Notes on the data: Aboriginal housing

Dwellings rented by Aboriginal households from the government housing authority, 2016

Policy context: The distribution of public rental housing remains an indicator of socioeconomic disadvantage. Public housing tenants are increasingly welfare-dependent (especially single parents; those who are unemployed, aged or with a disability; and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples) and public housing stocks have declined substantially since 1996.

The demand for social housing is high with almost 200,000 households on housing assistance waiting lists at 30 June 2015. At that date there were 427,800 social housing dwellings across Australia (about 4% of all households) with around 817,300 tenants, the majority (82%) of whom lived in public rental housing. Across all social housing programs, over 3 in 5 main tenants (62%) were women. Among public housing tenants, 44% reported they had a disability and 53% were single adults who lived alone [1].

On Census night 2016, just under one fifth of dwellings rented by Aboriginal households were rented from a government housing authority. This was lower than at the 2011 Census (21.5%), but still over four times the proportion for all families (regardless of Indigenous status), at 4.1%. A further 2.9% of dwellings rented by Aboriginal households were rented from a housing co-operative, community or church group: see the separate indicator for housing co-operative, community or church group.

See also the indicator Dwellings rented by Aboriginal households from a housing co-operative, community or church group.

Reference

Australian Institute of Health & Welfare, Social housing wait lists shorten, Canberra: AIHW; 2016, accessed 15 August 2017. Available from: www.aihw.gov.au/media-release-detail/?id=60129555349

Notes: The data include Aboriginal households in private dwellings only.

Private dwelling: A private dwelling can be a house, flat or even a room. It can also be a caravan, houseboat, tent, or a house attached to an office, or rooms above a shop.

Aboriginal household: If a household has at least one Indigenous person who is a usual resident and who was present on Census Night it will be classified as a Household with Indigenous persons

The numerator excludes the 3.9% of dwellings for which tenure type was not stated: however, these records are included in the denominator.

Geography: Data available by Indigenous Area, Primary Health Network, Quintile of socioeconomic outcomes (based on IRSEO) and Remoteness Area

Numerator: Private dwellings rented by Aboriginal households from the government housing authority

Denominator: All private dwellings with Aboriginal households

Detail of analysis: Percent

Source: Compiled by PHIDU based on the ABS Census of Population and Housing, August 2016