This audit assessed whether state planning is meeting the needs of the rapidly growing population for birthing, maternal and child health, funded kindergarten services, and related infrastructure, in greenfield growth areas and established suburbs.

More and more of us living in denser cities where apartments and high-rise developments are increasingly common. This creates specific health concerns for residents of these areas, and for lower-income households in particular.

This report focuses on policies, processes and economies that operate at the regional scale and their impact on lower income and disadvantaged households. It considers policies that affect the structural features of housing markets, policies and investment affecting urban regions, and the governance arrangements that influence the function of cities.

This report on the building scale considers the most important issues in both individual dwellings (e.g. apartments) and higher density buildings as a whole, and how these can influence the quality of life of lower income and vulnerable residents.

Higher density multi-unit residential developments, such as townhouses and apartment buildings (henceforth ‘higher density housing’), have become an increasingly common feature of Australian cities. Across the country, 2016 marked the first time when construction began on more higher density housing than detached houses. New South Wales (NSW) already passed this milestone some years ago, and...