Agreement on National Indigenous Housing Information

The Agreement on National Indigenous Housing Information (ANIHI) was an initiative of the Housing Ministers' Reform Agenda for Indigenous housing (1997). Information collected under the Agreement is used to inform the development of strategies to improve Indigenous Housing Information at the national level and improve access to quality information to those who are providing or receiving housing assistance.

The original Agreement covered the period from December 1999 to October 2004. In 2004 the Agreement was extended to cover the period from November 2004 to June 2008. The signatories are state and territory housing authorities, the Aboriginal Housing Office in New South Wales, the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the Department of Family and Community Services and the Torres Strait Regional Authority.

The Agreement provides a framework for the development nationally consistent Indigenous housing data. The aims of this Agreement are to:

  • improve the quality of, and access to, Indigenous housing information at the national level and at the same time maintain and protect the confidentiality of the data for individuals and for the signatories to the Agreement;
  • ensure that data collected from different sources across the country are consistent and compatible between the different collections;
  • improve the compatibility of Indigenous housing data with mainstream housing information and health and community services information; and
  • address in the first instance, through the provision of reliable, consistent data, the acknowledged priority areas, that is:
    • Indigenous housing need;
    • viability of Indigenous housing organisations;
    • sustainable and healthy housing; and
    • delivery of improved housing outcomes.