Understanding children’s housing in Australia: a data framework

This project examines the available data on children’s housing and wellbeing and current policy in Australia to highlight how housing affects children’s health and development. It provides policymakers with a guide to the different housing situations children face, identifies significant knowledge gaps and related risks, and proposes priorities for policy-relevant data collection and evidence development. The impacts of Australia’s housing crisis on children have received less attention than for other population groups. Accessible data collections rarely focus on them. Yet households with children are particularly affected by poor quality and insecure housing, and children’s physical vulnerability and dependence on caregivers increases the related risks to their wellbeing. This underscores the need for stronger data insights to support earlier intervention, better targeting and more accountable policy for children.