Submission: Housing and Homelessness Strategy for South Australia
30 August 2019
Re: Strategic Intent for the Housing and Homelessness Strategy
Thank you for providing the Urban Future Exchange (previously known as the Australian Institute of Urban Studies SA) the opportunity to comment on the Strategic Intent for the Housing and Homelessness Strategy.
The Taskforce is commended for its collaborative approach to developing and workshopping the Strategic Intent. A number of our Board members and members took part in the workshops, and appreciated the depth and breadth of attendees and issues discussed. We recognise the complexity involved in delivering your stated vision across many interested parties and relevant authorities.
The Urban Future Exchange (previously known as the Australian Institute of Urban Studies SA) is a forward looking, independent, not-for-profit, membership-based organisation that exists to provoke rich conversation, deep discussion and rigorous debate about urban life in Adelaide and South Australia. Our membership is broad and balanced, and includes individuals and corporate members from the public, private, not-for-profit and academic sectors. Our members have qualifications and expertise in urban planning, law, design, industrial design, business, health, sustainability, industry and policy amongst many others, and they inform our strategy. As such, the Urban Future Exchange (previously known as the Australian Institute of Urban Studies SA) provides a unique and diverse view on South Australia’s urban and regional future.
In the final Housing and Homelessness Strategy, we want to see an approach that is proactive rather than reactive – supporting the conditions of life that mitigate homelessness, isolation and crisis point before they occur. This approach aligns with the national framework for Emergency Management, which is shifting its focus away from response and recovery and towards prevention and preparedness. In that system, every $1 spent on resilience saves $8 on response – we believe the housing system can learn from this.
For our housing system to truly put customers at the centre, we need to shift our thinking from short-term affordable housing to long-term affordable living. Reducing ongoing living costs through improvements to our housing stock and urban infrastructure will improve life opportunity, quality of life, and community resilience.
According to the recent Greater Sydney Commission report, The Pulse of Greater Sydney, Australians want cities in which they live close to jobs and have reasonable commuting times. They want access to parks and green space, and relief from ever-increasing urban heat. The Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Low Carbon Living has delivered numerous on-ground research projects demonstrating how cities can be sustainable, liveable and affordable.
The Housing and Homelessness Strategy should explore how it can better engage with the Planning Reforms, including by leveraging new e-planning capabilities to better integrate data with decisionmaking. This new system could allow great improvements to how we plan, regulate and manage housing, informed by spatial data such as the Index of Disadvantage, distance to work and school, active transport connections, and exposure to natural hazards.
Climate resilience is a key emerging future need that is not currently addressed in the Strategic Intent. Our future housing – most of which either already exists or is being built right now – must mitigate its exposure to escalating physical risks (like heat, fire, inundation and coastal erosion) in order to manage escalating financial, insurance and legal risks. Globally, the financial, legal and insurance sectors are moving quickly to factor climate risks into their decision making. There are already significant implications for authorities, developers, homeowners and residents. Insurance is becoming unaffordable for many homes in Australia, and as of 1 July 2019, banks are factoring climate risk into their decision-making. This means banks may reduce how much they are willing to lend against the value of assets that are exposed to natural hazards, or not lend at all. Authorities are being sued for making decisions that do not disclose and manage climate risks. This should be a major concern and area of focused attention in our housing system.
Our housing system needs appropriate yet compelling regulation to promote the best lived environments for all important facets of life now and in the future. This includes our brick and mortar environments and connections with critical infrastructure; our connections with the physical world, including access to green infrastructure and protection from hazards; and our intangible connections, our social fabric and health and wellbeing supports. Given the currency of the Planning Reforms and this Taskforce, now is the ideal time for the planning and housing systems to integrate their thinking and approaches to deliver the best possible outcomes for our communities and our State.
On behalf of the Urban Future Exchange (previously known as the Australian Institute of Urban Studies SA) I look forward to further engagement with the Taskforce and SA Housing Authority to ensure all South Australians can access housing that is liveable and affordable, and promotes health, wellbeing and community resilience.
If you would like to discuss this submission in further detail or any other matter, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Yours sincerely
Reb Rowe
Deputy Chair
Urban Future Exchange (previously known as the Australian Institute of Urban Studies SA)