Associate Professor Louise Crabtree-Hayes
Associate Professor

Louise is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Society and Culture.
Louise's research focuses on the social, ecological and economic sustainability of community-driven housing developments in Australia; on the uptake of housing innovation in practice and policy; on complex adaptive systems theory in urban contexts; and, on the interfaces between sustainability, property rights, institutional design and democracy.
Her work is underpinning the emergence of forms of permanently affordable and community-led housing in Australia, such as housing cooperatives and community land trusts, on which she is Australia's leading expert.
Qualifications
- PhD, 2007, Macquarie University
- BSc (Hons 1), 2000, Macquarie University
Research Focus
- Urban sustainability
- Housing diversity
- Complex adaptive systems
Awards and Recognition
- 2014: Community Land Trust Research Team. Winner - Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research and Development) Research Award for Research Excellence through Partnership
- 2014: Community Land Trust Research Team. Highly commended - Vice Chancellor's Excellence Award for Excellence in University Engagement
- 2009: Federal Housing Minister's Award for Early Career Researchers, 4th Australasian Housing Researchers Conference, Sydney
- 2000: Jim Rose Prize for Honours in Human Geography, Macquarie University
Selected Publications
Crabtree, L, Sappideen, C, Lawler, S, Conroy, R & McNeill, J 2019, Enabling Community Land Trusts in Australia, ARENA Publications, Melbourne.
Crabtree, L, Perry, N, Grimstad, S & McNeill, J 2019, ‘Impediments and opportunities for growing the cooperative housing sector: an Australian case study’, International Journal of Housing Policy, https://doi.org/10.1080/19491247.2019.1658916.
Crabtree, L 2018, ‘Self-organised housing in Australia: housing diversity in an age of market heat’, International Journal of Housing Policy, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 15–34.
Mellick Lopes, A, Healy, S, Power, E, Crabtree L & Gibson, K 2018, ‘Infrastructures of care: opening up “home” as commons in a hot city’, Human Ecology Review, 24(2), 41–60.
Crabtree, L, Davis, V, Foster, D & Klerck, M 2018, ‘A tale of (at least) three reports: agency and discourse in the Alice Springs Town Camps’, Global Media Journal Australian Edition, vol. 12, no. 1.
Crabtree, L 2017, ‘Transitioning around the elephant in the room’, City, vol. 21, no. 6, pp. 883–893.
Crabtree, L 2017 ‘Unsettling impact: responding to cultural complexity’, Australian Geographer, vol. 48, no. 4, pp. 427–435.
Crabtree, L 2013, ‘Decolonising property: exploring property, time and ethics through contemporary housing in Australia’, Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 99-115.
Crabtree, L, Blunden, H, Phibbs, P, Sappideen, C, Mortimer, D, Shahib-Smith, A & Chung, L 2013, The Australian Community Land Trust Manual, University of Western Sydney, Sydney.
Crabtree, L 2006 ‘Disintegrated houses: exploring ecofeminist housing and urban design options’, Antipode, vol. 38, no. 4, pp. 711-734.
Access All Publications
- Western Sydney Staff Profile
- Academia.edu.au Profile (opens in a new window)
- Google Scholar Profile (opens in a new window)