Radio National Presents is the home of great storytelling that helps you better understand what’s going on in the world.
Latest series: The Home Front with Anthony Burke. What if Australia’s housing crisis wasn’t just a problem — but a chance to build something better? In the six-part series The Home Front, design expert Anthony Burke explores how smart, thoughtful design could help fix Australia’s housing challenges — and reshape the Great Australian Dream for a new generation.
What if the future of home isn't about ownership — but about connection? In this final episode, Anthony Burke re-imagines the Australian Dream through the most powerful ideas from the series. Could we trade fences for friendships, and privacy for participation? What would it mean to design homes that prioritise community, care, and belonging?
We explore a new vision of home — not just where we live, but how we live together.
Guests in this episode:
Richard and Jan Gould - Founders, Blue Sky House (low-cost housing initiative)
Susan Boden - Co-founder, Eden Tiny House Project; Landscape Architect & Mental Health Case Manager
Sacha Coles -Global Design Director, ASPECT Studios
Hugh MacKay - Social Psychologist and Author, The Way We Are, Lessons from a lifetime of listening
Patrick Eigsvogel - Small home builder
Elizabeth Mossop - Academic Director, Living Lab Northern Rivers
Production assistance this week by Sarah Mashman
15 Sept 2025
05 | The Home Front: Lessons from afar
Around the globe, architects and designers are reimagining housing with bold, inventive solutions - from sprawling multi use compounds in Indonesia to compact cooperative models in Europe.
These global experiments offer fresh perspectives on affordability, sustainability and community. But could they work in Australia? In this episode, we explore what local housing can learn from international innovations - and how these ideas might be adapted to fit our unique social and environmental context.
Guests in this episode:
RealRich Sarjeif - Architect, RAW Architecture (Jakarta)
Penelope Dean - Professor, School of Architecture, University of Illinois Chicago.
Gerard Reinmuth - Director, Terroir Architecture; Professor of Practice, School of Architecture, UTS
Marisa Jahn - Director of Integrated Design, The New School; Collaborating Artist, Carehaus
Anne Romme - Associate Professor, Institute of Architecture and Culture, Royal Danish Academy.
Production assistance this week by Rachael Bongiorno and thanks to Anthony’s ABC International Culture By Design program for supplying additional audio.
8 Sept 2025
04 | The Home Front: Money money money
We all know that house prices have gone through the roof, but what’s driving them, and what can actually be done?
In this episode, we dig into the money behind the housing crisis, from tax policy and global market shifts to government targets and the growing role of intergenerational wealth.
We explore how renters and homeowners alike are feeling the squeeze, and ask what kind of radical policy — and cultural — change it will take to make housing more equitable for all Australians. Because this isn’t just an economic problem. It’s a social one. And it’s going to take more than creativity to fix it.
Guests in this episode:
Alan Kholer, ABC financial journalist and author of the Quarterly Essay- The Great Divide: Australia's Housing Mess and How to Fix it
Brendan Coates, Housing and Economic Security Program Director at Grattan Institute
Kate Browne, Head of Research and Insights at Compare Club, a financial comparison service
Damian Madigan, Associate Professor at the University of South Australia, architect and urban infill housing researcher.
David, Social housing client
Kait, House hunter from Brisbane
Production assistance this week by Rachael Bongiorno
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4.4 / 5
31 ratings
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