‘I Wish I Had a House Like This’ Reimaging Home: Former-Refugee Experiences of Housing, Resettlement and Well-Being in Australia: A Photovoice Study

Abstract

The relationship between refugee housing and well-being extends beyond basic shelter, encompassing social, cultural and spatial dimensions. This study explores how housing is experienced and understood by former-refugees not merely as a physical structure but as a site of meaning, identity and belonging. Drawing on Massey's relational theory of space and a multidimensional understanding of belonging, this research examines the housing aspirations of refugees through the photovoice component of a larger qualitative study on refugee housing and health in Victoria. Twenty-one participants used photography to capture aspects of their lived experiences of housing and neighbourhoods that may have been difficult to articulate through conventional methods. A thematic analysis of workshop discussions revealed that housing aspirations extend beyond affordability and homeownership to include safety, connection, cultural fit and access to green space and local amenities. Where these aspirations were unmet, participants reported feelings of insecurity and frustration, negatively affecting their well-being and sense of belonging. Participants' photographs and narratives revealed not only barriers to integration but also the everyday practices through which they created connections and reshaped their housing environments as relational spaces of care, connection and community.