Footprints in Time: Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children Housing Research Report
Description
Footprints in Time, or the Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children, has tracked a large sample of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their families from early childhood through to their teenage years. The survey provides an invaluable source of data on the childhoods of Indigenous Australians and the factors that can help them grow up strong. Along with annual reports providing summaries of key findings following each Wave of the survey, and a series of occasional papers and data highlight briefs, the Department of Social Services has commissioned special topic research reports based on the LSIC data.
Utilising the LSIC data, the Housing Research Report seeks to provide both a descriptive overview of the housing circumstances that Indigenous children and their families live in, and the way housing-related factors can help or hinder those children growing up strong.
The analysis in the report is based on the public-release datasets for LSIC Waves 1 to 13, corresponding to surveys undertaken from 2008 to 2020, as well as the text of responses to open ended questions asked in Waves 6, 9, and 15.
Two of the major dimensions explored in the analyses are housing tenure and remoteness. The main categories of tenure are homeowners and renters, with renters further distinguished by whether they rent from a community housing organisation, in state government (public) housing, or in the private rental market. Remoteness is measured using a scale with five classifications: Major Cities, Inner Regional, Outer Regional, Remote, and Very Remote Australia.
Access the full report
Accompanying Resources
Factsheet 1 – The changing nature of Indigenous children’s housing by remoteness
Factsheet 2 – Indigenous children living in public and community housing
Factsheet 3 – Housing transitions for Indigenous children
Factsheet 4 – Housing and Indigenous children’s education outcomes
Factsheet 5 – Housing pathways for Indigenous children
How to cite
Dockery, M. and Moskos, M. (2026) Footprints in Time: Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Children Housing Research Report. Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre, March 2026.
The Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre team acknowledges the Wadjuk Nyungar people as the traditional owners of the land on which the Centre is situated.