What’s Missing in Australia’s 1.2 Million Homes Agenda? The Cultural Dimension

Australia’s National Housing Accord commits governments to delivering 1.2 million well-located homes by 2029, a target that has redefined housing strategy around scale and speed. Yet this quantitative focus risks overlooking the social and cultural dimensions of adequacy. This paper argues that housing policy framed solely around affordability and supply cannot deliver sustainable or inclusive outcomes in a nation as culturally diverse as Australia. Therefore, we introduce the concept of cultural adaptability as the capacity of housing systems to recognise and accommodate diverse household structures, spatial practices, and community values as a structural dimension of ‘adequacy’. Furthermore, this paper conceptualises a multi-level framework spanning strategic, regulatory, and delivery systems to guide the integration of cultural adaptability within Australia’s housing agenda. The paper concludes by recommending pathways for empirical, analytical, and institutional research to improve cultural adaptability within the Australian housing system.