Housing, public policy and social inclusion

Abstract

Social inclusion is a term sometimes deployed by policy makers to signal an intent to address long-standing inequalities within society. The aim of policies framed by social inclusion is to assist people who are marginalised to secure better outcomes in areas such as health, housing, education and employment. It is widely recognised that policies to enhance social inclusion require a whole of government approach across a range of service delivery areas alongside fiscal policies and resources to ensure that programs are adequately funded. The current focus of Australia housing policy in relation to social inclusion is across three areas: homelessness, place-based disadvantage and the disadvantages experienced by Indigenous households. This Positioning Paper provides a review of the literature on social inclusion and housing as the foundation for an empirical research project that seeks to understand the best forms of policy intervention to secure optimum outcomes for individuals and households who experience housing disadvantage. The aim of the paper is to make explicit the ways that housing processes ‘perform’ in accentuating or ameliorating social disadvantage.