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Issues

Before the time of European settlement in Australia, Aboriginal people lived in temporary shelters and relied on naturally occurring food and water sources. This traditional type of existence has been replaced by permanent dwellings established in communities with centrally located services and infrastructure, such as water and electricity. The following section provides an introduction to the types of housing concerns that Indigenous people may experience.
Source: Sanders, W. & Jones, R. (2005). Housing and Infrastructure. In Macquarie Atlas of Indigenous Australia. Arthur, B. & Morphy, F. (Eds). Macquarie Library Pty Ltd; Macquarie University. pg 156-171.

Home Ownership

Indigenous people are less likely to own a home than non-Indigenous people. In 2002, 27% of Indigenous people were living in a dwelling that was either fully owned or being purchased compared to almost 75% of non-Indigenous people. Conversely, about 64% of Indigenous households were renting their dwelling compared to only 27% of non-Indigenous households. Indigenous home ownership is significantly less in discrete Aboriginal communities.

Among Indigenous people renting their dwellings, 37% were renting privately with the majority in public rental housing. This proportion was significantly higher in remote areas where almost 4 in every 5 renters were living in accommodation provided by Indigenous Housing Organisations or in other community housing.

See summary of 4704.0 - The Health and Welfare of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, 2005 including tables:
4.1 Indigenous households and persons, by tenure type - 2002
.2 Indigenous households and Indigenous persons(a), by tenure type - 1994 and 2002

Discrete Aboriginal Communities
A discrete Indigenous community is defined as a geographic location, bounded by physical boundaries, and inhabited or intended to be inhabited predominantly by Indigenous people. The map below indicates the accessible and remote areas of Australia.

In 1999, 81% of the Indigenous population living in discrete communities lived in remote area communities, over half of them (54%) in the Northern Territory. This represents close to 22% of all Indigenous people in Australia. Many of the communities had small populations: of the communities involved, 914 (77%) had fewer than 50 people, while only 121 communities (10%), had 200 or more people.

For further information see:
1301.0 - Year Book Australia, 2001 (ABS)
Housing in remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities

Indigenous people living in these communities experience a greater range of housing issues. For example the 2001 Census indicates that in remote areas;

• 78% of dwellings were owned or managed by community organisations
• 1% were privately owned
• the average occupancy ration per dwelling was 5.8 individuals compared to the National average of half this size
• 13% of dwellings were temporary including caravans, tin sheds and humpies
• exists a greater need for repair of household facilities and more problems with infrastructure.
  

Household Facilities and Dwelling Condition
The adequacy of the household dwelling and its facilities varies based on the geographical location. Indigenous households in remote areas are almost twice as likely to live in dwellings with major structural problems and are less likely to have repairs or maintenance carried out. There are many household facilities that are not readily available in remote areas. For example in the 2001 Census, 57% of Indigenous households in remote areas did not have a working telephone. Availability of other facilities such as a washing machine, stove and refrigerator are also significantly lower. Indigenous people living in community housing were less likely to have working facilities.
Source: Australian Social Trends 2005

In 2002, 35% of Indigenous households reported that their dwelling had structural problems of some kind. The highest proportion of households that lived in dwellings with structural problems were renters of Indigenous or mainstream community housing (55%), followed by renters of state or territory housing (42%). Repairs and maintenance had been carried out in the last 12 months in the dwellings of 63% of households overall. Home owners (69%) were the most likely to have had repairs and maintenance carried out, followed by renters in state or territory housing (65%).

Household Size and Overcrowding
Indigenous people are more likely to live in overcrowded conditions than other Australians and this can adversely affect their health. Overcrowding can put stress on bathroom, kitchen and laundry facilities as well as on sewerage systems such as septic tanks. At the 2001 Census, there was an average of 3.5 persons in households with Indigenous person(s), compared with 2.6 persons in other households.
Overcrowding varied significantly by the type of accommodation, with the lowest rates among owner/purchaser households and the highest among households in Indigenous or mainstream community housing. According to the 2001 Census approximately 34% of Indigenous households and over one-half of Indigenous people (57%) renting from Indigenous or mainstream community housing organisations were living in overcrowded conditions. Overcrowding varied by state and territory. Both household size and the proportion of households requiring at least one additional bedroom rose with increased geographic remoteness. For Indigenous people the average household size increased from 3.2 residents in major cities to 5.3 in very remote areas. In the Northern Territory, approximately 32% were living in overcrowded conditions, which reflected the high number of Indigenous households in Indigenous or mainstream community housing.

Housing Assistance
A large proportion of Indigenous households receive housing assistance of some kind, either Indigenous specific or mainstream housing programs. For example the SOMIH (State owned & managed Indigenous housing) is provided across all geographic regions, with 34% of SOMIH households in major cities, 48% in regional areas and 17% in remote or very remote areas. Indigenous households in public housing are also located across urban, rural and remote locations, though there are a lower proportion located in very remote areas compared with SOMIH households.