Dormitories: Single men’s housing in remote Indigenous Australia
While many Australians experience psychological distress and loneliness, their experiences vary according to gender and culture. In the 2011 AHURI report Loneliness, housing and health, sociologists Adrian Franklin and Bruce Tranter highlighted that Australian men feel less able to talk about their experiences and worsening conditions than women, a factor that contributes to a male suicide rate that is three times that of females.1 For Indigenous males, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reports a much higher incidence: psychological distress and loneliness at 26 percent and a suicide rate 2.6 times that of non-Indigenous males.2
In remote areas, compounding situational factors can negatively impact the wellbeing of all Indigenous peoples. Limited employment opportunities and overcrowding are common and a “widespread anxiety disorder” is pervasive. The latter is a phenomenon that architect and anthropologist Paul Memmott has argued results from a constant striving for survival caused by continual deaths, violence and poverty factors in many regions. Appropriate housing can provide safety and security, and
