Following the recent Global Financial Crisis, the role of Australian Governments in providing assistance to households unable to access, afford, or maintain adequate housing has come increasingly into focus. Australia is experiencing ongoing and substantial housing affordability decline, and our cities have some of the world’s highest rates of housing un-affordability. Housing affordability directly affects the type, quality, and security of housing that individuals can access. This paper examines the relationship between poor health and poor housing affordability for Australians, to answer two essential questions for Australian policy makers: Does poor health lead to unaffordable housing? And does unaffordable housing affect people’s health? Analysis was based upon two large Australian datasets, the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey and the General Social Survey, (GSS). We highlight the populations most vulnerable to affordability-related poor health such as lone parents and their children and older renters. This study contributes empirical evidence, allowing us to examine if there is a fundamental bi-directional relationship between poor housing affordability and health even when demographic and socio-economic factors have been, to a large extent, accounted for

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The State of Australian Cities (SOAC) national conferences have been held biennially since 2003 to support interdisciplinary policy-related urban research.
This paper was presented at SOAC 5held in Melbourne from 29 November – 2 December 2011.

SOAC 5 was hosted by the University of Melbourne, RMIT University, Monash University, Swinburne University of Technology and Latrobe University as well as the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute and the Grattan Institute, the Victorian State Government and the City of Melbourne.
Three plenary panels brought researchers from across the country to address ‘big issues’: place-based disadvantage, the design and form of Australian cities, and metropolitan governance. Over 175 papers, in 46 themed sessions, cover topics ranging from planning and governance for environmental sustainability, to housing affordability and adequacy in the context of an aging population. Healthy communities, better public transport, high quality open space, participatory planning, and issues affecting the peri-urban fringe are also strong sub-themes within this conference.
All published papers have been subject to a peer reviewing process.