – will resonate with the […]
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Urban disadvantage study presents challenge for new Minister
September 26th, 2015 · No Comments · Uncategorized
Many in the policy community were taken unawares by the Australian Government’s recently announced intent to re-engage with matters urban. In creating a ministry for Cities and the Built Environment, the new Prime Minister has refreshingly acknowledged that ‘liveable cities, efficient, productive cities, the environment of cities, are economic assets’. This development has coincided neatly with the publication […]
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Rooming house residents not yet adequately protected
August 13th, 2015 · No Comments · Uncategorized
(Self-portrait in front of boarding house – Charles Blackman) Recent reforms to rooming house (or boarding house) regulation have as yet proved only partially effective in ensuring better resident outcomes in this relatively high risk form of accommodation. The new oversight systems established in parallel in 2012 in NSW and Victoria both involved the creation […]
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What choice for tenants in Australia’s public housing transfers?
August 10th, 2015 · No Comments · Uncategorized
By Hal Pawson and Ilan Wiesel Recent years have seen federal and state governments taking a growing interest in transferring public housing to community housing providers (CHPs). CHP tenants may receive rent assistance (RA), whereas public housing tenants cannot. For this reason alone, such transfers can inject significant additional funds, captured indirectly through rent, into […]
Tags:Social housing