Precariously placed: housing affordability, quality and satisfaction of Australians with disabilities

Abstract

Access to adequate, safe, secure, accessible and affordable housing is a fundamental human right and one stipulated in the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Australian adults with disabilities experience housing disadvantage including homelessness, poor-quality housing and housing unaffordability; however, we lack a comprehensive comparison of the housing circumstances of people with and without disabilities and differences by impairment type. We analysed data from a nationally representative sample of 11,394 working-aged Australians collected in 2011. We found that people with disabilities experienced disadvantage across all housing indicators, and people with intellectual and psychological disabilities fared worst. These findings suggest that there is a housing crisis for Australians with disabilities, which may intensify with the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. There is a need to develop long-term housing solutions that promote independence, are accessible and affordable, and that consider location and neighbourhood context.

Keywords:

• disability
• housing
• housing affordability
• disadvantage
• policy
• Australia

Disclosure statement

The authors have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council, Centre for Research Excellence in Disability and Health [APP1116385]; Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Grant [DP170101434]. HB supported by Vice Chancellor’s Senior Research Fellowship; EB supported by ARC Future Fellowship [FT140100872]; RB supported by ARC Future Fellowship (FT150100131).