Regional and remote Aboriginal housing is not able to withstand climate change and will be unsuitable for future living, forcing people to consider migrating away from their traditional lands if nothing is done, research says.
Even the best-kept housing will not be enough to protect people from the worst impacts of climate change, according to the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI).
But the researchers also warned that even if existing housing is improved to deal with the heat, widespread over-crowding in Aboriginal communities would cancel out the benefits.
“Our message in a nutshell is: addressing climate change in Indigenous housing and health policy is imperative,” Prof Tess Lea from the University of Sydney said. “More housing is needed, and new design approaches are urgently required.”
Researchers ran 366 simulations of Indigenous housing models in three different climate zones. They found that in terms of thermal performance, none are fit for purpose under current conditions “let alone under the most optimistic of climate change scenarios, which is a 1.5 degree [rise in temperature],” Lea said.
“People will find different ways to survive the heat but it will be quite difficult in the long term, if you’ve still got the same level of chronic disease in regional Australia as there is now.
“People with diabetes don’t do well in high heat, even now.
“How long can people stay on country and have chronic disease and be in housing as is, comfortably? Our research is suggesting we don’t think it is sustainable.
The AHURI report is scathing of the current state of remote and regional Aboriginal housing. It said there seems to be an “unstated assumption” among governments that it is ‘“sustainable” to “undersupply substandard housing, serviced by inconsistent repairs and maintenance”.
The report said a national policy on climate change and Indigenous housing should be developed, and be part of state and federal housing and infrastructure agreements, with a focus on climate preparedness in new builds, refurbishments and retrofit programs.
It is not enough for policymakers to rely on Aboriginal people’s demonstrated resilience to hardship, the report said.
“Alongside Indigenous people’s capacities to endure rapid and unsettling social, political and economic change, Indigenous histories feature resilience and self-reliance in adjusting to extreme or adverse weather events. However, resilience is not a rationale for the provision of substandard housing.”
Overcrowding made thermal control worse, regardless of the design, Lea said. The research team modelled scenarios that included five, seven and 16 people in a three bedroom house – a not uncommon situation in remote Australia.
“We took 16 [people in a house] as our upper limit. Anything above that is just insane. So that’s our worst case, 16. And everything falls apart, no matter what you’re doing.”
Failure to provide sustainable housing “risks defaulting to migration as the de facto policy,” Lea said.
Planned maintenance, rather than responding to emergency repairs, helped houses withstand heat and the pressure of being a home to multiple generation, she said.
Maintenance costs are three times greater for remote housing than in capital cities, “so developing strategies to reduce these costs is a key goal,” Lea said.
Building a house in remote Australia that can be cooled sustainably, uses fit-for-purpose building materials and appliances and is maintained to an appropriate schedule is much more economically efficient, she said.
“[Governments and policymakers] are paying more attention to things like insulation, awnings and shading,” she said. “Air conditioning program are being introduced, where old evaporative coolers are being replaced and split system aircons are being put in. Where possible, solar panels are being put in. That’s good for now, but does it also kick the can down the road?”
Housing providers need to be better funded to meet these operating and maintenance costs, the researchers said.
