Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute

The Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) is a national not-for-profit independent network organization that funds, conducts, disseminates, and tailors research on housing, homelessness and urban development. The organisation's funding is received from Commonwealth, State and territory government grants, contributions from partner universities, and fees from third parties.[1] Research funding is provided only to partners, who each make an annual contribution to the consortium. In 2022, AHURI had nine research partners across Australia.

The Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute
AbbreviationAHURI
Formation1993 and 1999
TypePublic policy research network
Managing Director
Michael Fotheringham
Websitehttps://www.ahuri.edu.au/

Reports

In 2021, the AHURI released a report on the effect climate change will have on indigenous housing.[2] The conclusions attributed a lack of fit-for-purpose housing in Aboriginal communities, especially in summer, will force people to leave their traditional lands. In the same year AHURI examined census data to draw conclusions and make forecasts about home affordability.[3]

Governance

The AHURI board consists of four members from the Commonwealth, three from State governments, and three from participating universities. The budget for 2020-21 was $5.8 million; impacted by Covid-19 due to the inability to stage conferences. About $2 million was spent on the research program and another $1.4 million on dissemination and engagement. This was sourced by $3.7 million from government and $1 million from research partners.[4]

Research Partners

In 2015 AHURI had 15 partner universities clustered in seven research nodes across Australia, but in 2022 it has nine university partners, which are (with director/leader):[5]

  • Sydney, NSW (Laurence Troy)
  • New South Wales[6] (Hazel Easthorpe)
  • South Australia[7] (Braam Lowies)
  • Adelaide, SA[8] (Emma Baker)
  • Tasmania (Keith Jacobs)
  • Monash, Victoria[9] (Joshua Newman)
  • Swinburne, Victoria (Andi Nygaard)
  • RMIT, Victoria[10] (Jago Dodson)
  • Curtin, WA[11] (Steven Rowley)

Activities

AHURI's main activities are:

  • National Housing Research Program. (Projects, Inquiries and Investigative Panels)
  • National Cities Research Program
  • Briefs (summaries of research and future directions)
  • Evidence review and project evaluation
  • National Housing Conference, National Homelessness Conference, National Cities Conference
  • Webinars and seminars

A project usually has an interim or issues report, followed by a Final Report

An investigative panel brings together experts and stakeholders to talk on key housing issues, then reports

An Inquiry is a series of projects aimed at a particular major issue

At April 2022 , there were under way:

Five inquiries
  • Financing first home ownership (Sydney)
  • Poorly housed older Australians (SA)
  • Growth of smaller cities (SA)
  • Individuals leaving institutions (RMIT)
  • Sustainable housing (RMIT)

Fourteen projects
  • Trickle-down of rental (UNSW)
  • Forecasting housing assistance (UNSW)
  • Tenancy law reform (UNSW)
  • Neighbourhood change (USydney)
  • Homelessness and disability (USydney)
  • Pandemic and rental (Adelaide)
  • Indigenous homelessness (SA)
  • Retirement villages (UTas)
  • Allocation of public housing (Swinburne)
  • Alternative forms of home ownership (Swinburne)
  • Crisis accommodation (Swinburne)
  • Overcrowding (Curtin)
  • Developers and policy (Curtin)
  • Adults with high-support disability (Curtin)

Panel

Private sector and affordable housing (Sydney)

Conferences
  • The National Housing Conference is a three-day biennial event, held in Melbourne in 2022
  • The National Homelessness Conference is a three day biennial event, held in Canberra in 2022[12]
  • Fourteen webinars were held in 2020-21 [13]

History

AHURI Mark 1

AHURI was founded in 1993 as an initiative by the then Deputy Prime Minister Brian Howe to conduct and coordinate research on housing and urban affairs. The brief for a strongly-centred research organisation was won by a consortium from RMIT (Mike Berry[14] and Tony Dalton[15]), Monash University (Chris Maher [16]), QUT (Bob Stimson[17]) and CSIRO (Joe Flood). The research was carried out in-house.

The initial organisation was found to be unwieldy, with inadequate funding for administrative support, and the necessity to go to every State and partner university to sign on decisions. When Mike Berry retired as Director in 1999, the States offered to double their funding to support a more sustainable AHURI that would largely conduct research on a submissions model, on subjects closer to the public housing orientation that was their main interest, A company structure was also adopted for AHURI. CSIRO left the consortium, while the University of New South Wales, Swinburne University, Curtin University, and the University of Tasmania joined.

AHURI Mark 2

In 1999 Owen Donald, a former director of Housing Victoria,[18] became Executive Director. Ian Winter, a principal research fellow at the Institute of Family Studies was appointed as professor and research director, When Donald became Victorian Director of Housing at the end of 2003, Winter took over as Executive Director and held the position till 2018, when Michael Fotheringham[19] was appointed Executive Director.

AHURI moved within the Commonwealth Department of Treasury in 2018.

Impact

AHURI bases its reputation on being a knowledge broker and an advisor, and its role is facilitative. There do not appear to be any direct outcomes or impacts of its work.

References
  1. "Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute". ausgovboards.gov.au. Archived from the original on 16 March 2015. Retrieved 30 August 2015.
  2. Allam, Lorena (4 November 2021). "Australia's Indigenous housing won't cope with climate change, research finds". The Guardian. Guardian News & Media. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  3. Chalmers, Stephanie (14 June 2021). "Nearly two-thirds of Australians think home ownership won't be an option for young people as property prices rise". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 4 November 2021.
  4. AHURI annual financial report 2021. https://www.ahuri.edu.au/sites/default/files/documents/2021-10/AHURI%20Financial%20Report%202020-21.pdf
  5. "Research partners | AHURI". www.ahuri.edu.au. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  6. "Housing | City Futures Research Centre". cityfutures.ada.unsw.edu.au. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  7. "AHURI Research Centre". Home. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  8. "AHURI Adelaide". The Australian Centre for Housing Research | University of Adelaide. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  9. "Monash AHURI Research Centre". Monash University. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  10. "RMIT Centre for Urban Research". Centre for Urban Research. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  11. businesseditor (4 August 2015). "Institutes, Centres and Clusters | Business & Law". research.curtin.edu.au. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  12. Conference 2022, National Homelessness. "Home - National Homelessness Conference 2022 - Canberra Convention Centre". Home. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  13. "Research Webinar Series | AHURI". www.ahuri.edu.au. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  14. "Professor Mike Berry". RMIT University Centre for Urban Research. Retrieved 22 April 2022.
  15. "Professor Mike Dalton". RMIT University Centre for Urban Research. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  16. Berry, Mike (1997). "Obituary: Christopher Anthony Maher". Urban Policy and Research. 16: 6.
  17. "Emeritus Professor Robert Stimson". The University of Queensland. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  18. "Home | Housing.vic.gov.au". www.housing.vic.gov.au. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  19. "Dr Michael Fotheringham | AHURI". www.ahuri.edu.au. Retrieved 25 April 2022.



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