SRTSR0225
Advancing Whyalla’s Sustainable Green Transition: Housing Solutions for the new Regional Workforce
Expressions of interest are invited for an important new project which will address the bottleneck in housing supply holding back Whyalla’s sustainable green transition in steel making and related industries. Housing shortages are evident across regional Australia, made worse by under-investment in the housing stock since the 1990s and the decline of local home building over 20 years. This shortfall means Whyalla, and other regions with a critical role in Australia’s transition to a Net Zero future, confront difficulties in embracing new, sustainable, technologies as they cannot accommodate the workforce they need. This challenge is acute in Whyalla due to its ambitions for making ‘green steel’ and its role in the development of solar and wind farms throughout South Australia’s north.
The PhD scholar will have significant opportunities to achieve research impact, build networks and gain industry, community and government experience. This project will interact with the Research-engaged Action Lab (ReAL) to be established in Whyalla by the Sustainable Green Transition SRT, generating opportunities to network broadly with other researchers, industry and community members. In addition, the scholar will have access to the industry connections of the supervisory team – Dept of Housing and Urban Development; Pre-Fab Aus: Office of Regional Development; Regional Development Australia Committees, as well as key think tanks such as the Regional Australia Institute and SEGRA. Research impact will be delivered through industry-focussed dissemination activities, two six-week internships (one with the Office of Regional Housing, the other with Whyalla City Council) and sharing of outcomes with local, regional and national community. The scholar will produce conventional academic outputs, as well as a policy-facing summary for sharing with communities and government officials.
This project and the appointed scholar will benefit from a vibrant academic environment marked by excellence, industry impact and success in the training of PhD scholars. Profs Beer, Vij and Dinmore are part of the Australian Centre for Housing Research and the student will benefit from this inter-disciplinary group. Dr Parida is part of CWEX, bringing a broader set of perspectives, especially those focussed on within-organisation dynamics as they seek to implement change.
Scholarships are 3.5 years (4-year fee waiver), and the scholarship rate is indexed every year. For 2027, it will be $37,800.
Further details
If interested, you can find more information on the University’s project page https://adelaide.edu.au/research/research-degrees/research-projects/
Expressions of Interest (EOIs) will open on 31 August 2026 and close on 30 September 2026.
Professor Andrew Beer