Associate Professor Alan Morris of the UTS Centre for Local Government and Professor Andrew Beer (University of Adelaide) have won a highly competitive Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Grant, announced by the Federal Minister for Education in July. The three-year project will explore the relationship between local government and housing supply and demand.
This is a ‘hot button’ community issue and the ARC review panel has recognised the contribution this research will make to the current debate through its focus on local government and the Federation. Critical questions include: What is the role of local government in housing Australians in the 21st century? How have changing economic, social, demographic and political processes affected the interaction between local government and housing over the past decades, and what are the likely impacts in the future? How might a reshaped Australian Federation recast the role of local government in this area of social and economic policy?
Through survey data, qualitative interviews and detailed case studies, the research will investigate and theorise trends in the relationship between local government and housing supply and demand in inner urban, suburban and regional and rural areas. An outcome of the project will provide local governments with evidence about their role in the housing market and how they can prepare for future supply.
ARC Linkage Grants focus upon academic and industry partnerships – a speciality of the Centre. Sector partners on the project are: the City of Playford (SA); Berri Barmera Council (SA); City of Mt Gambier (SA); Rural City of Murray Bridge (SA); the Local Government Association of South Australia; Greater Bendigo City Council (VIC); Brimbank City Council (VIC); Moonee Valley City Council (VIC); Waverley Council (NSW); and Randwick City Council (NSW).
This work will build upon preliminary research published in March by ACELG, Housing and Local Government in Australia in the 21st Century.
Contact
Associate Professor Alan Morris | alan.morris@uts.edu.au | 02 9514 4880