A report called 'Investigative Panel On A Socially Sustainable Housing System For Australia' is now available for download. The report was authored by Mike Berry and Peter Williams for the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, RMIT Research Centre in June 2011.

Click on the link http://www.ahuri.edu.au/publications/download.asp?ContentID=30637_fr to download a copy of the final report (424kb .PDF)

This report:

• Summarises the key ideas and policy options considered by panel members, focused on the aims of reducing the negative impacts of volatility on the most vulnerable Australian households and identifying the main supports for and barriers to sustainable housing outcomes.
• Also notes the outcomes of the JRF Taskforce to date, with the proviso that its final report is not due until March 2011.
• Identifies some possible future collaborations between AHURI and JRF, around themes raised by the two processes.

The structure of the report is as follows:

• The panel process is summarised.
• The outcomes of the first panel forum (2 July 2010) are presented.
• The outcomes of the second forum (3 November 2010) are presented.
• Key issues, agreements and conflicting positions are extracted from the two events, with an eye to future research and policy directions.

The question of possible future collaborative research links between AHURI and JRF are explored.

• Finally, reflections are offered on the strengths and weaknesses of the Investigative Panel process.

It must be stressed that the AHURI panel operated on ‘Chatham House Rules’. Discussion and electronic exchanges were ongoing through the period; they were also robust. No attempt was made to achieve consensus on the issues raised.

The aim was to identify issues and possible directions forward, to encourage direct interchange of viewpoints between panel members and to trial for AHURI the panel process as one (more) means of generating useful interaction between the research community, the policy community, the consulting industry and the non-profit sector. Hence, the ideas presented in this report cannot be sourced to any particular panel member.

The panel convenors, Mike Berry and Peter Williams, are responsible for writing this report; inevitably the report is coloured by their perceptions/interpretations of what was said and emphasised, although panel members were individually offered the opportunity to comment on earlier drafts of the report.