Epistemological Struggles over Growth Pathways for Social Housing in Australia’s Multi-Provider Housing Sector

This paper investigates growth models in Australia’s multi-provider housing sector, and how they compare to those found in other OECD countries. Social housing in Australia is comprised of public, private, co-operative, and charity based non-profit housing providers within a housing sector dominated by the private market. The rate of social housing is much lower in Australia than in the UK, France, Denmark and Finland, with 3.9% of households housed in social housing across Australia. While stated aims in state and federal policy documents and funding initiatives are to grow the social housing sector, this research investigates growth models and data from interviews with people who work in the sector to identify how growth pathways are conceptualised, who has access to them, how they are accessed, and the consequences for residents experiencing housing distress, according to their advocates. The paper shows there is no agreed understanding in the Australian housing sector over how growth pathways for social housing should be conceptualised, regulated, or implemented. It offers case studies from other OECD countries to propose sustainable models for growth that could be translated to Australia's various state and territory contexts.