The Relationship between Trust, Health and Housing in Australia

This paper examines the relationship between trust, health and housing in Australia. The research considers level of trust across a range of housing tenures, concentrating on tenants and home owner’s level of interpersonal trust and confidence in a range of public institutions. Through multivariate analyses of national survey data the paper profiles the class, income and health levels of people in different housing tenures. Although public housing tenants have access to affordable, secure housing, they appear to be less trusting than private renters or homeowners, and exhibit less confidence in some public institutions.

These findings may reflect the residualized nature of public housing in Australia and suggest that public tenants are likely to become ‘alienated’ from certain aspects of mainstream culture. However, public tenants also have higher levels of confidence in certain institutions, such as banks, Australian companies, the Courts and legal system than private renters or homeowners. So public housing may ‘build up’ confidence in certain areas. The findings suggest that levels of trust and health would be lower if disadvantaged citizens did not have access to social housing.