25. The right to housing

What if your right to a secure home was protected by law?

Why is Australia one of the only liberal democracies without housing rights protection?

Could a Human Rights Act help fix Australia’s housing crisis?

Everyone should have a safe, secure and healthy place to call home, regardless of your postcode or bank balance. But this is not the reality for far too many people in the community.

A new report on the right to housing commissioned by the Human Rights Law Centre and authored by Professor Jessie Hohmann from the UTS Faculty of Law, helps shifts the focus of discussion to people.

Speakers

Cassandra Goldie: CEO of Australian Council of Social Service and Adjunct Professor with UNSW Sydney.

Professor Jessie Hohmann: is an Associate Professor at the UTS Faculty and Law, and an internationally recognised expert on the right to housing in international law.

Tania Thompson: is the founder of Golden Oldies and a housing advocate with lived experience.

Caitlin Reiger: is CEO of the Human Rights Law Centre and a human rights lawyer.

Moderator

Amy Persson: Pro Vice-Chancellor (Social Justice and Inclusion) for the University of Technology Sydney (UTS)

This event in February 2025 was hosted by the UTS Faculty of Law, Centre for Social Justice & Inclusion and the Human Rights Law Centre.

Credits

This episode has been lightly edited.

Impact Talks at UTS is produced by UTS Impact Studios, with sound engineering by Alison Zhuang.