HASS · Year 10

Active learning ideas

Housing Affordability Crisis

Active learning builds empathy and analytical depth for complex issues like housing affordability. Students engage with real data, debate policy choices, and role-play stakeholders to grasp how economic forces shape lives beyond textbooks.

• ACARA Content Descriptions
• AC9E10K03

• 30–50 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 4 activities

Activity 01

• Problem-Based Learning
• 50 min · Small Groups

Data Stations: Affordability Trends

Prepare stations with ABS graphs on house prices, incomes, and ownership rates by city. Small groups spend 8 minutes per station noting trends and causes, then share findings in a class gallery walk. Conclude with predictions on future impacts.

Analyze the factors contributing to the housing affordability crisis in Australia.

Facilitation Tip

In Data Stations, circulate to ask students to compare their city’s median price with regional incomes and justify any gaps they observe.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'If you were the Treasurer, which one policy would you prioritize to tackle housing affordability and why?' Allow students to share their chosen policy and justify their reasoning, encouraging peer feedback on the potential impacts.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Decision-Making
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

Activity 02

• Problem-Based Learning
• 45 min · Small Groups

Policy Design Workshop: Solution Prototypes

Groups receive a scenario of a regional housing shortage and brainstorm policies addressing supply or demand. They prototype solutions on posters with pros, cons, and evidence, then pitch to the class for feedback and voting.

Explain the long-term social and economic consequences of housing unaffordability.

Facilitation Tip

During the Policy Design Workshop, provide colored sticky notes for students to categorize their prototype solutions as short-term relief or long-term reform.

What to look for

Provide students with a short case study of a hypothetical Australian family facing housing stress. Ask them to identify two key factors from the case study contributing to their situation and one potential consequence for the family's living standards.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Decision-Making
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

Activity 03

• Problem-Based Learning
• 40 min · Pairs

Stakeholder Role-Play: Housing Summit

Assign roles like developers, renters, policymakers, and investors. Pairs prepare arguments on affordability solutions, then debate in a simulated summit. Debrief on compromises needed for effective policy.

Design potential policy solutions to improve housing affordability.

Facilitation Tip

In the Stakeholder Role-Play, stand in the back and listen for students to reference specific data from their mapping exercise when advocating for their group’s position.

What to look for

On a slip of paper, have students define 'negative gearing' in their own words and list one argument for and one argument against its use in the context of housing affordability.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Decision-Making
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

Activity 04

• Problem-Based Learning
• 30 min · Individual

Mapping Exercise: Regional Variations

Individuals plot affordability ratios (price-to-income) on Australia maps using provided data. Discuss in whole class why urban areas like Sydney differ from regional towns and propose targeted solutions.

Analyze the factors contributing to the housing affordability crisis in Australia.

Facilitation Tip

For the Mapping Exercise, give each pair a printed map with blank overlays so they can annotate zoning boundaries and rental hotspots directly on the paper.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'If you were the Treasurer, which one policy would you prioritize to tackle housing affordability and why?' Allow students to share their chosen policy and justify their reasoning, encouraging peer feedback on the potential impacts.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Decision-Making
• Self-Management
• Relationship Skills

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teachers should foreground the human impact of policy choices by pairing economic data with personal stories or case studies. Avoid presenting housing as a purely market issue; instead, frame it as a social challenge requiring ethical judgment and collective problem-solving. Research shows that when students role-play stakeholders, their empathy grows alongside their understanding of complex systems.

Students will explain the interconnected drivers of the crisis, evaluate proposed solutions, and recognize its widespread social impact. Evidence-based discussions and mapped regional data will demonstrate their understanding of cause, consequence, and policy trade-offs.

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Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Data Stations, watch for students who assume more housing supply will automatically lower prices without considering zoning constraints or infrastructure gaps.

  Prompt students to overlay zoning maps and infrastructure data onto their affordability graphs to see where supply falls short or where demand outpaces capacity.

• During the Stakeholder Role-Play, watch for students who assume the crisis only affects young renters.

  Ask students to integrate data from the Mapping Exercise to show how older adults, low-income families, and recent migrants are also priced out, and to adjust their negotiating strategies accordingly.

• During the Policy Design Workshop, watch for students who believe government subsidies alone can solve the crisis quickly.

  Challenge groups to run a mock budget simulation where subsidies inflate prices if supply reforms are absent, using their prototype’s cost projections to test feasibility.

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Methods used in this brief

• Problem-Based Learning