Social Policy Research Centre
A longitudinal study of the wellbeing of Amélie Housing Social and Affordable Housing Fund social housing tenants
Baseline Report
Published on the 16 August 2023 by Dr Hazel Blunden
The Social and Affordable Housing Fund (SAHF) is a key initiative of the NSW Government’s 10-year vision for social housing Future Directions for Social Housing in NSW.
St Vincent de Paul Housing (SVDPH) subcontracts Amélie Housing, the St Vincent de Paul Society’s national community housing provider, to provide asset and tenancy management and tailored support to tenants.
The Social Policy Research Centre at UNSW Sydney (the University of New South Wales) conducted a longitudinal study tracking the wellbeing of its SAHF social housing tenants from 2019-2023. The study findings are presented in an earlier Baseline report (January 2023) and a final report (December 2023). The Final Report includes qualitative data from Wave 1 and 2 interviews with clients at the three case study sites of Campbelltown, Merrylands and Maitland and multi-year (2021-2023) survey data on tenant wellbeing and satisfaction with housing and support.
Interviews with tenants explored their experiences with Amélie Housing and the impact of receiving support from SVDP NSW on social participation and wellbeing. The first round focused on housing histories, moving into Amélie Housing, their experiences of housing and support, and their wellbeing. The second round focused on their current experiences of the housing and their wellbeing, and on what had changed since the first round of interviews (if anything). Tenant satisfaction survey data was used to provide comparison between selected tenant wellbeing outcomes for Amélie Housing tenants over time, and to compare this cohort with the broader community housing and social housing tenant populations, and the general Australian population, using common measures of wellbeing.
School
Research area
Families and Communities
- Overview
- Acknowledgements
- References
The Social and Affordable Housing Fund (SAHF) is a key initiative of the NSW Government’s 10-year vision for social housing Future Directions for Social Housing in NSW.
St Vincent de Paul Housing (SVDPH), a special purpose community housing company owned by the Trustees of the St Vincent de Paul Society NSW (SVDP), is a contracted service provider under the SAHF. SVDPH subcontracts Amélie Housing, the St Vincent de Paul Society’s national community housing provider to provide asset and tenancy management, tailored support coordination services, and performance and data reporting. Amélie Housing subcontracts tailored support coordination services to the St Vincent de Paul Society NSW (SVDP NSW, the ‘Company’).
SVDP NSW commissioned the Social Policy Research Centre at UNSW Sydney (the University of New South Wales) to conduct a longitudinal study tracking the wellbeing of its SAHF social housing tenants from 2019-2023. This baseline report includes analysis of data from Wave 1 interviews with clients at the three case study sites of Campbelltown, Merrylands and Maitland and survey data on tenant wellbeing and satisfaction with housing and support.
Interviews with tenants were designed to explore their experiences with Amélie Housing and the impact of receiving support from SVDP NSW on social participation and wellbeing. Survey data allows comparison between selected tenant wellbeing outcomes for Amélie Housing tenants, the broader population of social housing tenants and the general population.
Thank you to Mark Ludbrooke, Rhiannon Cook and Solange Frost from the St Vincent de Paul Society and Arthur Chapman from St Vincent de Paul Housing. Thanks also to Malcolm Picken, Amélie Housing’s SAHF Program Manager, to James Newell and all the Tailored Support Coordinators at St Vincent de Paul NSW, and to the tenants who participated in interviews and shared their views with the researchers.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). (2010). A profile of social housing in Australia. Cat. no: HOU 232. Canberra: AIHW.
Capic, T., Jona, C., Olsson, C. & Hutchinson, D. (2020). Australian Unity Wellbeing Index: - Report 36: Social connectedness and wellbeing. Geelong: Australian Centre on Quality of Life, School of Psychology, Deakin University. http://www.acqol.com.au/projects#reports.
Cummins, R. A., Mead, R. & the Australian Unity-Deakin University Wellbeing Research Partnership (2021). The Australian Unity Wellbeing Index 20th Anniversary Commemorative Edition. Australian Unity and Deakin University, Melbourne. Retrieved from Australian Centre on Quality of Life, School of Psychology, Deakin University: http://www.acqol.com.au/uploads/surveys/20yr-anniversary-report.pdf
Diener, E. D., Emmons, R. A., Larsen, R. J., & Griffin, S. (1985). The Satisfaction with Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71-75.
Hockey, E. and Wei, M., Amélie Housing (SAHF) 2021a Tenant Satisfaction Survey Report, Community Housing Industry Association NSW, Sydney.
Hockey, E. and Wei, M., Amélie Housing (SAHF) 2021b Data Tables Tenant Satisfaction Survey, Community Housing Industry Association NSW, Sydney.
International Wellbeing Group (2013). Personal Wellbeing Index: 5th Edition. Melbourne: Australian Centre on Quality of Life, Deakin University http://www.acqol.com.au/instruments#measures
Jones, L. V., & Thurstone, L. L. (1955). The psychophysics of semantics: An experimental investigation. The Journal of Applied Psychology, 39(1), 31-36.
Kavanagh, A. M., Aitken, Z., Emerson, E., Sahabandu, S., Milner, A., Bentley, R., LaMontagne, A. D., Pirkis, J., & Studdert, D. (2016). Inequalities in socio-economic characteristics and health and wellbeing of men with and without disabilities: a cross-sectional analysis of the baseline wave of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Male Health. BMC Public Health, 16(3), 1042. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-016-3700-y
Pyle, E. and Manclossi, S. (2018), Understanding well-being inequalities: Who has the poorest personal well-being? Analysis of the characteristics and circumstances associated with the poorest life satisfaction, feeling the things done in life are worthwhile, happiness and anxiety in the UK, from 2014 to 2016. Office of National Statistics, UK. Accessed at: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/wellbeing/articles/understandingwellbeinginequalitieswhohasthepoorestpersonalwellbeing/2018-07-11#main-points
Related people
