Alistair Sisson

Darren England/AAP

October 22, 2025

Most Australians agree there’s a housing crisis. But they differ on what’s causing it – and how to fix it

Ben Spies-Butcher, Macquarie University; Adam Stebbing, Macquarie University; Alistair Sisson, Macquarie University; Kristian Ruming, Macquarie University, and Shaun Wilson, Macquarie University

New research shows older voters believe immigration is crunching housing supply, while young voters blame high interest rates and low wage growth.

Getty Images

September 30, 2024

The ‘world’s mayor’ – how Michael Bloomberg uses philanthropy to change the way cities are run

Tom Baker, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau; Alistair Sisson, Macquarie University; Laura Goh, University of Sydney; Pauline McGuirk, University of Wollongong, and Sophia Maalsen, University of Sydney

The increasing influence of Bloomberg Philanthropies on cash-strapped city governments raises questions about the reliability of philanthropy over the long term – and its democratic legitimacy.

Apartments in Waterloo South. Ben Guthrie, Author provided

August 16, 2024

Sydney’s largest public housing estate is being redeveloped, but not all these homes need to be demolished

Alistair Sisson, Macquarie University; Cameron Logan, University of Sydney; Michael Zanardo, Monash University, and Rebecca McLaughlan, University of Sydney

Our research shows decent homes could be lost – and the social and environmental costs of demolition should not be ignored.

San Francisco skyline. Marti Bug Catcher/Shutterstock

January 17, 2024

The YIMBY movement is spreading around the world. What does it mean for Australia’s housing crisis?

Alistair Sisson, Macquarie University

Australia’s housing crisis shows no sign of abating, but planning reforms to increase supply is only part of the solution.

Dan Peled/AAP

January 9, 2024

Rent regulations are no silver bullet, but they would help make renting fairer

Alistair Sisson, Macquarie University

The five international models we examined would have prevented excessive rent increases and helped many renters stay in their homes.

Image: David Kelly

March 22, 2023

Yes, the 1.5 million Australians getting rent assistance need an increase, but more public housing is the lasting fix for the crisis

Liam Davies, RMIT University; Alistair Sisson, Macquarie University; David Kelly, RMIT University, and Priya Kunjan, RMIT University

Rent assistance can ease rental stress, but it won’t help low-income earners find secure and affordable housing when it’s in such short supply, nor stop disadvantage being concentrated in some areas.

The Albert Street public housing in North Melbourne. David Crosling/AAP

August 6, 2020

Why public housing is stigmatised and how we can fix it

Alistair Sisson, UNSW and Pratichi Chatterjee, University of Sydney

Ghettos of crime, drugs and vice? Full of people bludging off the state? That’s typical of the unfair stigma attached to public housing, and it distracts us from more fundamental issues.

Many tenants who lit up their apartments in the ‘We Live Here’ campaign see redevelopment of the Waterloo housing estate as a ploy to move them out of the area. Aaron Bunch/AAP

November 20, 2018

We still live here: public housing tenants fight for their place in the city

Pratichi Chatterjee, University of Sydney; Alistair Sisson, University of Sydney; Jenna Condie, Western Sydney University, and Laura Wynne, University of Tasmania

Working-class residents of Waterloo have a history of resisting threats to their community. Many tenants see the redevelopment of public housing as state-led gentrification to squeeze them out.

In the 1980s, Australian geographer Maurice Daly exposed the urban planning system as a policy toolkit developers could capitalise on to drive subdivision and speculation – an insight that remains true even today. AAP Image/Lukas Coch

May 10, 2018

Essays On Air: Australia’s property boom and bust cycle stretches back to colonial days

Dallas Rogers, University of Sydney and Alistair Sisson, University of Sydney

Essays On Air: Australia’s property boom and bust cycle stretches back to colonial days The Conversation, CC BY58.7 MB (download)

Australia's property market is slowing and many are contemplating a possible bust. But today's episode of Essays On Air reminds us that since colonial days, Australia's property market has had its ups and downs.

Keeping up appearances at the Gold Bar in Subiaco, Perth. Paul j. Maginn

May 9, 2018

‘Sanitised’ nightlife precincts become places where some are not welcome

Alistair Sisson, University of Sydney and Paul J. Maginn, The University of Western Australia

Ultimately, most regulatory interventions in nightlife precincts are about imposing particular ideas of social and moral order not only within these spaces but also in the city more broadly.

#WeLiveHere2017 aims to turn inanimate buildings into metaphorical sentient structures, with ‘mood lights’ expressing the feelings of Matavai and Turanga Tower residents about their neighbourhood’s redevelopment. Nic Walker courtesy of #WeLiveHere2017

September 5, 2017

We Live Here: how do residents feel about public housing redevelopment?

Dallas Rogers, University of Sydney; Alistair Sisson, University of Sydney; Jenna Condie, Western Sydney University; Laura Wynne, University of Technology Sydney, and Pratichi Chatterjee, University of Sydney

Residents of two high-rise public housing blocks are being given ‘mood lights’ to express how they feel based on their experience of the process of redeveloping their neighbourhood.

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