Community Land Trusts and Indigenous Housing in Australia—Exploring Difference-Based Policy and Appropriate Housing

Abstract

Previous work has highlighted the primacy of non-economic rights in Indigenous housing objectives. This paper builds on that work and Sanders' other work demonstrating the limited relevance of ‘mainstream’ home ownership for many Indigenous communities, exploring whether models based on community land trust (CLT) principles might be appropriate for articulating Indigenous housing aspirations. The paper describes current Indigenous housing scenarios in urban, regional and remote New South Wales and Queensland, and findings regarding the resonance of CLTs with Indigenous housing objectives. While dominant policy and public discourses promote Indigenous home ownership as an economic development strategy, or as requiring the alienation of Indigenous lands, the research found neither to be primary sector imperatives. The paper draws on difference-based arguments regarding Indigenous affairs arguing that a focus on diversity emerging from informed Indigenous choice finds a role for policy supporting diverse Indigenous housing aspirations.