Accessible and inclusive Geelong

Our research determined what was required to establish Geelong as a leading accessible and inclusive city.

This project informed a collective plan of action, supported by a wide range of community stakeholders, to enable Geelong to be accessed, understood and used to the greatest extent possible by all people.

Hear more about the Feasibility study

Strategies for Alleviating Locational Disadvantage in Geelong

HOME’s Associate Professor Adrian Lee in collaboration with Associate Professor Andrew Ainsworth from the University of Wollongong will investigate how two tax incentives – franking credits and negative gearing of investments – impact individual taxpayer risk-taking behaviour, voluntary savings and retirement outcomes.

The team successfully received over $225,000 in funding under the Australian Research Council’s Discovery Projects scheme for 2024 for their research project.

Running over three years, the project will develop a new measure of tax efficiency based on if, and how, individuals take advantage of franking credits and negative gearing. It will identify what factors drive the use of franking credits and negative gearing and whether their use is associated with better retirement outcomes.

The findings of the project will potentially lead to an improvement in individuals’ financial literacy, retirement outcomes and reduce reliance on the aged pension.

Family-friendly apartment design

Our research, in partnership with the Victorian Department of Environment, Water, Land & Planning, illuminated a novel approach to increasing the supply of family-friendly apartments in Victoria.

We provided expertise on family-friendly apartment design to inform a design competition and planning regulations. Together, these resulted in exemplar designs for fast-tracking more liveable apartment development. These designs are currently in use informing the delivery of the Victorian Government’s Future Homes initiative.

More information

To learn more about the Future Homes initiative, visit the Victorian Government’s website.

Microvillage

The initial Microvillage project explored the viability of increasing the supply of affordable small houses. It focused on people with limited funds who wanted to live in homes that minimise consumption of materials, land and energy, and which link with the community in meaningful ways.

Together, the Microvillage projects demonstrate an arc from research engagement to impact that underpins all of HOME’s projects. In this case, via sustained partnerships between philanthropy and industry, the research moved from understanding community needs to policy/design recommendations, to built outcomes, and to the evaluation of a new housing model for other contexts of housing precarity.

Want to know more?

Find out more about the Microvillage to transitional housing for homeless men project