Judith Yates
Judith Nancy Yates | |
|---|---|
| Born | 20 November 1943 Adelaide, South Australia |
| Died | 20 May 2022 (aged 78) |
| Academic career | |
| Field | Economics of housing |
| Institution | University of Sydney |
| Alma mater | University of Amsterdam |
Judith Nancy Yates AM (20 November 1943 – 20 May 2022) was an Australian housing economist. She was a lecturer and associate professor at the University of Sydney from 1971 to 2009. As a social liberal economist, she published over 120 papers in academic journals and government and industry reports on most aspects of Australia's housing sector, most notably on distributional aspects of the tax and finance system, on affordability and the supply of low-rent housing.Throughout her career she was appointed to a number of government advisory committees, and she contributed to many government inquiries.
She was the first woman on the boards of the Commonwealth Bank and the Housing Loans Insurance Corporation. From 2001 to 2017 she worked extensively with the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI).
Early life
[edit]Judith Yates née Potter was the eldest of five children. Her father Vernon Wheatley Potter married Betty Bates of Port Pirie in South Australia in 1942,[1] while he was serving in the Royal Australian Air Force.[2] Her mother Betty was university–educated and a teacher. After the War, Vernon Potter obtained a medical degree and was surgical registrar in Broken Hill NSW from 1945, before taking up practice in the mining port of Port Pirie in May 1949.[3]
Career in housing economics
[edit]Deregulation and distribution
[edit]Around 1980, Yates was one of many economists commissioned for background work by the Australian Financial System Inquiry (Campbell Report), which sought as part of financial deregulation to bring housing interest rates in line with market rates.[4] She did much of the distributional work for the Inquiry.[5]
Private finance for social housing
[edit]A huge shortfall in affordable and social rental housing had developed in Australia by 1991, with governments unwilling to construct stock at the necessary scale. As part of the 1991 Housing Strategy, Yates suggested a synthetic “equity bond” backed by a stock of rental housing, similar to a unit trust, to attract money for affordable housing from the rapidly expanding superannuation industry.[6] This made front-page news, when it was announced the Victorian government and senior Commonwealth public servants supported the plan.[7] However, it was not adopted.
In subsequent decades, the incidence of home ownership among young people continued to decline slowly. In a land of home owners, the subject was of great interest to the press.[8][9][10] In 2015, Yates found ownership had declined by 16 points for 25-34 year-olds and a decline was becoming evident in middle-aged households.[11]
Low-cost rental housing
[edit]With social housing declining and incomes polarising, the demand and supply of private rental housing rapidly increased, but low-rent properties disappeared. The need for low-rent stock doubled between 1986 and 1996. Low-income renters were paying a much higher proportion of their incomes than had previously been deemed acceptable. Wulff and Yates found that more than half the remaining affordable stock was occupied by higher-income young couples who were competing with low income older single persons.[12] To explain the situation, they variously considered two-income households saving to buy, property managers screening out low-income tenants, and misdirection of supply-side incentives. They concluded, "The unaided private market provision of new low-income housing is substantially a fantasy."[13]
Later years
[edit]Yates retired from teaching in 2009, but maintained a full programme of research. She was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia Award in 2021 for "significant services to housing research and education”.[14] The Judith Yates Prize in Economics was announced at the University of Sydney soon afterward for an undergraduate essay “meeting societal needs”.
In 2020 she produced her first book, describing endlessly rising house and land prices in Australia as a "massive policy failure and a great betrayal".[15]
Awards
[edit]- Member of Order of Australia (2021)[16]
References
[edit]- ^ "AT THE ALTAR". Recorder. 2 September 1942. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
- ^ "Royal Australian Air Force". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. 18 September 1941. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
- ^ "Dr. Leitch Leaving Pirie". Recorder. 30 May 1949. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
- ^ "Australian Financial System - Final Report of the Committee of Inquiry | Treasury.gov.au". treasury.gov.au. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
- ^ Mitchell, Alan (26 June 1982). "Doubts begin to spread about Campbell Committee claims". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 30.
- ^ Yates, Judith (1991). Financing Australian Housing. Issues Paper 3, National Housing Strategy.
- ^ Burton, Tom (4 February 1992). "PM's plan for cheaper housing". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 1.
- ^ Bransgrove, Chris (25 April 1998). "Market facts". Newcastle Herald.
- ^ Colebatch, Tim (22 February 2008). "Home ownership falling". The Age.
- ^ Spearing, Mark (28 November 2015). "Home ownership falling". The Observer, Gladstone.
- ^ Yates, Judith (2017). "Overview". Housing Australia. CEDA.
- ^ Jopson (30 November 1999). "Rich squeezing poor on rents". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 5.
- ^ Button, James (13 January 2001). "Housing fantasy".
- ^ "Companion (AC), General Division". Sydney Morning Herald. 14 June 2021. p. 17.
- ^ Irvine, Jessica (20 February 2020). "The great Australian betrayal". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 20.
- ^ "Dr Judith Nancy Yates". It's an Honour. 14 June 2021. Retrieved 3 July 2022.