ABSTRACT
Australian society has experienced profound economic, social and political change over the last four decades as the nation has deregulated its economy, continued to receive large numbers of immigrants and experienced significant deindustrialisation. Many of these changes have ushered in a new set of processes that have served to mediate the relationship between housing and the life course of individuals and households in Australia. Economic liberalisation that began in the mid-1980s has resulted in a more affluent, but less equal, society while changes in social policy – including the introduction of ‘no-fault divorce’ in the 1970s, higher rates of participation in higher education, and new forms of income support – have changed household dynamics. At the same time, Australia's demographic structure has been transformed by a combination of processes, including the structural ageing of the population (Hugo 2003), shifts in household composition (Beer 2008a) and ongoing growth in one- and two-person households. These broad societal processes have affected the relationship between households and their housing in many and profound ways: they have contributed to a greater emphasis on housing as a consumption good within Australian society; they have resulted in the marginalisation of some groups within the housing market; and seen housing affordability emerge as a major political and policy challenge (Beer and Faulkner 2011). Critically, the relationship between individuals and their housing over their life course has, in many cases, experienced a step change. There is now greater uncertainty within the housing market and the trajectories of individuals and households are now less predictable than in the past. Every stage in the life cycle has been affected by these changes, including childhood and the early adult years.
