The median Australian house price is now about $800,000 – almost eight times the average income – and well beyond the reach of many people, without help.

So how did we get here, and with a federal election looming, are the political parties game to seriously take this on?

"Any solution to housing that is easy and popular won't work." — Alan Kohler

Presented at the Sydney Writers Festival and Readings Bookshop.

Speakers

Alan KohlerFinance presenter, ABCAuthor of The Great Divide: Australia's Housing Mess and How to Fix It (Quarterly Essay #92 and republished as a book available 1 October 2024)

Richard Holden (host)Professor of Economics, University of NSW

Kevin BellFormer Supreme Court Judge, Victoria; Former Director, Castan Centre for Human RightsAuthor of Housing: The Great Australian Right (In the National Interest essay series, Monash University Publishing)

Housing as a human right? With Alan Kohler and Kevin Bell