7B. Table B: Outcome 9

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people secure appropriate, affordable housing that is aligned with their priorities and need

Target 9a: By 2031, increase the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in appropriately sized (not overcrowded) housing to 88 per cent.

Target 9b: By 2031, all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander households:

  1. within discrete Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander communities2 receive essential services3 that meet or exceed the relevant jurisdictional standard4;
  2. in or near to a town receive essential services that meet or exceed the same standard as applies generally within the town (including if the household might be classified for other purposes as a part of a discrete settlement such as a “town camp” or “town based reserve”).

Indicators:

Drivers:

  • Change in population by location
  • Change in social housing dwellings by location

Contextual information:

  • Home ownership rate (including by location and tenure type)
  • Homelessness rate including by type (e.g. Transitional housing/sleeping rough) and age group
  • Structural problems including functional health hardware Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) measure of acceptable standard of housing)
  • Low income household experiencing rental stress/mortgage stress
  • Social housing dwellings per 100 households by location
  • Progress towards parity
  • Rate of Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD) diagnoses, by severity at diagnosis
  • Hospitalisation rates for environmentally based diseases
  • Mortality rates for diseases associated with poor environmental health

Disaggregation:

  • States/territories
  • Remoteness areas
  • Other small geographic areas (where possible)
  • Socio-economic status of the locality
  • Disability status
  • Gender
  • Age group
  • Overcrowding status (1, 2, 3, 4 or more additional bedrooms required)
  • Tenure type

Data Development:

Explore options to measure and report:

  • levels of overcrowding specific to Australian conditions
  • proximity to services (in addition to the ABS’ current remoteness structure reporting)
  • affordable living (including cost of electricity, transport costs, etc.)
  • environmental health outcomes (e.g. rheumatic fever and rheumatic heart disease)
  • environmental health activities (e.g. programs, services and partnerships)
  • family and kin obligations that lead to overcrowding (temporary or permanent)
  • social housing, including:
    • transfers from social housing to private rental and/or home ownership
    • satisfaction of social housing tenants with amenities, location, and maintenance services
    • social housing dwellings as a proportion of all dwellings
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander households’ access, relative to relevant standards, to safe drinking water
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander households’ access, relative to relevant standards, to waste management services
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander households’ access, relative to relevant standards, to sewerage systems
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander households’ access, relative to relevant standards, to electricity supply
  • Proportion of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander communities with populations of less than 50 receive essential services that meet or exceed the relevant jurisdictional standard

2 The definition of a discrete community from ABS 2016 Census dictionary: “A discrete community is a geographic location, bounded by physical or legal boundaries, which is inhabited or intended to be inhabited predominantly (i.e. greater than 50% of usual residents) by Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander peoples, with housing or infrastructure (power, water, sewerage) that is managed on a community basis. Discrete communities have populations of (but not limited to) 50 or more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

3 Essential services include: power, water, wastewater and solid waste management only.

4 Relevant jurisdictional standard: Applicable standards may differ between places within a jurisdiction according to population size or other relevant criteria but not on criteria linked to the settlement’s status as a discrete Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander community.