Contentment and Suffering: the Impact of Australia's Housing Policy and Tenure on Older Australians

Housing policy in Australia historically has focused on facilitating homeownership and creating some buffer for those households that are not homeowners. This paper explores the implications of this policy for older Australians. What is argued is that housing tenure has become a crucial divide and that older Australians who have not had the good fortune to access homeownership or public / community housing and who are dependent on the private rental sector as a result, often find themselves in desperate circumstances. The argument is developed that the failure to put in place a housing policy which would give all citizens the ability to access adequate and affordable housing, has led to a situation where a substantial and increasing number of older Australians have untenable housing costs and minimal disposal income. The article concludes that the present policy initiatives aimed at addressing the housing affordability crisis will have little impact on the situation of older people who are currently in housing stress.     

Women,Health and Housing Assistance: Implications in an Emerging Era of Housing Provision

Women and the households that they head are over‐represented among the most economically and socially disadvantaged households in Australia. Recent changes in the provision of housing assistance for low income households in Australia have distinct implications for women and this paper examines the implications of these changes. Shifting the emphasis in housing assistance away from publicly provided and rent‐controlled housing to direct subsidisation of rents for private tenants has important, largely negative, consequences for the health, affordability and security of housing for many women. This situation is made worse given the current housing affordability crisis in Australia; a crisis that extends across all private housing tenures.     

Weaving nets: Housing and leadership in two Italian cities

As part of local welfare in Italy, housing policies underwent reforms that emphasized the role of local governments—and cities in particular—in the definition of the problem and in the elaboration of possible solutions. Housing is quite neglected in the political debate, but it is increasingly important for responding to citizens' demands in times of economic crisis. This paper reconstructs the policy process in two Italian cities, Turin (1997–2011) and Florence (1995–2011). The paper argues that policy change in housing can be fostered by a local political leadership that invests ideational, relational, and positional resources in policy making to spread new ideas, build networks of public and private actors at the local level, and attract fiscal resources while taking advantage of windows of opportunity at different institutional levels. Moreover, collaboration with local bureaucratic leadership proves fundamental to promoting innovative policies.     

Conditionality in the context of housing-led homelessness policy: Comparing Australia’s Housing First agenda to Scotland’s “rights-based” approach

Homelessness services and policy have historically tended to be organised by an explicitly conditional logic, wherein people experiencing homelessness must prove their “housing readiness” before accessing settled housing. This model has been robustly challenged in recent decades by “housing-led” approaches that ostensibly eschew conditionality and prioritise the rapid rehousing of people experiencing homelessness. Various countries now include housing-led approaches in the national policy frameworks, including Australia, which overhauled its approach to homelessness in 2008, and Scotland, where a housing-led approach is supported by a legal right to housing for homeless households. Notwithstanding this policy shift, conditionality remains an enduring feature of responses to homelessness in both jurisdictions. This paper sheds light on this phenomenon by comparing the Australian experience with that of Scotland. We demonstrate how conditionality remains a feature of both jurisdictions; however, there is greater effort in Scotland to identify and minimise conditionality, whereas in Australia it is able to persist relatively unchallenged. We conclude with some reflections on what Australia can learn from Scotland’s relative success, highlighting the importance of a national-level policy framework and an adequate affordable housing supply.     

Disenfranchised Not ‘Deficient‘: How the (Neoliberal) State Disenfranchises Young People

Young people's declining electoral participation has been considered a problem in a range of democracies, including Australia. In this paper I examine youth electoral participation through the eyes and voices of young marginalised Australians. In the policy arena young people's electoral participation is usually considered a subject for education policy. Here I make the case for considering it as an issue for social policy, and as a welfare issue. In this context I examine the effects of neoliberalism and Australia's shrinking welfare state on young people's citizenship and ability to access the franchise. Whilst acknowledging the liberal roots of neoliberalism I argue that whereas the neoliberal state identifies young people's political disengagement as a problem, and constructs participation using the language of ‘choice‘, that its own social policies act to create barriers to the franchise for young people and thus effectively disenfranchise them.     

From New Labour to Rudd/Gillard – transferring social policy

ABSTRACT

From 2007 to 2010, there were national Labour governments in Britain and Australia, the longest and only third time this had occurred since the second World War. The period of New Labour was closing in the UK, and in Australia the Rudd government came to power after 11 years in opposition, directly influenced by the, at times, trailblazing UK Labour government. In the domain of social policy, New Labour was a source of policy inspiration and transfer. Specifically, the Rudd/Gillard governments borrowed heavily its ‘social exclusion’ agenda, and also the use of ‘compacts’ with the third sector. This article examines the policy diffusion and transfer between the UK and Australia, and in doing so offers critical insights into the policy transfer literature. The article examines the reasons for the Australian Labor Party's adoption of these policies, and links this to wider dilemmas and identity crisis that are afflicting centre-left governments across the globe.     

‘Problematising’ Australian policy representations in responses to the physical health of people with mental health disorders

Australia, like other jurisdictions, is recognising the poorer physical health of people with mental health disorders. This paper explores policy responses to this issue through discourse analysis of 22 Australian Federal and State government policy documents published in 2006–2011. The paper utilises Bacchi's ‘what's the problem represented to be?‘ approach to explore policy solutions in relation to the representation of the issue, enabling identification of issues which are not problematised and policy solutions that have not been considered. The poor physical health of people with mental health disorders is attributed in policy to poor lifestyle habits and limited access to monitoring of physical health care. Three policy solutions are offered: collaborative care delivery involving greater use of fee‐for‐service primary care to manage physical health; the monitoring of physical health status by mental health teams; and the promotion of lifestyle change. These solutions fail to address ongoing issues with collaboration between specialist mental health and primary care services. Reliance upon fee‐for‐service primary mental health care may, in fact, reduce rather than increase access to services. The strategies are discussed in light of neoliberal ideals of governance and personhood which are underpinned by informed consumer choice and personal responsibility for health.     

The Dynamics of Welfare Policy‐Making in South Korea: Social Movements as Policy Entrepreneurs*

This paper analyzes the role of social movements in the creation and evolution of a welfare state in South Korea. We begin with a theoretical overview of the existing works on policy change, highlighting concepts such as ideas, policy paradigms, and windows of opportunity. We then examine state institutions, hegemonic policy paradigms, and the specific dynamics of welfare policy‐making during South Korea’s authoritarian period (1961–1987). Next, characterizing the democratic transition in 1987 and the economic crisis of 1997–1998 as “windows of opportunity,” we probe how social movements emerged as “policy entrepreneurs” and played crucial roles in building welfare institutions and promoting welfare policies. In particular, we focus on the role of social movements in legislating the National Basic Livelihood Security Act in 1999 and consolidating fragmented health insurance systems in 2000. We conclude that social movements in democratized South Korea have assumed the role of policy entrepreneurs, filling the vacuum left by the central government and elite bureaucrats in the field of social welfare policy‐making.     

How child inclusive were Australia's responses to COVID-19?

From March 2020, Australia introduced a range of policies to respond to COVID-19, most of which impacted significantly on the lives of children. This article applies a child-centred framework, developed from rights-based participatory research with children, to analyse how children have been represented in policy narratives around COVID-19 and the extent to which policy responses have been child-inclusive or child-centred. We argue that, overall, COVID-19 policy responses have failed to be child-inclusive or child-centred. This has important implications not only for understanding the impact of COVID-19 on children but also in understanding—and potentially rethinking—the place of children in policies as Australia emerges from COVID-19 restrictions.     

Care leavers: A British affair

Individuals in and leaving care within the UK experience numerous dilemmas that include a lack of supportive housing and potential homelessness, lower educational attainment and occupational status, and greater likelihood of moving into poverty. These adverse situations—all of which are interrelated—shape their present and future health status. Models of these processes usually focus on individual behaviours/characteristics, the consolidation of positive identities through the development of supportive networks, and specific social policies germane to this group. Although informative, these models neglect many key contextual factors that shape these outcomes. In this paper, we present a model of care‐leaving that incorporates developments in the political economy of health literature to show how differing welfare state arrangements shape health by mediating the distribution of economic and social resources over the life course for populations in general and for those in and leaving care specifically. The key recommendation suggested by this model is to focus upon developing public policies to address the vulnerable situations care leavers experience associated with skewed income distributions, lack of housing affordability, weak employment standards, and lack of access to higher education typical of liberal welfare states such as the UK.     

Macroprudential policy and the probability of a banking crisis

The ultimate purpose of macroprudential policy is to avoid financial instability, such as banking crises, which have a long-lasting and devastating effect on the economy. Although a growing number of studies have examined the effects of macroprudential policy on credit growth, few empirical studies have analyzed its effect on the probability of a banking crisis. Does macroprudential policy actually affect the probability of a banking crisis? Do other macroeconomic policies matter for the effectiveness of macroprudential policy? To answer these questions, this paper empirically investigates the effect of macroprudential policy on the probability of a banking crisis and its relationship with other macroeconomic policies. Specifically, using data on 65 countries from 2000 to 2016, we employ a probit model to analyze the effect of changes in the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio on crisis probability. Our results show that macroprudential policy is effective in changing the probability of a banking crisis via a credit channel and that its effectiveness depends on other macroeconomic policies. Changes in the LTV ratio are found to be effective in influencing the probability of a banking crisis in countries that have inflation targeting frameworks, floating exchange rate regimes, and/or no capital controls. Our results underscore the importance of policy coordination among different government bodies to design an appropriate macroprudential policy, especially in the current context of the Covid-19 crisis.     

Approaches to Homelessness Policy in Europe, the United States, and Australia

Workable and effective policies addressing homelessness need to be based on a clear definition of homelessness. This overview of recent policies in the European Union, the U.S., and Australia shows that, even at the very basic level of being able to define and enumerate the homeless, policy approaches are extremely variable. Research indicates the growing significance of the "new homeless," consisting of families, women, and children. Homelessness also needs to be seen as something dynamic that may involve movement into and out of housing and other supports over time. Older policies that address only limited kinds of homelessness and which do not recognize the dynamics involved are likely to be less effective. "Good practice" policy incorporates these changing understandings of homelessness by addressing the housing, psychological and social needs of the homeless, as well as integrating across programs and increasing independence through capacity building .     

Housing needs of grandparent caregivers: grandparent,youth, and professional perspectives

ABSTRACT

This qualitative study examined the housing needs of grandparent caregivers and the youth in their care in New York State. Nine focus groups were conducted separately with grandparent caregivers (n = 46) and youth (n = 34), and interviews were conducted with key informants (n = 17) knowledgeable about housing and issues. Housing needs of greatest priority, contextual differences, and potential barriers to securing housing and social services were identified. Key themes indicated that housing challenges stem from four problem domains: the experience of poverty, which creates affordability challenges that trap grandparent caregivers and their grandchildren in unsuitable homes and unsafe neighborhoods; physical challenges of aging grandparents, which require specific housing accommodations; changes in family composition when taking in grandchildren, which necessitate moving out of prior accommodations or changing housing plans due to regulatory issues; and obstacles to obtaining needed benefits, including a lack of information, burdensome application processes, ineligibility, and a shortage of resources. These issues are discussed with implications for policy and practice.     

Young families migrating to non‐metropolitan areas: Are they at increased risk of social exclusion?

Over the past three decades, thousands of young families have moved from large cities to non‐metropolitan areas of Australia. Various policies, particularly housing policies, have played a significant role in this trend. Despite the various impetuses towards relocation, little is known about how young families fare once they have relocated to non‐metropolitan areas. In this paper we draw on a study about families relocating to three distinct non‐metropolitan areas. From our qualitative analysis of the observations of service providers in education, health, and community support services, we present a model of how relocation to non‐metropolitan areas can contribute to the increased vulnerability of some young families to social exclusion. We discuss some ways in which policy makers can intervene to reduce this risk for young families at each phase of the relocation process.     

Experiences of homelessness by people seeking asylum in Australia: A review of published and “grey” literature

This review examines the current published and “grey” literature relating to the experiences of homelessness by people seeking asylum within Australia. While many people seeking asylum have experienced homelessness during their flight, inadequate and unaffordable housing are a feature of the settlement experience for a large number of new arrivals to Australia, putting at risk their successful settlement. This study aims to explore the factors influencing access to stable housing. A systematic review of the academic literature and a search of the grey literature identified 11 articles and 20 documents related to homelessness and people seeking asylum in Australia. The academic literature included a variety of methods and approaches to the investigation of the experience of homelessness in Australia. The grey literature was more practice based, including evaluation and research reports, submissions, and newsletters. Findings suggest that experiences of homelessness are multifaceted and have a range of influences, including policy, financial stress, lack of access to education and employment, and a lack of affordable and suitable housing. Any solutions to address homelessness need to be similarly diverse. Discrimination from real estate agents and employers was also identified as a barrier to housing for many people seeking asylum, an issue that will need to be addressed at a systematic level. The lack of research published in the academic literature means that although there may be some programmes or solutions operating in the community, as demonstrated in the grey literature, this information is not being shared beyond organisation websites or subscriber lists, resulting in a lack of coherency or sharing of solutions. This review highlights the need for further attention to the factors influencing homelessness in asylum seekers, the experience of homelessness, and how these can be addressed by government and non-government led strategies and policy development.     

Did monetary policy fuel the housing bubble? An application to Ireland

This paper provides empirical evidence of the role of the euro in the genesis of the recent Irish financial-economic crisis. By using a Taylor rule we measure the appropriateness of the ECB’s one-size-fits-all policy rate for the Irish economy. A counterfactual analysis suggests that the Irish interest rate should have been on average 6.5% higher. Using a BVAR and multivariate housing model, we provide econometric evidence that under an alternative sovereign monetary policy, the average house price would have been 25–30% lower just before the housing bust. In addition, it shows that a monetary policy tailored to the needs of the member state prevents housing prices from dramatically increasing.     

Audit of advertised housing and support vacancies for people with disabilities in Australia

The introduction of Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has changed the way housing and support are delivered to Scheme participants. NDIS policy reform focuses on coordinated housing and support responses. These responses are guided by the Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) Rule, Framework and pricing and Supported Independent Living payments. To date, the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) has only released limited data to understand SDA demand or inform market development. To understand changing housing and support approaches and the impact of NDIS housing policy on market responses, this research had three aims: (1) to examine the locations and characteristics of housing and support vacancies advertised for people with disability; (2) to investigate funding sources for, and providers of, these supported housing options; and (3) to examine the proportion and source of government, nonprofit and private sector funding for housing and support developments advertised. An audit was undertaken of all advertisements on the two main non‐government organisation Websites that list Australian supported housing vacancies. A total of 562 property adverts were reviewed in March 2019. Audit findings are considered in relation to the current NDIS policy context. Possible housing futures and market gaps for people with significant and permanent disability in Australia are discussed.     

Social policy in sub-Saharan Africa: a glance in the rear-view mirror

In this article we take a retrospective look at social policy in post-colonial sub-Saharan Africa and account for two distinct phases. The first phase, from 1960 to 1980, is the nationalist phase; the second, framed by the neoliberal policy regime, marked the last two decades of the 20th century. We argue that social policy in the nationalist phase played a transformative role – intrinsic and instrumental. Investment in education and healthcare, rather than social protection, was the key policy instrument. The weaknesses of the period included a growing authoritarianism and failure to transform the inherited colonial political economies. The retrenchment of the public realm under the neoliberal regime led to massive entitlement failure, and the crisis of citizenship and statehood. We argue for a return to a broader vision of social policy, underpinned by the ethos of democratic and socially inclusive development.     

Policy lessons for strengthening nonprofits

Those who develop or influence Australian public policy impacting on the nonprofit sector rarely have adequate empirical research upon which to base their judgments. Giving Australia research evidence relevant to strengthening giving and volunteering is brought together in this article to inform policy options for government, nonprofit and philanthropic entities. It begins with consideration of research findings related to the capacity of those that give or volunteer and the implications these findings have for policy. Three key criteria are developed for assessing policies to strengthening giving and volunteering, behaviours that primarily assist nonprofit organisations – policies that build trust between those that give and the recipients of their gifts, policies that strengthen affiliation and policies that encourage planned giving.