Analysis of public housing standards in Victoria : 1939-1995

The "housing standard" is a government policy document which defines minimum dwelling standards. This thesis outlines the development of public housing standards in Victoria between 1939 and 1995. The Hotham Housing Estate, North Melbourne, was the case study from which a proposed framework for critical analysis of minimum housing standards was derived.

Relative affordability

This research attempts to gauge the impact of "Melbourne 2030" policy on relative affordability within the Melbourne metropolitan area. Using price data over eight years, with reference to activity centre's and transport infrastructure. The results indicate this policy has, thus far, had little effect when measured at the suburb level.

A benchmark study on housing defects in Victoria, Australia

The construction industry consists of many small businesses employing less than five people. A challenge to the construction industry is to ensure that the many small firms and sub-contractors keep producing quality housing to meet the needs of their customers and clients. In attempts to continually improve the quality of housing various policies and mechanisms have been adopted. These have included industry sponsored quality programs and industry administered builder registration. However, these attempts have failed because of consumer mistrust of industry-sponsored programs. In addition, these mechanisms have been introduced in isolation and not as a part of an integrated industry initiative that includes education and training from the trade to tertiary level construction management courses. This work contributes to knowledge through a detailed on-going study of housing quality and defects. This research identifies the common forms of defects, which occur in housing and their incidences. The overall aim of this paper is to report the identification of defects in housing and the establishment of benchmarks (or a baseline) for the incidence defects in various functional elements within a house. It also suggests the areas where defects are likely to occur. From the knowledge gained from the study, industry and governments may make informed decisions of where resources may be directed to the areas where it will be most beneficial both to the house builder and the end user (customer). For this to occur the findings of this research will be disseminated into the housing industry and eventually integrated into tertiary courses in building and construction
management.

An ethnography of housing : public housing work in Victoria

This thesis examines the everyday practices of housing officers working in the Victorian Office of Housing, a large public sector statutory authority providing rental housing to low–income households. Housing officer work has changed substantially associated with the shift from the provision of ‘public housing’ in the post–WWII period to the provision of ‘welfare housing’ from the early 1980s. These changes are evident in both the formal organisation of work and day–to–day practices. The principal research question addressed is ‘How has the work of staff in the Victorian Office of Housing changed as a consequence of the shift from the provision of ‘public housing’ in the post–WWII period to the provision of ‘welfare housing’ from the early 1980s?’

This question is addressed by presenting an historically informed ethnography of the Office of Housing. Research was undertaken over a twelve–month period through interviews, participant observation and the collection of documents. The data collected through the use of these methods provided the basis for the presentation of ‘thick descriptions’ of the work of staff employed to provide rental housing to low–income households.

The research into this large hierarchical formal organisation was undertaken in three offices: a local suburban office, a regional office and head office. This enabled connections and tensions in direct service delivery work and policy work to be identified and analysed. It revealed that the experience of the shift from the provision of public housing to the provision of welfare housing has not been uniform and underscores the importance of understanding organisations as socially constructed.

Staff work was analysed by distinguishing four overarching problems consistently referred to by staff and highlighted in formal reviews. First, ‘problems with tenants’ refers to the changing profile of tenants and staff responses and interactions. Second, the ‘problem with rent’ centres on setting and collecting rents from very low–income tenants. Third, the ‘problem with housing standards and assets’ focuses on housing quality, maintaining properties and the tenant use of properties. Fourth, the ‘problems with the organisation’ are found in the constant searching for the best ways of defining roles, leading and communicating within a large and geographically distributed organisation. These are the features of work which present dilemmas for those who seek to produce better services for households who live in public housing.

Establishing Aboriginal health research priorities in Victoria

The Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO) conducted a research project to find out the impact of social determinants such as education, employment, income, racism and housing on the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal peoples. Forums and workshops were conducted to establish future research outcomes and priorities. The project will help in developing localised and community-oriented solutions to Aboriginal health issues.

Homelessness and leaving care : the experiences of young adults in Queensland and Victoria, and implications for practice

This research first asks ‘What happens when young people leave state care?’ in respect of Victoria and Queensland and second ‘What are the service support implications of this?’ A number of methods were used to explore these questions including semi-structured interviews with 27 young adults aged 19-23 years who had been homeless or at risk of homelessness, and focus groups with young people and service providers. This study provides support for the proposition that young people should be proactively and voluntarily involved in periodic monitoring of their lived experience post care and linkage of this monitoring to the activation of timely support. The great majority of young people involved in this study thought this was not only desirable but important. Whilst some young people will be in close contact with leaving care services many others will not. New research is recommended to develop a mentoring and support activation process using participatory monitoring and action research methods. This type of approach reflects the importance of utilising processes with young people in care and leaving care which acknowledge their personhood and capacity to contribute voluntarily to the processes which seek to support them.

Odour Emissions from Tunnel Ventilated Poultry Housing

In Australia, factors such as local planning processes, urban encroachment into rural areas and intensification of the poultry industry have increased the potential for odour and dust nuisance. At present, accurate estimates of odour emissions from mechanically ventilated poultry housing systems do not exist for Australian conditions. This has made the poultry industry vulnerable to unsubstantiated criticism. Recently, the Australian poultry industry have made a significant investment in research to obtain accurate estimates of odour, dust and volatile chemical emission rates from typical poultry housing systems. This paper describes the measurement of odour emissions from tunnel ventilated poultry housing systems in different climatic zones in Queensland and Victoria, Australia (humid sub-tropical and Mediterranean respectively) during two seasons (summer and winter). Samples were collected at defined intervals over typical batch production cycles to define the odour emission profiles. These samples were analysed using dynamic olfactometry according to the Australian Standard 4323.3 to derive the odour concentration values. Ventilation rates were measured concurrently, allowing the calculation of odour emission rates. Odour concentration and emission rates were assessed in terms of ventilation rate, ambient and shed air temperature and relative humidity and litter moisture status. Odour emission rates varied with bird age. Seasonal differences in odour emission rate were also observed.

The distribution and ecology of the Rufous Bristlebird (Dasyornis broadbenti) at Aireys Inlet, Victoria

A study to assess distribution, numbers and habitat of the Rufous Bristlebird was conducted during 1997 and 1998 along the coast at Aireys Inlet, Victoria. Monthly surveys were conducted along selected pathways for 1 h at sunrise, noon and late afternoon. Birds were recorded on the basis of sightings and calls; 75% of records were from calls. The number of records of birds for April–June was significantly lower than for January–March, July–September and October–December. There was no difference in frequency of records due to weather conditions (clear, overcast or rain), presence of wind or difference in temperature. The Rufous Bristlebird inhabited remnant coastal vegetation, but also utilised nearby house gardens and road verges. Birds appeared to occupy distinct territories, with each separate territory occuring along a narrow strip of land on the coastal cliffs. The number of territories identified ranged from 14 to 33. Territories were occupied predominantly by pairs of birds. The minimum number of birds present was estimated for each survey session and ranged from 2 to 34. A conservative estimate of the bristlebird population in the area, based on the assumption that a territory was occupied by a pair, was thus between 28 and 66. A number of threats to the Rufous Bristlebird were identified in the study area including loss and fragmentation of habitat from housing developments and walking tracks. Introduced predators including foxes, cats and rats have been recorded, but their impact is unknown. The effect of people walking along the tracks and the presence of dogs is unclear.

The influence of housing size, style and location on energy and greenhouse gas emissions

Concern about the growth of greenhouse gas emissions in Victoria has prompted the introduction of legislation to improve the thermal performance of the residential building envelope. Unfortunately, the size of the house is not considered in the rating tool that underpins the legislation. The energy embodied in the constructional materials is also not considered although it too is directly related to the size of the house. Another intrinsic factor relating residential housing energy and greenhouse gas emissions is the location of the residence and the travel preferences of the homeowner. The relationship between the operational, embodied and travel energy associated with a typical residential scenario in Melbourne over the last 50 years is examined in this paper. The analysis found that by the year 2000, the energy associated with work-related travel (44%) now exceeds the operational energy (37%). In terms of greenhouse gas emissions, the contribution from travel energy is almost double that from operational energy (28%).

Comparison of defects in houses constructed by owners and registered builders in Victoria 1988-1996

The lack of attention to quality control by house builders in the Australian State of Victoria has been a contentious issue for more than two decades. Ina an attempt to improve the quality of housing, various mechanisms such as voluntary and compulsory registration schemes have been adopted and discarded by industry-based organisations and government. While builders are encouraged to improve construction quality, little is known and published about the quality of housing produced by owner builders specifically during the seven year warranty period after construction is completed. With this in mind, this thesis presents research findings that compare the latent defects in houses built by owner builders with those of registered builders. Using inspection reports provided by Archicentre a sample of 1772 houses, of which 1002 were owner builders and 770 were registered builders

Ethnography of housing : a conclusion

This paper is the final report of a research project spanning three years, exploring three field locations and capturing the stories of forty (plus) housing workers. Using an ethnographic research approach, this paper provides an account of how housing workers use language and stories to understand and make sense of their challenging and changing work. First hand accounts ('stories') about every day housing work frame the data in this paper, explaining how housing workers in Victoria have experienced and made sense of the shift from public housing as 'affordable housing for the working poor' to 'housing of last resort for the most vulnerable and needy members of the community'. Using a number of composite stories, this paper provides the reader with a glimpse into the work of public housing staff, transporting the leader from the relatively static world of policy and procedure to the more colorful world of tenants with 'high and complex' needs, 'wicked' problems, weary staff and the daily reality of organisational change.

A unique feature of this research is the comparison of how different workers use stories to build a range of 'socially constructed realities' around the housing work and its wicked problems. This paper compares and contrasts the socially constructed realities of frontline staff with the corresponding social realities of the managers at head office (and vice versa). This 'same problem, different perspective' approach allows the reader to better understand how the same problem is understood and approached in different ways, depending on the individual's organisational role, responsibly and authority. Using stories about 'working with problem tenants', 'collecting rental arrears from the poor and marginalised', 'maintaining old, neglected properties' and 'coping with organisational change', this paper illustrates how the shifting (and sometimes contradictory) construction of housing problems has meant that the organisation has long struggled to devise and implement sustainable remedies to these problems.

The following pages describe how the problems identified in the Housing Office Review (and experienced in the daily work of the 'modern day' housing worker) are simply a contemporary manifestation of 'age old public housing issues'. This paper describes and explains how housing staff have long used narrative to make sense of their often difficult work and ultimately, how they understand and experience a major process of operational policy change associated with the shift from 'public' housing to 'welfare' housing.