The Great Risk Shift: The Securitisation of Australian Housing

Abstract

This paper draws on critical securitisation theory to explore different constructions of housing risk within the Australian context. In particular, it is interested in how housing regulation has been variously constructed as an issue of national importance. To this end the paper has three key parts. First, the salience of securitisation framing theory is reviewed as a critical analytical lens that might have utility within the urban housing context. Second, key national housing narratives are identified and discussed in relation to the role of regulation at the risk management/securitisation nexus. Third, the national securitisation of Australian housing as part of the broader political economic ‘great risk shift’ is discussed. The paper concludes by highlighting the implications of this approach to the national securitisation of housing risk in a climate-constrained future.