Australia?s Indigenous housing won?t cope with climate change, research finds - The Guardian Australia

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.

“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 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.

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.

Planned maintenance, rather than responding to emergency repairs, helped houses withstand heat and the pressure of being a home to multiple generation, she 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.

Housing providers need to be better funded to meet these operating and maintenance costs, the researchers said.