The role of the Australian state housing authorities in low income housing

Abstract

In the 24 years from 1945 to 1969 the State housing authorities in Australia constructed some 296,000 dwellings, about 16 per cent of the total new housing completed in that period. About ten per cent of the Australian population are now accommodated in public housing units. This thesis is a study of the operations of these six authorities: the New South Wales Housing Commission (NSWHC), the Victorian Housing Commission (VHC), the South Australian Housing Trust (SAHT), the State Housing Commission of Western Australia (WAHC), the Tasmanian Housing Department (THC) and the Queensland Housing Commission (QHC) . Two aspects of the Commissions' are emphasized: whether it is the poor who receive the housing they supply; and whether the housing is supplied in the most effective manner. Hopefully, some light will be thrown on the relative advantages of assisting those on low incomes by providing a subsidized good (in this case housing) rather than by the simple allocation of cash grants, an increasingly popular method of overcoming the problem of inequality.