Neighbours and experiences related to wellbeing

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Tenant experiences with neighbours

‘We volunteer in local events, clean up rubbish etc with neighbours.’

‘We don’t talk to each other we keep to ourselves.’

‘My neighbours seem hostile.’ 

‘We say hi and keep a secure eye on each other’s houses if anyone is away.’

Neighbours and the neighbourhoods people live in can have a strong impact on health and wellbeing. Fong et.al (2021) note that perceptions of the quality of an individual’s neighbourhood can impact on their sense of loneliness, and that distrust of neighbours can lead to less social engagement, which can lead to a range of health concerns. In 2023, 2 new questions were added to the NSHS to gauge how comfortable tenants felt with their neighbours and whether they felt they could turn to a neighbour for assistance or a friendly encounter. 

Questions about neighbours

NSHS respondents were asked 2 questions relating to neighbours in 2023: 

How comfortable would you feel asking a neighbour to assist with a problem? Respondents selected from the following: Very Comfortable, Comfortable, Neither comfortable nor uncomfortable, Uncomfortable, Very uncomfortable, Not applicable. 

Would you turn to a neighbour for the following? Respondents were asked to select all the below options that were applicable: 

  • To help you with a household or garden job that you can’t do yourself
  • To help you around the home or go shopping for you if you were sick and had to stay in bed for a few days
  • To be there for you if you felt a bit down or depressed and wanted to talk about it
  • To give you advice about family problems
  • To enjoy a pleasant social occasion with
  • Other (please specify)
  • None of these 

Across all housing programs, 59% of tenants were comfortable or very comfortable asking a neighbour to assist with a problem (Table S6.1). 

Out of all respondents: 

  • 34% of tenants would turn to a neighbour to enjoy a pleasant social occasion with 
  • 30% of tenants would turn to a neighbour to help them with a household or garden job that they couldn’t do themselves
  • 23% of tenants would turn to a neighbour to help them around the home or go shopping, 23% would turn to a neighbour to be there for them if they felt down and wanted to talk about it, and
  • 12% of tenants would seek advice from a neighbour about family problems (Table S6.2). 

Responses were similar across public and community housing programs and between states and territories, however SOMIH tenants reported a higher willingness to turn to neighbours across all items, particularly those in Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania (Figure Neighbours.1: Table S6.2). 

‘We have developed a good rapport with most of our neighbours and will help them out regularly.’

 ‘They talk to me but I wouldn’t yarn to them about anything personal or ask for help.’

‘Incidental social contact is good for mental health.’

Figure Neighbours.1: Likelihood of turning to neighbour (%), by housing program, states and territories, 2023

This interactive bar chart shows the proportion of tenants who would turn to a neighbour for various reasons, for each of the housing programs in each state and territory. Across all housing programs in 2023, tenants were most likely to turn to neighbours to enjoy a pleasant social occasion. 

Tenant experiences in the last 12 months associated with wellbeing

Tenant wellbeing is of primary concern in social housing. With the overarching goal of social housing being to provide safe, secure and affordable housing, an extension of this should be improved wellbeing (Davison et al. 2021). Research has found that life stressors that have occurred over the past few years such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the cost-of-living, climate change and natural disasters have had a substantial impact on the health and wellbeing of Australians (O’Donnell 2023). 

The AIHW (2023) notes that a range of factors such as longer-term impacts of COVID-19 restrictions on social supports as well as the global fiscal pressures that are still being felt may have a lasting effect on health and wellbeing. The Australian Psychological Society (2023) reported that more Australians appear to be struggling with mental health than ever before, with Lifeline receiving the highest searches for assistance on record in January 2023, and Beyond Blue reporting that a large proportion of people reported cost-of-living pressures as negatively impacting their mental health in recent times. 

Considering this evidence, a question was included in 2023 to gauge impacts of experiences relating to wellbeing over the past 12 months. This question replaced the one asked in 2021 about experiences due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Questions about experiences relating to wellbeing

In 2023, tenants were asked about experiences in the last 12 months that might have had an impact on their wellbeing: 

In the last 12 months, did you experience any of the following?

Respondents were asked to select all of the below options that were applicable: 

  • My household income went down 
  • I struggled to make ends meet with rent or bills
  • I stopped looking for work 
  • I felt high(er) levels of worry or anxiety 
  • I felt high(er) levels of loneliness or isolation 
  • I had difficulties in my personal relationships 
  • Other (please specify)
  • None of these

Tenants reported a range of negative impacts to their lives over the past 12 months which were similar across states and territories and housing programs. 

For all housing programs in 2023 (Figure Tenant Wellbeing, Table S6.3): 

  • 41% of tenants felt higher levels of worry or anxiety
  • 36% of tenants struggled to make ends meet with rent or bills
  • 25% of tenants felt higher levels of loneliness or isolation

‘The cost of living (shopping/petrol/medicine etc) has risen making stress worries increase.’

‘Mental and physical health issues increasing.’

‘The price of everything is going up faster than my pension. Now I have to pick between food or bills.’

‘Lost confidence/felt alone/working and social skill decreased.’ 

Figure Wellbeing.1: Tenant wellbeing (%), by experience and social housing program, 2023

This interactive bar chart shows the proportion of tenants impacted by experiences relating to wellbeing, for each of the housing programs in each state and territory. For all housing programs in 2023, the most common experience by tenants was feeling high(er) levels of worry or anxiety, followed by struggling to make ends meet with rent or bills. 

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