A successful conference
The 2nd Australasian Housing Researchers’ Conference took place in Brisbane between the 20th and the 22nd June 2007. Hosted by the Housing Policy Research Program at the University of Queensland, this event was held at
Customs House, UQ's conference facility located on the Brisbane River in Brisbane’s Central Business District.(399 Queen St, Brisbane). The conference was a resounding success thanks to the enthusiastic participation of presenters who offered the audience a broad cross section of research topics through their presentations.
The conference organisers would like to thank those delegates who acted as Chairs for various sessions.
This 2nd Australasian Housing Researchers’ Conference followed the highly successful inaugural conference of housing researchers held in Adelaide in June 2006, which attracted approximately 100 academics, post-graduate students, other housing researchers and users of housing research.The overarching theme of the conference was ‘Reshaping Australasian housing research’.
Please click here to view the final program of the 2nd Australasian Housing Researchers Conference 2007.
Purpose of the conference
The purpose of the conference was to bring together researchers from Australian, New Zealand and international universities, and industry and sector research units, to present research findings and analyse contemporary issues in housing policy research. It is anticipated that this conference of housing researchers will become a regular event bringing together the housing research community, and providing opportunities for networking and critical analysis of housing research and housing issues.
There is a long tradition of housing research in the Australasian social sciences spanning many disciplines including geography, economics, sociology, political science, social policy, demography, planning, property studies, architecture and other fields. The volume of housing research has increased markedly during the past decade and housing research is now a growing, interdisciplinary, applied social science research field in Australasia. The 2nd Australasian Housing Researchers’ Conference brought together researchers in this burgeoning field to present findings of recent research, to consider contemporary and emerging research issues, to identify key themes for future research, and to consider ways to further strengthen housing research within the Australasian social sciences.
The overarching theme of the conference, ‘Reshaping Australasian housing research’ aimed to draw attention to a range of issues confronting the Australasian housing research community. These issues were addressed throughout the conference, both through submitted and invited papers, and through formal and informal discussions throughout the conference. The themes included:
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The relations between housing research and housing policy, and the issue of ‘research impact’ in housing studies;
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The factors and forces impinging on the ‘housing research agenda’ and the need to reconsider and perhaps refocus core research questions;
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The relationship between theory and research, and the task of developing a theoretical foundation for housing research;
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The task of positioning Australasian housing research in an international context, and developing comparative analysis of housing policies and systems;
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The task of better organising Australasian housing research, including the implications of the Research Quality Framework in Australia, and the issue of the development of an ‘Australasian Network of Housing Research’.
Fifty-three presentations were given over the three days and covered the following themes:
- Careers and pathways
- Homelessness discourse
- Housing and labour markets
- Older persons housing
- Applying theory in housing research
- Meanings of home and community
- Changing demand factors
- Applying housing research
- Housing market research
- Housing, health and disability
- Eco-sustainability
- Quantitative methods in housing research
- Indigenous housing
- Analysing community housing
- Homelessness
- Diverse pathways
- Social housing research and policy
- Urban planning dilemma
Conference Tours
Two tours were conducted on the last day of the conference. One was a tour of private and public housing developments in the South West Brisbane corridor. The other was a tour of inner Brisbane including social housing and the Kelvin Grove Urban Village. Both tours included talks by people involved in the local projects.
The South West Corridor Tour is the preferred growth area under the South-east Queensland Regional Plan. This area has seen considerable investment in community renewal and redevelopment of public housing estates over the past decade. It has also seen the development of significant private investment in planned communities on Greenfield sites. The tour visited community renewal suburbs of Inala and Carole Park and heard about a decade of experience in government investment in disadvantaged communities. The tour also included a visit to Springfield Lakes which is Australia’s largest master planned community.
The Inner Brisbane Tour visited the Kelvin Grove Urban Village, a partnership between the Queensland University of Technology and the Queensland Government to redevelop an inner city army barracks site. This tour provided a chance to see examples of Brisbane Housing Company affordable housing developments and community housing managed boarding houses and singles accommodation and provided an overview of the impact of inner Brisbane urban renewal, the changing nature of inner city housing and innovations in social and affordable housing provisions.