‘Why isn’t it solved?’: Factors affecting improvements in housing outcomes in remote Indigenous communities in Australia

A range of factors has affected the design and construction of Indigenous housing in remote areas of Australia in recent times, including: socio-demographic issues; culture and design; consultation processes; the costs of remoteness; and procurement and delivery processes. Their implications for appropriate design and construction of remote Indigenous housing are analysed in this paper. Most significantly, these factors cannot be separated from cost because the need to spread available funds broadly to build the largest number of houses at the best price affects design and construction quality, and these are often neglected in the short-term budgeting within this process.

► Achieving quality housing outcomes is difficult in Australian Indigenous settlements.
► Housing shortages and overcrowding are particularly severe.
► The “costs of remoteness” are a challenge to any improvements.
► Such costs become ever more prohibitive when cultural design factors are considered.
► High fertility rates add to the scale of these difficulties.