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AHURI is a national independent research network with an expert not-for-profit research management company, AHURI Limited, at its centre. AHURI’s mission is to deliver high quality research that influences policy development and practice change to improve the housing and urban environments of all Australians. Using high quality, independent evidence and through active, managed engagement, AHURI works to inform the policies and practices of governments and the housing and urban development industries, and stimulate debate in the broader Australian community. AHURI undertakes evidence-based policy development on a range of priority policy topics that are of interest to our audience groups, including housing and labour markets, urban growth and renewal, planning and infrastructure development, housing supply and affordability, homelessness, economic productivity, and social cohesion and wellbeing.

This chapter highlights the challenges and complexities that mid-career academics need to overcome in the Australian Higher Education sector. The collaborative auto-ethnographic narratives of the authors from different institutions across Australia provide insights into strategies, life choices, and motivations for focusing on career progression in academia.

This research tracks Australia’s population growth over the period 2006–16 to examine how actual growth differed from projected growth. It also examined key drivers of population mobility in Australia to inform future urban development policy responses to demands on infrastructure and housing. The study finds that macro-scale population projections over the long term largely align with overall population changes. The bulk of Australia’s population growth has been concentrated in major cities, where projections were exceeded on the outer edges and inner city areas. Regional Australia has shared overall population growth, with only a few areas recording absolute population decline. The research also examines the drivers of population mobility finding nearly 40 per cent of moves within urban areas are driven by the desire to get one’s own place or move into a larger place and only 8 per cent downsizing into a smaller dwelling. Urban to regional moves are driven more by lifestyle considerations such as starting a new job or needing to be closer to a place of study.

© 2020 Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute. All rights reserved. This research shows that downsizing, or 'rightsizing' as it is often termed, is an integral part of the current and future housing preferences of older Australians. Findings are based on analysis of the Australian Housing Aspirations (AHA) survey and interviews with older Australians and key stakeholders. • Of the 2,422 older (aged 55+) respondents to the AHA survey, 26 per cent had downsized, and a further 29 per cent had considered downsizing. • Older Australians perceive downsizing as more than just a reduction in dwelling size. Rather, it refers to internal and external spaces becoming more manageable, and a reduction in belongings. It also includes a financial benefit to the household. • Downsizers are mobile, with only 22 per cent staying in their original neighbourhood. • One of the policy rationales for downsizing is to reduce the underutilisation of dwellings. However, this is at odds with the attitude of many older Australians who consider spare bedrooms necessary, using them as permanent guest rooms (58%), studies (50%), or dedicated rooms for children or grandchildren (31%). However, two-thirds of downsizers surveyed did move to a dwelling with fewer bedrooms, with three being the preferred size for older Australians (James, Rowley et al 2019). • Older Australians who had downsized did so to achieve a particular lifestyle (27%); for financial outcomes (27%); because their garden or property required too much maintenance (18%); or because they were forced to do so (15%). Perceived benefits of downsizing for those who had not yet downsized included a reduction in property maintenance and household running costs. • Among survey respondents who had considered downsizing, a change in health circumstances, either for themselves or their partner, was considered most likely to prompt a move—and the importance of this as a catalyst increased with age. • Across the local government areas

© 2020 Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute. All rights reserved. This report explores the housing constraints facing diverse populations of lower income Australians and to establish how existing and innovative housing solutions can support their shelter and non-shelter aspirations across the life-course from young adulthood to later-life.

These position papers have been developed by NFAW’s Social Policy Committee to summarise 2020-2021 Budget measures of importance to women in Australia. It also contains a summary of modelling on the impacts of increased government expenditure in the care sectors – see Appendix A.

© 2020 Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute. All rights reserved. This report delivers a comprehensive account of the diverse housing circumstances of Australians at mid-life (35–54); elicit their housing aspirations and trade-offs; examine housing challenges and enablers; and ‘market test’ future housing possibilities including among vulnerable populations, to inform optimal policy development, via an integrated suite of innovative mixed-method analyses.

This report examined the housing aspirations of older Australians, defined as households over the age of 55. The number of older Australians increased by almost 3 million between 2006 and 2016. The research collected data through a national Australian Housing Aspirations (AHA) survey, interviews and focus groups, supplemented with data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). Older Australians aspire to live in a variety of different locations, with the most popular choices being the middle to outer suburbs of capital cities (around 35%) and small regional towns (around 20%). Generally, they would like to own a detached dwelling (69%) with three bedrooms (50%) although there is an appetite for two-bedroom apartments, particularly in the 75+ age group. Older Australians do not wish to be in the private rental market with 80 per cent demanding ownership. Aspirations are driven by a desire for long-term, stable housing. While the number of bedrooms, building quality and dwelling type are important, safety and security and having somewhere that feels like home are critical for older Australians. The short and longer-term housing aspirations gap (the difference between current and ideal housing) for later life Australians is not large with over 90 per cent of the 2,400 older Australians responding to the AHA survey stating their current housing meets their short-term housing aspirations, while 70 per cent reported current housing meets longer-term aspirations. There is unmet demand, or a housing aspiration gap, for dwellings in small regional towns, separate houses, two and three-bedroom dwellings and home ownership. The housing aspirations gap is larger for renters, private and social, than for home owners. Policy innovation could deliver the housing and housing assistance required to meet the diverse aspirations of later-life Australians through four key avenues: Housing assistance to develop alternative home ownership options to improve security of tenure and f