The Head, The Heart & The House: Health, Care and Quality of Life

Around 2.8 million Australians tuned in to Channel 9 in mid-October 2014 to watch the auc on of The Block, the most recent instalment of the hit property renova on show. The highest-ra ng reality TV show in Australia documented in painful detail the shock and dismay of the Block par cipants as their apartments were sold at auc on.We are a na on mesmerised by housing and home improvement. Australians yearn for their own private dominion.The home also has pride of place in the Australian economy and in our na onal policy architecture. This is supported through the capital gains tax exemp on for the family home, government grants for people to buy their rst home, and tax deduc ons for people who nega vely gear to buy a second one. Policies directed towards funding the la er part of people’s lives, notably superannua on and the age pension, are modelled around home ownership and struggle to adequately accommodate those who don’t own their homes outright, or those who rent.