Indigenous Australians make up a mere 2.4% of the population of whom around a quarter live in remote and very remote parts of Australia. The poor state of Indigenous housing in remote areas is generally acknowledged as one of Australia’s most intractable housing problems. The thesis examines why the remote Indigenous housing system does not meet the housing needs of Indigenous people in remote areas and discusses an alternative system. The aim of the thesis is to understand why the remote Indigenous housing system is not meeting people’s needs, despite policy statements that emphasise empowerment and partnerships. This understanding of the current remote Indigenous housing system involved placing it in historical, policy and international contexts and examining the current attempts to rationalise and streamline the system. The service-delivery concepts of supply-driven (externally prescribed) and demand-responsive (community determined) are applied to remote Indigenous housing. The characteristics of successful remote Indigenous housing, namely Indigenous control and self-determination, an enabling environment and a culturally responsive system, are developed and found to be characteristic of a demand-responsive system. The research hypothesises that the remote Indigenous housing system’s supply-driven focus is largely responsible for the housing needs of Indigenous people in remote areas not being met. This was tested using the new methodology of a Systems Social Assessment which is developed by combining Social Assessment and Checkland’s Soft Systems Methodology. This methodology illustrated that the current remote Indigenous housing system has a supply-driven focus where the housing ‘solutions’ are controlled and largely provided from an external source, in this case the Commonwealth and State governments and their agents. The thesis discusses an alternative demand-responsive focus where remote communities have more control over the nature and delivery of their housing that may prove more successful.

While few people would say that Canada has done a good job of housing its poor citizens, this discussion goes beyond problems of housing the poor. In this dissertation I draw from government records to uncover how, between the 1930s and 1990s, the Indian Department created and oversaw a failed housing system on reserves across the country - one decision at a time. While housing is usually seen to be a result of poverty I argue that during this time the practices and policies of the Indian Department were active participants in making Indigenous people and First Nations communities poor. As a consequence of the persistent housing crisis on reserves in Canada Indigenous people suffered not only from living in substandard dwellings but also from the indignity and shame that comes from the association Canadians have made between the poor conditions of on-reserve housing and the personal characteristics of its occupants. What most people do not know is how it is that on-reserve housing remained in crisis for so long. On-reserve housing is something we have done not something we have studied. While federal government reports have charted the number of houses on reserves and their physical condition, no one has examined the history of government programs or how they were delivered until now. Recognizing that my study was not designed to recommend solutions, but believing that we cannot fix a problem until we know it, I am convinced that this dissertation provides the background information future academics will need to tell a different story about housing on reserves. And with a different story we will be better prepared to make fundamental changes needed to the way housing is delivered on reserves. / Graduate

Indigenous populations in Canadian urban centres have grown tremendously in recent years. One of the biggest challenges when Indigenous peoples move to urban centres is finding safe, affordable housing. The research focuses on the need to increase urban affordable housing options and highlights the community land trust as a model for providing perpetually affordable housing for urban Indigenous populations. A documentary analysis was completed to determine the housing needs and potential options for Indigenous peoples in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The second part examines the Little Earth of United Tribes Homeownership Initiative located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Homeownership Initiative, which partners with the City of Lakes Community Land Trust, was chosen because it specifically targets Indigenous peoples. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to further inform the case study and to provide greater background information. The two parts were brought together to determine how a community land trust might complement the range of Indigenous housing options currently available in Winnipeg. / October 2016