Although home ownership is part of the “Australian Dream”, most Indigenous Australians living in remote communities lack the opportunity to purchase their own homes. By partnering with Indigenous Business Australia, home valuation experts, and World Vision, community members in Mapoon, northwest Queensland are one step closer towards making their dream of home ownership a reality.

There are a number of obstacles preventing Indigenous Australians from experiencing the security and independence associated with home ownership. The financial challenges of remote living and fewer employment opportunities hinder the purchasing power of Indigenous Australians.

But most importantly, at present there is no established system for valuing land and houses on community titled land. For some time, World Vision’s Mapoon Home Ownership project has been advocating for a change of valuation methodology of houses in Mapoon, which will allow its residents the opportunity to experience the benefits of home ownership.

David Viarella, from Affordable Housing Solutions and chairperson of the Australian Valuers Institute, and Andrew Collins, a valuer from ANZ, visited Mapoon and have developed a method of property valuation.

With the support of their employers, both David and Andrew spent three days assessing 10 properties. The volunteers had to consider in their appraisal the fact that there has never been a house sold in Mapoon or any other remote Indigenous community due to land title issues.

Hopefully their work will serve as an example for other Indigenous communities wanting the option of purchasing homes on government titled land. The volunteers developed a valuation report to advocate for state owned social housing to be available for sale at a price determined by the market.

The result of their work is already significant. State officials will present this method of valuation of state housing for sale in remote Indigenous communities to the Queensland State Cabinet in August. They will be drawing from David and Andrew’s recommendations to set out an alternative valuation approach.

While there are still discussions on what price people should have to pay for land, there is now clear direction on the sale of houses for “market value”. World Vision expects the Queensland Government will adopt a new valuation policy in the coming months. This is another important step in bridging the gap of Indigenous disadvantage.

For more background information on the Home Ownership Scheme in Mapoon, click here