Housing principles for inclusive communities

Housing should be easy to access, navigate, visit and live in, and it should adapt to meet changing needs. People should have choice over where they live and who they live with.

To help achieve more inclusive communities for Queenslanders, we’ve co-designed 4 housing principles:

  • rights
  • choice
  • control
  • inclusion.

Through these principles we aim to significantly improve the lives of people with disability and older people, who face greater barriers in accessing safe, accessible and affordable housing, to have a voice in their housing and living arrangements.

The housing principles provide practical advice for many people, including:

  • people with disability
  • housing providers
  • support providers
  • allied health professionals
  • architects and designers
  • builders and construction workers.

Using these principles will help ensure that a person's house is their home.

The 4 principles

1. Rights

People with disability and older people have the same rights to housing and assistance as people without disability and are encouraged and supported to exercise those rights.

Housing needs to:

  • be designed for people across a range of ages and abilities
  • allow people to ‘age in place’ and live in their home through all stages of their lives, as their needs change
  • provide for family and friends to visit, regardless of their age or disability
  • ensure people with disability can access the same housing opportunities as people without disability and are not obliged or coerced into a particular living arrangement.

2. Control

If a person requires support in their home, of their housing should be separate from their paid supports. This will ensure greater housing security and safeguards for people with disability.

Housing needs to:

  • ensure no one organisation has undue influence over a person’s life
  • enable a person to choose their disability support provider and change their support arrangements without this affecting their housing and vice versa
  • ensure residents are empowered to exercise tenancy rights over their home
  • be a person’s home and not a workplace for paid service/support staff.

3. Choice

People with disability and older people have choice about where they live, who they live with, and who comes into their home and when.

Housing needs to:

  • be promoted through various channels so people with disability and older people can make informed decisions about the housing solution that best meets their needs and preferences
  • involve people with disability to have a say about their housing and living arrangement and exercise choice about who provides their supports and when
  • involve people with disability to have a say about their housing and living arrangement and exercise choice about who provides their supports
  • reflect individual circumstances, including cultural and geographical/locational preferences
  • leverage various funding sources to maximise innovative, viable and affordable housing solutions across various housing types (social housing, private rental, owner occupation and specialist disability accommodation).

4. Inclusion

Appropriate housing is accessible, provides people with pathways to independence, and enables social and economic participation in the community.

Housing needs to:

  • be a person’s home, not a facility, and reflect the overall typical design and layout that is found in the community
  • be part of the community, and close to transport, amenities and services creating diverse and inclusive communities
  • encourage a mix of residents with and without disability within a housing development or apartment block, and an alternative to group home models
  • use principles of Universal Design and include assistive technology where appropriate.

Consultation about the principles

In 2022, we consulted with older people, and people with disability and their families, to better understand their housing preferences.

People with disability and older people told us that they:

  • want ordinary, affordable, accessible, secure and well-located housing in the same way as other Australians
  • aspire to own their home and want greater housing choices, including affordable rental options
  • support the adoption of universal housing design in new private sector developments
  • want alternatives to, and pathways out of, group homes or facilities
  • need assurance that they are not under threat of losing their home, and have long-term housing stability to enable them to engage with the community
  • want to live independently for as long as possible.

Development of the principles

We worked with Queensland Government agencies, Griffith University, National Shelter and the Queenslanders with Disability Network (QDN) to develop the principles.

The principles align with the intent of the:

The principles apply to mainstream housing responses, as well as specialist disability accommodation.

While we developed the principles with people with disability and older people in mind, they can be applied to housing design and service delivery responses for all Queenslanders.

More information

Contact us

Email: hhsdisability@housing.qld.gov.au