By David Deex, Anti-Poverty Network SA member, and public housing activist
The South Australian Housing Trust (SAHT) has long played an important role in our state’s development since its creation in December 1936 when the ‘South Australian Housing Trust Act 1936’ was passed through the South Australian Parliament. Whilst much has been said regarding the reasons it was developed and the capitalist nature of this by the Playford Government of the time, it is my strongly held belief that the SAHT has been, and can be, a major force for good within South Australia.
Think about the many people across generations that have been housed by the SAHT, from Dorothy Whelan in the first home on McNicol Terrace, Rosewater in November 1937, to the working families, seniors, young people leaving difficult circumstances, people on social security, and more. You can’t help but think about the stories and lives of these countless South Australians and the houses they’ve made home. I’m one of those South Australians, and in this article, I wish to not only defend the SAHT, but also highlight why we must embrace it and expand upon it.
Pinnegar family moving into 10 Bubner Street, Elizabeth South, 1955. They were the first SAHT tenants of Elizabeth. Image sourced from ‘Playford’s Past’ by the City of Playford.
Elizabeth: What worked? What didn’t work? What lessons can we learn from it?
Our state is filled with the legacies of the SAHT, and it’s not just homes. The SAHT for many years acted as a de-facto town and community planner. Elizabeth is, in my opinion, one of the best examples of this planning, particularly considering the environment of the time. The SAHT created publicly owned community infrastructure: A theatre; shopping centres; the first free local public libraries in South Australia; hospital; schools; public transport; and open spaces.Henry Smith planned Elizabeth in line with ‘New Town’ and ‘Garden City’ principles. Geoffrey Shedley designed much of Elizabeth, and his leadership in this is to be commended. He believed in practical and beautiful designs that would stand the test of time, and worked for the SAHT from 1937-1974, first in an external design firm and then the SAHT’s internal design unit when created in 1947
Plans for Elizabeth Town Centre, created around 1955 by the South Australian Housing Trust Mid-rise public housing would also eventually be included. Image sourced from ‘Playford’s Past’ by the City of Playford.
Open space areas and access to leisure in which people could rest and play together were at the heart of developments by the SAHT. This has long been viewed as something everyone should have access to and the SAHT took planning strategies like the ‘garden’ city’ concept and applied it to Elizabeth, integrating open spaces into other community infrastructure and near housing. A prime example of this is the Elizabeth City Centre, built in 1960 and owned by the SA Government until the mid-1990s. Even after it underwent a major revamp between 1984 and 1986, public open space and access to nature was preserved, partially in the form of the then ‘Windsor Green’, now sadly a car park.
The various neighbourhoods of Elizabeth were created with small shopping centres and other essential services within walking distance to encourage social interaction and cohesion, as well as better quality of living. This should be encouraged in modern suburbs and towns. No, not just “small” shopping centres that look large and domineering over the towns they are in, but genuinely small shopping centres or corner stores.
There are some aspects to Elizabeth that should have been better considered; a centreing of industry on worker owned cooperatives and a more diversified workforce would have created a community more resilient to globalisation and economic shocks, as would more ongoing funding for the essential services of ‘Elizabethans’, and not just primarily having had the new migrants move to Elizabeth. Elizabeth was built in an era in which car dependency was firmly becoming the predominant ideology. A focus on public Transport and walkability would have been a much needed improvement. Additionally, federal and state governments should never have abandoned lower and middle income people, and the Australian people should never have allowed it to happen. Cuts and privatisation of services and homes has been an abject failure. The idea of creating a more “progressive” and “inclusive” state capitalism that underpinned the ideology of the Playford Government in creating Elizabeth may well have had some merit, however in reality it was inadequate because one must not assume that private enterprise will be truly inclusive, nor should one assume that they will not contribute greatly to inequalities, especially when they neglect the community and especially their workers.
However despite these failings, Elizabeth is still a community that was planned relatively well, and in which the vast majority of people are wonderful, salt of the earth people who know what solidarity and mateship means. I can attest to that myself, being a proud Elizabethan.
Communities in crisis
Quite frankly we know the story here. After nearly 30 years of privatisation and outsourcing of over 20,000 SAHT homes, combined with the privatisation of other former public services like the Electricity Trust of South Australia (ETSA), State Government Insurance Commission (SGIC), BankSA, and of public transport operations, South Australians have been left worse off, with services like electricity, insurance and banking costing more now that they are run for profit, not for people. This applies to Housing too. More housing is owned by private investors, including former SAHT homes that are now available to rent at upwards of $350 or $400 per week, even in places that were historically affordable, like Elizabeth.
Cambridge Flats Public Housing in Elizabeth sold off, 1995. Similar units and other public homes across the state were also put up for sale at the time. Image sourced by ‘Playford’s Past’ by City of Playford.
Other communities like ‘The Parks’ have also seen urban renewal. The closure of the Parks High School and removal of the independent community board at the Parks community centre was the first step, followed by the ‘Westwood’ project which saw many public homes bulldozed and the land sold off. Most residents were relocated, and what was once public housing privatised. This kind of urban renewal is a large part of what has led to the current housing crisis. You can’t create community and a ‘social mix’ by privatising public housing.
The flogging off of our state’s homes and essential services is not only a dereliction of duty by successive governments towards the South Australian people, it’s a great shame, and something we must start changing.
The injustice of homelessness and housing stress
The continued existence of homelessness and housing stress, and the prevalence of them, is an injustice, not just for that person, but for our community as a whole. There are a range of health issues, including mental health ones such as anxiety and depression, that can result from homelessness, particularly from feelings of inadequacy a homeless person may feel. The stigma and judgement that can come from some in society makes this worse. Infectious diseases, viruses, and basic illnesses also spread more easily when people are in insecure or overcrowded accommodation or are homeless. Another sombre fact is that life expectancy is possibly decades shorter for people who are experiencing long-term homelessness.
If we wish to close gaps that currently exist in health, education, life opportunities, and even access to culture and leisure, that currently exist between First Nations and non-First Nations Australians, the wealthy and those with little to no wealth or money, Disabled/Neurodivergent and Non-Disabled/Neurodivergent then ending homelessness, rough sleeping, overcrowding, and reliance on short term accommodation must be one of our main aims as a society, and the good news is that we can do so. A Housing First model in which people are provided the public housing they need and then provided wrap-around support after, has been found to be effective in reducing homelessness and associated issues, and can also be cheaper than leaving people in a precarious housing situation.
Issues with current housing, both private and public, in Australia
Currently, housing in Australia is all too often leaving people cold in winter and hot in summer. Better Renting has found that many private rental houses in Australia experience temperatures below the World Health Organisation recommended minimum of 18 degrees celsius. They estimate that if their research covered all of Australia, 72% of renters would face these temperatures. A home should keep people within safe, recommended temperatures for much of the day and night.
There must not only be the construction of thousands of new energy efficient public homes, along with energy efficiency standards for the private sector, but the state government through the SAHT should also embark on a quality of life upgrade program for current SAHT housing stock, to be inclusive of modern energy efficiency standards, the knowledge we now have regarding health and extreme temperatures, and the changing climate. While the current stock met reasonable standards when built between 1937 and the 1980s or 1990s, and while they may be in solid condition, they have aged and were created for a different time.
The South Australian Housing Trust and our communities of the future
It is a strong belief of mine that the South Australian Housing Trust needs revitalisation. While the South Australian Government halting the sale of 580 public homes and building 564 new homes by 2026 is a step in the right direction, it is ultimately a tiny one, and we need much more work being done and much more investment carried out.
The South Australian Government should begin the multi-step process of rebuilding the South Australian Housing Trust by scrapping the ‘South Australian Housing Authority’ and ‘Housing SA’ trading names and simply return to the South Australian Housing Trust name for all services for ease of access to services and a sense of cohesiveness.
Step two should be merging Renewal SA into the SAHT, and pausing the sale of all land, as well as all public-private partnerships. Doing this would enable a fresh start for public housing and our essential infrastructure, as well as a re-alignment of our principles for development as a state.
Well-designed communities help us to feel safe, connected, valued, and they can improve mental and physical health. Studies in the US have shown that areas with neighbourhoods that are more walkable and that are more adaptive to various forms of weather lead to more walking and movement occurring, and this corresponds with happier people and millions of dollars flowing into local economies due to increased foot traffic.
We should generally combine medium density housing and community infrastructure with walkable streets, public transport, parks, schools, TAFE campuses, hospitals, climate resilience and adaptation, and other third places, like libraries, pub/restaurants, cafes, theatres, community centres, swimming pools, gyms, sheds/workshops, and more.
“What about planning and zoning?” This is a fair question. We should zone with mixed-use, medium density in mind. Medium density developments include townhouses, low-rise apartments and other developments between 2-6 floors if there are multiple homes on site. An acknowledgement that some places such as the CBD should have high-density, and some areas, particularly in the outer metropolitan regions or regional and rural areas, lower density housing is often-times most appropriate is also crucial.
Public housing and community infrastructure/assets should be built with the community in mind, and genuine community consultation should occur. However, a few people who do not wish for reasonable development to occur in “their backyard” must not be able to stop new public housing or community infrastructure needed for walkable communities. Public housing should at the very least should have expedited approval. Most other things the SAHT proposes that are in the interests of communities and the environments within and surrounding them should also be approved quickly and easily.
Part of good planning could also involve ‘villages’. This is something the Lord Mayor of Adelaide, Jane Lomax-Smith has proposed for the CBD, and I believe it also has merit to be implemented elsewhere. If there is a shopping centre in a community, and public transport is close by, along with other community assets and infrastructure, why wouldn’t we have medium density public housing located nearby or on site with these? We can ease car dependency, making our streets and neighbourhoods safer and more accessible, we can ensure people get to where they want to go quicker, meaning more time to spend with family and friends, and a healthier population with more access to essential services and nature too.
Dr. Kent’s Paddock, designed by architect Newell Platten and constructed in 1978/1979 and the early 1980s. Image sourced from ‘Rundle Street Kent Town’ website.
Step three should be starting to insource services, starting with creating teams for community planning, architecture, construction, and maintenance. The SAHT has created homes that were of good quality for their time, and many people on lower and middle incomes may not have otherwise had access to housing of such a standard of quality. Architects like Newell Platten designed quality housing in the 1970s, and it is time for a new generation of architects to get the chance to improve our state through the design of homes and communities, and for even more builders and tradespeople to have strong, well paid, secure work. Partnerships with TAFE and secondary schools would have the opportunity to enhance this further. In addition to all of this, we could improve housing quality, energy efficiency (preferably at least a 7 star energy rating), and ensure universal disability access, whether in new public housing and community infrastructure builds, or in currently existing public homes when they get quality of life improvements.
Step four must involve constructing tens of thousands of new SAHT homes and surrounding community infrastructure, as well as the purchase of homes and infrastructure off of the private market. We must replace the 20,000 houses that have been privatised, and then expand the stock beyond this in order to ensure more universal access. The current waiting list is at between 16,000 and 17,000 people, however this doesn’t count the people who are ineligible for the social housing wait list because they earn too much. These are people who should be able to access public housing, instead of being expected to move from private rental to private rental, or to purchase a home, if they do not wish to. The moral, social, and economic imperative we have to reduce and end homelessness, poverty, and despair.
Step five could involve replacing or amending the ‘South Australian Housing Trust Act 1995’. The changes above should be included in the act to ensure the SAHT is strengthened, however other changes should also be made. The make up of the board could be improved and I believe either tenants should be able to select a representative or two, or a tenants union could put someone forward. Land and assets owned by the SAHT and services provided by the SAHT should also be further protected from privatisation and outsourcing. The SAHT act should be continually updated to strengthen public housing and community infrastructure in South Australia.
In the 2020s and beyond, the SAHT should focus on creating communities in which people and the natural environment we live in come first before profit. A state with well paying union jobs and homes for all is a state that would be stronger, safer, healthier, and fairer.
Winning fairer, greener communities
It is my sincere belief that optimism and realism will always get our community further than pessimism. In order to accomplish our common goals, I believe that we must see much expanded campaigns around protecting and expanding public housing and other essential services in South Australia. By the 2026 SA state election we must have a campaign that is centred around public housing and community infrastructure ready to go and endorsed by many various groups, from grassroots organisations to major non-governmental organisations and unions, centred around the 90th birthday of the Housing Trust. Such a campaign must remind South Australians of the pride they have in our SAHT and continue to introduce the concept of the SAHT to those who aren’t as aware of public housing.
As South Australians, we can create a world class public housing system. We can recognise Housing as a human right and guarantee it to all. We must, for the sake of our collective future.
Resources:
Scott and Scott. (n.d.). South Australian Housing Trust. Welcome to SA Memory. https://www.samemory.sa.gov.au/site/page.cfm?u=678
City of Playford. (n.d.). Pinnegar family: 1955. Playford’s Past. https://playfordspast.recollect.net.au/nodes/view/4882?keywords=
University of South Australia. (n.d.). Architect personal details. Architects of South Australia – Architect Details. https://architectsdatabase.unisa.edu.au/arch_full.asp?Arch_ID=38
City of Playford. (n.d.-a). Elizabeth Town Centre. Playford’s Past. https://playfordspast.recollect.net.au/nodes/view/21363?keywords=South%2BAustralian%2BHousing%2BTrust&type=all&highlights=WyJob3VzaW5nIiwidHJ1c3QiLCJzb3V0aCIsImF1c3RyYWxpYSJd
Bird, L. (2012). Transforming the Adelaide plains : the role of urban open space in the development of Elizabeth, Noarlunga and Golden Grove. In Urban transformations : booms, busts and other catastrophes : proceedings of the 11th Australasian Urban History/Planning History Conference. University of Western Australia.
ANU. (n.d.). Research School of Social – Anu. https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/116261/1/apo-nid90886-207421.pdf
City of Playford. (n.d.-a). Cambridge Flats, Philip Highway, Elizabeth: 1995. Playford’s Past. https://playfordspast.recollect.net.au/nodes/view/2580?keywords=South%2BAustralian%2BHousing%2BTrust&type=all&highlights=eyIwIjoic291dGgiLCIxIjoiYXVzdHJhbGlhbiIsIjIiOiJob3VzaW5nIiwiMyI6InRydXN0IiwiNSI6ImF1c3RyYWxpYSJ9
Reilly, J., Ho, I., & Williamson, A. (2022). A systematic review of the effect of stigma on the health of people experiencing homelessness. Health & Social Care in the Community, 30(6), 2128–2141. https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.13884
Commonwealth of Australia. (n.d.). Health of people experiencing homelessness. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-health/health-of-people-experiencing-homelessness#_Toc31631717
Baxter, A., Tweed, E., Katekireddi, S., & Thomson, H. (2019). RF25 Effects of housing first approaches on health and wellbeing of adults who are homeless or at risk of homelessness: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health (1979), 73(Suppl 1), A66–. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2019-SSMabstracts.140
Better Renting. (n.d.). Power struggles: Winter renter researchers 2023 – better renting. Better Renting. https://www.betterrenting.org.au/renter_researchers_winter_23
Yoon, H., Choi, K., & Jang, Y. (2017). The Role of Neighborhood Walkable Design and Walking Behavior in Mental Health ( poster ). Journal of Transport & Health, 7, S9–. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2017.11.015
Zapata-Diomedi, B., Boulangé, C., Giles-Corti, B., Phelan, K., Washington, S., Veerman, J. L., & Gunn, L. D. (2019). Physical activity-related health and economic benefits of building walkable neighbourhoods: a modelled comparison between brownfield and greenfield developments. The International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 16(1), 11–11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12966-019-0775-8
Lomax-Smith, J., & Washington, D. (2023, August 28). Evolving adelaide can avoid an “urban doom loop.” InDaily. https://indaily.com.au/opinion/2023/08/28/adelaide-city-plan/
Dr Kent’s Paddock & Social Housing. Rundle Street Kent Town. (n.d.). https://rundlestreetkenttown.net/dr-kents-paddock-social-housing/
Prosser, C., & Opie, R. (2022, July 31). State government signs off on 44 new public houses as housing waiting list reaches 17,000. ABC News. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-31/south-australian-public-housing-shortage/101286630
Anti-Poverty Network SA 