The JHNA Insights

Planning approval doesn't necessarily mean a block of land is ready for housing. Missing roads, sewerage connections, power or funding can leave entire developments on hold, even when demand for new homes is high. I am joined by Nicholas Proud , Chief Executive Officer of the Civil Contractors Federation (CCF) National , and Andrew Mihno , Head of Policy and Government Relations at UDIA Nation...

A building can pass inspection, receive its certificate and still develop serious defects, as Sydney's Opal Tower and Mascot Towers have shown. What happens when the warning signs are missed and the home you planned to age in becomes a financial burden? In this episode, I am joined by Craig MacDonald , Director – Building Consulting at Beyond Condition and author of The Building Detective . Cr...

Australia has promised 1.2 million new homes by 2029. Hitting that number depends on far more than building faster. In this episode, I am joined by Simon Croft , Chief Executive - Industry & Policy at the Housing Industry Association , for an inside look at what is holding back housing supply in Australia, and whether we are building the kinds of homes people actually need. Listen to discover:...

You have a right to choose where you live. The NDIS is built around choice and control, and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recognises that right too. In this episode, I speak with Alecia Rathbone , CEO of Housing Hub , and Kelly Super, COO of Inclusive Housing Australia , about why people with disability are still ending up in homes they did not really choose, in plac...

Factory-built homes. Faster. Cheaper.  The fix we have been waiting for. But is that the whole story? In Episode 2.8,  I speak with Peter Crossley , General Manager at Calco Trusses & Timber , who brings a practical view from inside Australia's residential construction supply chain, and Associate Professor Andrea Sharam , from the School of PCPM and Director of the AHURI Research Centre at...

Finding a home is hard enough. Staying in one, affording to run it, and adapting it when life changes? That is where the housing conversation gets more complicated. In this episode, I speak with Liza Neil , a Principal Architect with more than three decades of experience, and Véronique Lutchmaya , Founder & CEO of Unique Tenants Consult , who built her business from her own experience advocati...

The greatest cost of an unhealthy home is not the electricity bill, but the lasting impact on the people living inside it. In this episode, I speak with Jenny Danson , Founder and CEO of the UK’s Healthy Homes Hub and Innovation Champion at the 2026 Housing Innovation Awards. Drawing on Jenny’s UK experience in a system with around 4.2 million social housing homes, the conversation explores what A...

In this episode, I speak with Joel Dignam, Building Better Homes Campaign Lead at the Summer Foundation and Founder of Better Renting , about what it would take for renting to become a genuine long-term option across the life course. One aha moment is that people may buy and sell several homes as their lives change, not because they want to keep purchasing property, but because renting never gave...

Ageing in place sounds like the goal. But someone can remain in the same home for decades and still become stranded when the GP retires, the bus route changes and neighbours no longer answer the door. In this Episode 2.4, I speak with Nick Ryan of Lutheran Services and Amanda Bailey of Faith Housing Australia about the gap between ageing in place and ageing stuck in place. Listen to discover: Why...

Housing security is no longer just a question of owning or renting. As affordability pressures increase, more people are turning to co-ownership, long-term renting, shared equity, community land trusts, co-operatives and other alternative tenure models. But what happens when life changes? In this episode, I speak with Emily McMullan , Founding Principal of McMullan Lawyers , about the legal realit...

Housing is never just a place to live. It shapes how we age, work, connect, move and belong. In this episode, I speak with Simon Kuestenmacher , Co-founder and Director of The Demographics Group , and Terry Rawnsley , Director of Planning & Infrastructure Economics at KPMG Australia , about the deeper role housing plays in our lives. We explore how housing is tied to demographic change, infras...

We design homes for one version of your life. Then life happens. Australia spends around $500 million a year adapting homes after a fall or injury, not counting the costs when households grow, shrink or shift in what they need. These costs show up later but they start with how we design and build. In this episode, I speak with Finland-based housing specialist Dr Tanja Tyvimaa about why housing nee...

Renting in Australia is no longer just expensive. It is unstable, exhausting and quietly wearing people down. In this episode of Navigating the Rental Market During Housing Crisis , I am joined by Alice Pennycott , Principal Lawyer (Tenancy) at Circle Green Community Legal in WA, and Leo Paterson-Ross , CEO of the Tenants' Union of NSW and a representative of the National Association of Tenant Org...

Before recording this Episode 12, I read a story about a man who had been given a bath all his life and was finally able to take his first independent shower after moving into an accessible home. That moment captures my conversation with Nicole Makin-Doherty , CEO and Managing Director of Empowered Liveability , about dignity, independence and inclusion and why so many Australians are still locked...

Over the past 48 hours, four states - Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria - have been hit by extreme weather. Record-breaking October heat, destructive winds and severe storms have left parts of the country reeling from floods and widespread power outages. If anyone still thinks climate change is a future problem, look outside. By 2050, more than one million Australian homes...

Australia needs 1.2 million new homes by 2029, yet housing stress, rising homelessness and climate risks are intensifying. A typical new home releases around 185 tonnes of CO₂ before anyone moves in, and housing and construction already make up nearly 20% of national emissions. In this Episode 10, I spoke with Ammon Beyerle , Architect & Director of Here Studio , and Jeremy Mansfield OAM , Boa...

When more than 10,000 Australians experience homelessness every month and rental vacancy rates sit just above 1% , you would think every state would be doing everything possible to encourage affordable housing. The reality tells a different story. In this episode, I am joined by Paul Zanetti , Founder and Director of Brisbane Rooming Houses , to explore a housing model that provides secure, execut...

Climate change, housing affordability and infrastructure resilience are colliding into one of Australia’s biggest challenges. Disaster costs already exceed $38 billion a year and are projected to reach $73 billion by 2060 – with Queensland and NSW expected to bear two-thirds of the burden. At the same time, property values in high-risk zones continue to rise even as insurance costs make many homes...

Traditional construction now takes about 55 weeks just to finish one home and meanwhile more than 160,000 households are waiting for social housing. On top of that around 10,000 people fall into homelessness every month. We can’t keep up if we keep building the old way. In this Episode 7 of Season 1 Australian Housing Challenges and Solutions I talk with Nicholas O’Neill , Managing Director at Moo...

By 2050 half of Australians are expected to live in strata accommodation, yet most buyers do not fully understand what they are purchasing, and this lack of awareness sits at the centre of Australia’s strata education crisis. As the housing crisis continues to deepen, strata developments have the potential to provide far more than a management framework by offering ways to increase urban density,...

Could the rooftops above us hold a sustainable solution to Australia’s housing crisis and efforts to decarbonise our cities? In my recent conversation with Warren Livesey we discussed the potential of airspace development in Australia, converting unused rooftops into housing. Our discussion explored the economic and environmental benefits, challenges with heritage buildings, lessons from internati...

Most people don’t think much about planners, yet they shape the way neighbourhoods grow and the liveability of our cities. The market may deliver housing, but planners create the frameworks that guide development and keep growth sustainable. Without their direction, cities risk becoming less affordable, less accessible and less able to meet the needs of an ageing population, while expanding withou...

Last week, Queensland Premier David Crisafulli described Brisbane 2032 as "the Queensland Games", promising global spotlight benefits through intergenerational infrastructure, tourism and sports. But behind the glossy Olympic vision lies a harder question: who wins and who loses when your city becomes the centre of the world? In this episode, we explore the hidden costs of Olympic glory and the tr...

In this episode, I sit down with housing expert Mr Mike Myers and economist Dr Diaswati (Asti) Mardiasmo to explore the challenges and opportunities facing affordable housing in Australia, with a particular focus on the Build to Rent (BtR) model. Mike, Chair of the Queensland Housing All Australians Committee and head of Project Solo, brings over four decades of experience in social and affordable...

Every day, thousands cross the NSW–QLD border without noticing the invisible systems that shape where and how people live. But for those navigating housing challenges, that border can mark a major shift in policy, access and support. In the first episode of my new podcast series on affordable and social housing, I spoke with  Jackson Hills (Q Shelter, General Manager - Policy and Strategic Engagem...