Vivienne Milligan is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the discipline of Urban and Regional Planning in the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Sydney. A geographer and housing policy expert, she completed a BA Hons at the University of Sydney and worked in academia for a decade (1973-1982) before returning from a highly successful career in public sector administration (1983-1999) to complete a doctoral thesis at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands. She was appointed an Honorary Associate in the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Sydney in 2000, and in 2004 became Director of the AHURI Sydney Research Centre, with responsibility for managing the partnership between the University of Sydney and AHURI Ltd in Melbourne. Her present role at the University also involves teaching post-graduate housing studies courses within the Urban and Regional Planning Program. She was appointed Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Sydney in 2005.

Prior to returning to the University of Sydney, Vivienne had over 20 years of senior management experience in housing policy development and innovation in Australia, working at different times in the federal and three state jurisdictions. During her public sector career she was instrumental in developing new initiatives in public, community, Indigenous and affordable housing. She is highly regarded across Australia for her contributions to housing policy development and was awarded a Public Service Medal for her contributions to the social housing sector in Queensland in 1993. Vivienne has also held several important positions in non government organisations. Her past Directorships include the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (1992-98), City West Housing (1994), the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (1997-99), and the Australasian Housing Institute (2001-04). From 2003 to 2005 she was the foundation editor of HousingWORKS the journal of the Australasian Housing Institute. Vivienne also works as a private consultant and has conducted projects on a broad range of housing issues for government and non-government housing agencies, including evaluations of several housing projects and programs, strategic advice for five state governments on housing policy directions and a co-authored report on risk management in community housing for the National Community Housing Forum.  In 2004 she was appointed as an expert advisor on affordable housing to the Housing Reference Group for the development of the NSW Government’s Sydney Metropolitan Strategy.

In addition to having a core focus on housing policy, Vivienne’s research and policy interests include urban renewal and community revitalisation, housing market dynamics and comparative housing research. Her current research projects include:

• International housing trends and policy responses (with Dr Julie Lawson, University of Amsterdam);
• International practice in planning for affordable housing: lessons for Australia (with Dr Nicole Gurran and Dr Doug Baker, Queensland University of Technology).
• The Australian housing system and intergenerational sustainability (with Professor Hal Kendig, A/Professor Judith Yates and the National Centre for Economic and Social Modelling, University of Canberra).
• Diversity without fragmentation: future options for an integrated housing system (with Professor Andrew Jones and Ms Rhonda Phillips University of Queensland).

Short list of recent publications

2006 (forthcoming). Milligan V., Dieleman, F. and van Kempen, R. Impacts of contrasting housing policies on low-income households in: Australia and the Netherlands. Journal of Housing and the Built Environment.

2006. Milligan, V., Phibbs, P., Gurran, N. and Fagan, K. Approaches to Evaluation of Affordable Housing Initiatives in Australia. Final report as part of National Research Venture 3 ‘Housing Affordability for Lower Income Australians’, AHURI Ltd, Melbourne.

2006. Cardew, R., Milligan, V. and Gilmour, T. with Prof. E.J. Blakeley. Information Systems for Strengthening Australian Urban Management. Report conducted for Landcom by AHURI Sydney Research Centre in conjunction with the University of Sydney Planning Research Centre.

2005 Milligan, V. Directions for Affordable Housing Policy in Australia: Outcomes of a Stakeholder Forum Background Report Collaborative Research Venture

‘Housing Affordability for Lower Income Australians’ Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Melbourne

2005. Zakharov, R. and Milligan, V.  Review of Client Service Applicant and Tenancy Management Policies and Procedures for the NSW Department of Housing.

2005. Powys, J. Milligan, V. and Wood, H.  Managing our High Rise: A Strategy for Central Sydney Division for the NSW Department of Housing.

2004. Milligan, V., Phibbs, P., Fagan, K. and Gurran, N.  A Practical Framework for Expanding Affordable Housing Services in Australia: Learning from Experience. Final Report, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Melbourne.

2004. Yates J, Berry M, Burke T, Jacobs K, Randolph B and Milligan V. Housing Affordability for lower income Australians. Plan for Collaborative Research Venture 3. Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Melbourne.

2004. Bissett, H. and Milligan, V. Risk management in Community Housing. Report for the National Community Housing Forum.

2004. Zakharov, R., Tiernan, A.,  Bisset, H., Milligan V., and Burke, T. Evaluation of the Queensland Community Rent Scheme for the Queensland Department of Housing.

2003. Milligan, V. How Different? Comparing Housing Policies and Housing Affordability Consequences for Low Income Households in Australia and the Netherlands. Netherlands Geographical Studies, No. 318. Faculty of Geographical Studies, Utrecht University, Utrecht

2003. Milligan, V. The Relationship Between Housing Policy and Urban Development in Sydney. In Toon, J. and Falk, J. (eds). Sydney Planning or Politics? Town Planning for the Sydney Region Since 1945. Planning Research Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney.