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GUEST OBSERVATION
In a letter to Felice Bauer in 1912, philosopher Franz Kafka lamented, “time is short, my strength is limited, the office is a horror, the apartment is noisy, and if a pleasant, straightforward life is not possible then one must try to wriggle through by subtle manoeuvres.” Modern workers may well empathise with Kafka’s description of his workplace. Much attention has been focussed recently on the current state of office design.
The huge response to a recent <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/the-open-office-trap">article</a> on the trap of open offices suggests increasing numbers of workers might be inclined to agree with Kafka’s sentiments. It seems that being productive at work is becoming harder.
According to a <a href="https://www.gensler.com/uploads/documents/2013_US_Workplace_Survey_07_15_2013.pdf">Gensler</a> report in 2013, just getting work done at all is difficult, with over half of employees noting they found it hard to concentrate at work. Being able to concentrate is a vital precursor to cognition in the workplace. <a href="https://jom.sagepub.com/content/early/2010/04/08/0149206310367948.abstract">Studies</a> have shown that if we can’t think clearly, our performance, strategic decision making and responses to both internal and external events are compromised.
We seem to be getting it back to front. In many modern workplaces, the trend to open-plan collaborative spaces is almost an epidemic. Not participating in the drive for collaboration is seen as almost anti-corporate behaviour.
Workplaces that are born out of design briefs full of corporate jargon such as space optimisation, utilisation efficiency or brand alignment tend to, unsurprisingly, leave us cold. As employees we need to be both physically and psychologically comfortable. Usually, physical comfort is a central part of the design of workplaces. Unfortunately, psychological comfort is often not. If people aren’t both psychologically, as well as physically comfortable at work, they have less cognitive resources available to them. They are less productive, less creative and more stressed.
The cost and time involved to make large scale change to offices can seem overwhelming. However, new research has shown that even small changes to the workspace can have dramatic effects on the way people work. It will come as no surprise to many to discover that control over our environments makes a difference to how we feel. Personal control makes us feel more confident. Research has shown that employees who can personalise their space are 32% more productive. Two areas showing promising results are stand-up desks and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/23/nyregion/as-office-space-shrinks-so-does-privacy-for-workers?_r=0">retreat spaces</a> within the workplace.
The idea of retreating to spaces that restore us is not new. The sixteenth century philosopher Montaigne famously worked in a tower replete with vaulted ceilings, a library and even a bedroom. Seinfeld’s George Costanza stored a blanket, pillow and alarm clock under his desk so that he could take naps. Indeed, research shows that our need for prospect (or a view) and refuge remains biologically hardwired. <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books?hl=en&amp;lr=&amp;id=hoRooqUJwVsC&amp;oi=fnd&amp;pg=PR9&amp;dq=sally+augustin&amp;ots=uDaGqQl1RF&amp;sig=ah1vogGgrH8B7DTYh2JOLs4j5-M#v=onepage&amp;q=sally%20augustin&amp;f=false">Environmental psychologist Sally Augustin</a> notes this need for refuge helps us to restore our attention and feel psychologically safe. Indeed, Augustin notes this as a reason why booths in a restaurant fill up faster, perhaps reinforcing Mafia folklore that it’s a good idea to sit with your back to a wall.
Susan Cain, author of the New York Times bestseller Quiet, writes that solitude is an essential ingredient in innovation. Cain has recently been involved in a project to create <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/06/an-office-for-introverts/372130/#disqus_thread">retreat spaces</a> for introverts within the workplace. Refuge spaces allow employees to access a place where they can retreat from distraction to restore mentally and physically. These types of spaces, as well as different furniture configurations, are becoming increasingly important for employees to undertake focussed work.
Stand-up desks are now a more prevalent feature in offices following studies finding workers spend up to 80,000 seated during their working life, leading to numerous <a href="https://www.uq.edu.au/cprc/docs/Reducing_Sitting_Workplace_Full.pdf">health issues</a>. New research however by Andrew Knight and Markus Baer at Washington University, has shown the benefits of stand-up desks go far beyond health. In an empirical study of 54 teams engaged in a creative task, Knight and Baer found that the use of stand-up desks, rather than traditional, sedentary office furniture, increased excitement around creative processes, decreased the tendency for people to defend their turf, leading to better information sharing, ideas and ultimately improved team performance.
A <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.amazon.com/Daily-Rituals-How-Artists-Work/dp/0307273601">compilation</a> by Mason Currey on the workspaces and work habits of some of history’s most profilic thinkers highlights the vast (and often amusing) differences in how we work. There is no one size fits all, so whether we like to sit, stand, lie down, or decorate our desks with our gnome collection, the ability to alter our workspace and take refuge from it, are important to us all.
Libby Sander is a PhD Candidate at Griffith University.
Libby Sander advises organisations based on findings of her research. She has previously received research funding for a project from BeneAG.
This article first appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/au" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.
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Why you should get up, stand up and even lie down at work: Libby Sander

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Sydney's south-west had 2014's highest housing capital growth, according to recent research by Knight Frank/Residex.
It put the region's annual growth at 15.6%, which was higher than the over all 12.9% Sydney metropolitan growth.
The next strongest was the north-west at 14.9% annual growth.
The city and south was the weakest growth region at 10.5% annual growth.
<img src="/images/2015/03/23/syd-mar-23-one.jpg" alt="">
 
<img src="/images/2015/03/23/syd-mar-23-two.jpg" alt="">
 
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Sydney's south-west records highest 2014 housing capital growth: Knight Frank/Residex

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GUEST OBSERVATION
The <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/australias-largest-private-landholder-s-kidman--co-puts-business-up-for-sale-20150410-1mhz3a" target="_blank">announcement</a> of <a href="https://www.kidman.com.au/" target="_blank">S. Kidman &amp; Co</a>’s intention to sell their pastoral business and 11 leases marks a new waypoint in South Australia’s progress towards a post-colonial world. From the time when Sidney Kidman first cohabitated the bush with <a href="https://teq.queensland.com/~/media/185E91B3D97A4D08B60F585237250381.ashx?la=en-ME">Billy the Aboriginal</a> to the <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/indigenous/apy-inquiries-still-under-wraps-no-action-taken-on-recommendations/story-fn9hm1pm-1227188926313?login=1">adjistment of stock</a> in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara-Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands in 2014, Kidman’s history has been interwoven with Indigenous Australia. Not surprisingly the announcement has sparked interest across Indigenous social networks.
The company’s success has generated spectacular interest ever since Kidman’s first Kapunda horse sale in 1900. Kidman’s biographers <a href="https://www.idriess.com.au/thecattleking.htm">Idriess</a> (1936) and <a href="https://browseinside.harpercollins.com.au/index.aspx?isbn13=9780732286101">Bowen</a> (1987) provide fairly romantic pictures of the man and his early colonial success, which can be collaborated in Aboriginal accounts.
Kidman relied on good judgement of people, animals and land. At a time when others in industry were struggling to affirm terra nullius and Social Darwinism as necessities in the settler legal fiction, Kidman was recruiting indigenous “boundary riders” in places with no boundaries, branding cleanskin cattle and ensuring flows of cattle were heading to market.
Land-holding was secondary to maintaining flows and relationships. At his retirement dinner in 1927, Kidman <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/40773564" target="_blank">quoted a reputable authority</a>: “he never saw blacks happier or better cared for than at Macumba”.
<a href="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/78694/area14mp/image-20150421-12015-bewyfy.jpg"><img src="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/78694/width237/image-20150421-12015-bewyfy.jpg" alt=""></a>
 ‘Cattle King’ Sidney Kidman built his company on good relations with the Indigenous inhabitants of the land. <a class="source" href="https://images.slsa.sa.gov.au/mpcimg/06750/B6749.htm" target="_blank">State Library of South Australia</a>
Under successive Kidman managers, the station went on to devise strategies preventing a Macumba stolen generation. Multi-racial communities survived at Macumba until the late 1950s and at Anna Creek till 1979. Rain-makers were paid on productivity bonuses and aspects of customary law were easily maintained on Kidman stations.
Kidman stations became havens for those fleeing poor treatment elsewhere. In 1980, when I first arrived at Oodnadatta, I soon learned of stockman finding skulls with bullet holes in the dune country north-east of the Macumba. Not until 2014 did I learn that some of the same men were actually descended from <a href="https://archive.org/stream/RecordsSouthAus25Sout/RecordsSouthAus25Sout_djvu.txt" target="_blank">Wangkangurru survivors</a> who fled the killings in the Kalakoopah around 1884.
A long struggle for land rights
The passing of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anangu_Pitjantjatjara_Yankunytjatjara_Land_Rights_Act_1981" target="_blank">Pitjantjatjara Lands Act</a> in 1981 generated a sense of betrayal in Oodnadatta. Senior Yankunytjatjara men living at Oodnadatta had supported the bill, knowing that under customary law their own interests to the north-west would eventually be recognised. Those of Lower Southern Aranda and Wangkangurru descent had missed out.
My employers at the time, the men called me to a meeting: "How come that mob get their land back first? We work hard on stations and speak English. They don’t speak English and sit down all day and they get their land back first!"
It was a question I could not really answer, but I knew that somehow black, spear-carrying Pitjantjatjara symbolised “real Aborigines”, empowering a politic within the settler mythology. A month later, in April 1981, the men confronted the land minister, Peter Arnold, at the Oodnadatta airport. According to one department official, “the minister was sorely embarrassed”.
About the same time, Labor MLC Frank Blevins and the future deputy premier, Don Hopgood, met the Oodnadatta Aboriginal Housing Society chairperson, Aboriginal lawman and former Kidman employee, Sidney Stewart, on the police station lawn. (Two-and-a-half years later, in custody again, Stewart would die pushing the lawnmower.) Blevins and Hopgood looked out on streets paved with broken glass and vowed to do something about it.
Once in government, they did; Mt Dare station was purchased to become a national park. The pastoral leases that would have terminated around 2000 were converted into rolling 28-year leases, the closest thing to perpetuity for Kidmans. As early as 1983, the government began informal recognition of native title on non-indigenous pastoral leases, with the first attempts at mining industry “site clearances” to protect Aboriginal heritage in the Arckaringa basin.
In 2012, after a 14-year claim process, the Arabana were <a href="https://www.nntt.gov.au/News-and-Publications/latest-news/Pages/ArabananativetitleclaimresolvedinSouthAustralia.aspx" target="_blank">granted native title</a> to almost a fifth of South Australia. The determination remains controversial, with a lack of clarity as to who is really represented.
<a href="https://www.nntt.gov.au/ILUAs/Pages/default.aspx" target="_blank">Indigenous land use agreements</a> (ILUAs) signed by the claimants and other parties transfer most future rights to the State of South Australia and other persons. The <a href="https://www.humanrights.gov.au/publications/un-declaration-rights-indigenous-peoples-1" target="_blank">United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples</a> (UNDRIP) provides for future economic development by Indigenous people, something expressly ruled out in the Arabana consent determination.
The <a href="https://nativetitle.org.au/profiles/profile_sa_arabana">Arabana Aboriginal Corporation</a> (RNTB) reported assets of around $3.3 million in 2014, a paltry sum compared to what may be realised in the Kidman sale and the “future acts” of the colonising government. As a result of native title, Kidman leases gained additional certainty.
While Western Australia’s <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-04/ningaloo-station-negotiations-western-australia/6279262">resumption of pastoral leases</a> for tourism and closure of Indigenous communities as a <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-28/calls-for-apology-over-27lifestyle-choices27-comment/6298084" target="_blank">“lifestyle" change</a> make news, the 2013 <a href="https://www.nccarf.edu.au/publications/community-based-adaptation-arabana" target="_blank">Arabana Climate Change Adaptation Project</a> found Arabana people already living in cities and co-management with mining companies as two manifestations of climate-change adaptation.
‘How do we get the land back?’
When I returned to the north of South Australia last year, I discovered people still putting the same question: “How do we get the land back?” They are still sharing a vision of a post-colonial world that has yet to arrive. Despite the <a href="https://legal.un.org/avl/ha/dicc/dicc">outlawing of colonisation</a> by the United Nations in 1960, a second wave of colonisation has proceeded with increasing land enclosure masked by native title.
Coming as it does in a boom market, Kidman’s deserve to get a good price for the business; however, what will Central Australia’s future be like under new, less-related owners? While South Australia continues to be supported by <a href="https://www.southaustralianhistory.com.au/landtitle.htm">settler legal fictions</a>, whose country is really up for sale?
Any sale is more likely to involve the Foreign Investment Review Board than the Indigenous Land Corporation. I cannot help wonder when the bones of Wangkangurru ancestors will stop surfacing east of the Macumba.
Paul Reader is senior research fellow at University of New England.
This article was originally published on <a href="https://theconversation.com" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.
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Kidman’s sale marks second wave of South Australian colonisation: Paul Reader

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No longer the buoyant property market, quarterly rental data released recently by CoreLogic RP Data, show Perth rents for houses and units are down 5% plus over the past year.
The research analyst and report author Cameron Kusher noted the region with the toughest conditions for landlords was central metropolitan Perth rentals - down 10%.   <img src="/images/2015/04/10/perth-april-13-one.jpg" alt="" style="line-height: 1.3em;">
<a href="/images/2015/04/10/perth-april-13-two.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="/images/2015/04/10/perth-april-13-two.jpg" alt=""></a>
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Central metropolitan Perth rentals down 10%: CoreLogic RP Data

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Darwin gross rental yields range from 5.62% at Fannie Bay to 6.47% within the tightly held Darwin hub, according to recent Knight Frank/Residex research.
Darwin's overall gross rental apartment yield was 5.87%.
<img src="/images/2015/03/23/darwin-mar-23-one.jpg" alt="">
<img src="/images/2015/03/23/darwin-mar-23-two.jpg" alt="">
<a href="/images/2015/03/23/darwin-mar-23-three.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="/images/2015/03/23/darwin-mar-23-three.jpg" alt=""></a>
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Darwin's 5.87% gross rental apartment yield: Knight Frank/Residex

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Confidence in the real estate and construction sectors remains high, the latest ANZ/Property Council sentiment survey showed.
There was a weakening in some states, especially WA on the transition of the economy from the resources boom, the chief executive of the Property Council Ken Morrison said.
But property - expressly housing - was now the source of economic growth.
 <img src="/images/2015/04/23/anz-april-23-four.jpg" alt="" style="line-height: 1.3em;">
<img src="/images/2015/04/23/anz-april-23-five.jpg" alt="">
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Housing the source of economic growth: ANZ/Property Council

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Recent research shows there is only a $5 difference between median rents in regional Geelong and Melbourne, according to Knight Frank/Residex research.
Click to open in new windows:
<a href="/images/2015/03/23/melb-mar-23-one.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="/images/2015/03/23/melb-mar-23-one.jpg" alt=""></a>
<a href="/images/2015/03/23/melb-mar-23-two.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="/images/2015/03/23/melb-mar-23-two.jpg" alt=""></a>
<a href="/images/2015/03/23/melb-mar-23-three.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="/images/2015/03/23/melb-mar-23-three.jpg" alt=""></a>
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Only $5 difference between Geelong and Melbourne apartment rentals: Knight Frank

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GUEST OBSERVATION
The Property Council of Australia refutes claims made today that average Australian workers are not the main beneficiaries of negative gearing.
The latest available data from the Australian Taxation Office is indisputable and it shows that some of Australia’s most valued, but lower paid workers are the primary beneficiaries of negative gearing.
This includes the 42,000 nurses, midwives and aged care workers, 62,000 teachers and child carers, 12,300 emergency service workers and 83,000 clerical staff, who all earned around or under $80,000 p.a. and negatively geared a property in the 2012 Financial Year.
It is misleading to claim that these people only earn under $80,000 per annum because they substantially reduce their gross taxable income.
A detailed analysis of the ATO Tax Statistics shows, for example, that 8,885 registered nurses, 3,120 primary school teachers, 2,880 secondary school teachers, 3,350 education aides, and 2,945 child care workers all declared a net rental loss and had a taxable income of between $6,001 and $37,000 per annum.
Selected key professions from ATO Taxation Statistics 2011-12
<table style="width: 460px;" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="395">
Occupation[i][i]
(Taxable income less than $80,000 p.a.)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
No. declaring a net rental loss
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="395">
Emergency services workers
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
12,315
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="395">
Teachers and child carers
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
61,500
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="395">
Nurses, midwives and aged care workers
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
41,980
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="395">
Cleaners and housekeepers
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
6,940
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="395">
Clerical staff
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
83,280
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="395">
Hospitality trades
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
21,555
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="395">
Hairdressers
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
1,645
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="395">
Sales assistants
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
46,450
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="395">
Transport workers (truck, bus, rail and delivery drivers)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
15,525
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="395">
Tradies (carpenters, plumbers, garners, electricians, motor mechanics)
</td>
<td valign="top" width="213">
34,395
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
The data clearly shows that negative gearing is something middle Australia uses to help build their household wealth, build for their future, and provide security for their families.
Negative gearing provides an opportunity for average working Australians to save to get ahead.
Demonising negative gearing, or disregarding its substantial benefits - in terms of household and retirement savings, stimulating housing supply and rental affordability - willfully disadvantages some of the hardest working, lowest paid people in the country.
Negative gearing is predominantly used by young people and 91% of people who declare a net rental loss own only one or two properties.
These people aren’t the rich and famous, nor are they property barons, but they do deserve a fair go and that’s why negative gearing must remain.
Ken Morrison is the chief executive of the Property Council of Australia.
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Lower paid workers are the primary beneficiaries of negative gearing: PCA's Ken Morrison

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GUEST OBSERVATION
Tax concessions for investment housing include a 50% discount off normal individual tax rates on capital gains together with so-called ‘negative gearing’ arrangements, which allow investors to deduct ‘losses’ made on rental property investments (including interest on loan re-payments) from other income (including wages).
Deductions can, of course, be claimed for losses on other kinds of investments and this would not normally be regarded as a ‘tax concession’. The unique feature of ‘negative gearing’ for investments in assets such as property, shares, and agricultural schemes is that income from these investments often comes mainly from capital gains – the increase in the value of the asset over time.
Under the Capital Gains Tax rules these are only taxed when the asset is sold, and then at half the marginal tax rate. Yet expenses associated with the investment (especially interest payments on loans) can be deducted from tax annually and often exceed rental income.The tax system treats this as a ‘loss’. These ‘losses’ can be offset against other income that would otherwise be taxed at the full marginal rate (mainly wages).
In reality, in most cases the investment is not making a ‘loss’ because it is accruing capital gains. Otherwise there would be no point investing in these assets. If the tax system properly matched income and deductions, then either capital gains would be taxed each year at normal marginal tax rates or deductions for ‘losses’ could not be offset against other income until the capital gains are taxed on sale of the asset.
Whenever deductions for investment expenses are not properly matched with income, there is always a risk that people will maximise ‘losses’ in order to avoid tax on their other income.
This is achieved by structuring debt so that interest expenses on loans to purchase the asset exceed income from the investment such as rent, for instance by using more expensive ‘interest only’ loans (often with flexible interest re-payments so that investors can ensure their costs always exceed rental income), or by borrowing more to buy second and third properties as soon as the first one turns a ‘profit’.
In recent years, since superannuation legislation was amended to allow it, investors have been encouraged to borrow to invest in rental property through self-managed Super funds. A major advantage of this strategy is that capital gains on the sale of assets in Super funds are normally free of tax. Negative gearing is mainly used for rental property investment because housing is perceived to be a safe investment to borrow against, but it is also used to invest in agriculture (for example pine plantations), and shares (‘leveraged equities’).
The large-scale use of these tax schemes not only threatens public revenue and faith in the fairness of our tax system. It also reduces the efficiency of investment by encouraging people to invest with tax avoidance in mind rather than to achieve the best return at the least risk. It destabilises the economy by encouraging people to borrow more than they otherwise would and adding fuel to booms in asset prices – which are often followed by recessions.
Given that most negatively geared investment is in rental property, these schemes impact especially on housing markets. They encourage borrowing to speculate on housing prices, rather than patient investment in housing to achieve the best long term rental yield.
How widespread is their use? In the last year for which tax statistics are available (2011) two thirds of individual rental property investors – 1.2 million people - reported deductable losses of $14 billion. When those who reported profits from rental properties are included, taxpayers still claimed $8 billion in net rental losses overall in that year. Both the overall number of rental property investors, and the proportion who are negatively geared, have risen dramatically since 2000, when tax rates on personal capital gains were halved.
<img src="/images/2015/04/22/neg-april-22-one.jpg" alt="">
Source (figures 4-6): Eslake (2014)Op.cit
What do they cost and who gains? The Grattan Institute calculated that the cost of negative gearing concessions (compared to a regime in which deductions could only be claimed against income from the same investment) was $2 billion in 2011-12. The cost of the 50% discount on Capital Gains Tax for individual investors was $5 billion.
There is a perception that negatively geared investors are mostly middle income earners – so called ‘mum and dad investors’. This claim is usually based on the Tax Statistics data on individual taxpayers produced by the ATO. These data should be used with caution as they understate the incomes of negatively-geared rental property investors for the following reasons:
<ul>
<li>Taxpayers are divided according to taxable income, which is artificially reduced by tax deductions arising from negative gearing strategies;</li>
<li>Many property investors (especially those with higher incomes) control their investments through private trusts.</li>
<li>They are listed in the tax statistics as recipients of trust income rather than direct property investors.</li>
</ul>
When the Reserve Bank compared investment in rental property by individual taxpayers at different levels of total income (rather than taxable income), they found that over half of all geared rental property investors earned over $100,000 (the top 10% of taxpayers in 2011) and 30% earned over $500,000.
<img src="/images/2015/04/22/neg-april-22-two.jpg" alt="">
Source: RBA (2014) “Financial stability review, September 2014. Box C: Households’ investment property exposures, evidence from tax and survey data.”
At the household level, the tax benefits of negative gearing and the Capital Gains Tax discount go mainly to those with high incomes.
In 2006, households in the highest income quintile (top 20%) received an average benefit of $73 per week from negative gearing and $30 per week from the capital gains tax discount. When combined ($103 per week), this was twice the benefit received by the middle quintile ($45 per week) and over 12 times what the lowest income quintile receives (a combined eight dollars per week).
<img src="/images/2015/04/22/neg-april-22-three.jpg" alt="">
Source: Yates (2010) in Stewart ‘Housing and Tax Policy’. Tax concessions by gross household income quintile, 2006.
Weekly benefit from negative gearing is averaged over only those households with negative rental income. Sourced from Melbourne Institute HILDA survey.
This is an exerpt from the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) report, ‘Fuel on the fire: Negative gearing, Capital Gains Tax and housing affordability. Read the full report <a href="https://www.acoss.org.au/media/release/new_report_calls_for_action_on_negative_gearing_and_capital_gains_tax" target="_blank">here</a>.
Peter Davidson is senior advisor with ACOSS.
Ro Evans is policy officer with ACOSS.
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Negative gearing and CGT discounts - how these tax breaks work: ACOSS

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Buoyant property market conditions do not always mean that all sectors of the property market are performing well according to quarterly rental data released today by CoreLogic RP Data research analyst and report author Cameron Kusher.
Kusher said: “With new housing supply increasing and investor purchasing at record highs we have seen a significant slowdown in the rate of rental growth over the past couple of years and we expect this trend to continue over the coming year."
CoreLogic RP Data's Quarterly Rental Review results show that over the first quarter of 2015 national house and unit rental rates increased by just 1.3% while advertised weekly house and unit rents have risen 1.2% at a combined capital city level over the three months to the end of March 2015.
Click to open in new window:
<a href="/images/2015/04/10/brisbane-april-13-one.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="/images/2015/04/10/brisbane-april-13-one.jpg" alt=""></a>
<a href="/images/2015/04/10/brisbane-april-13-two.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="/images/2015/04/10/brisbane-april-13-two.jpg" alt=""></a>
Picture courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Clarebear/ <a href="https://www.propertyobserver.com.au/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0" target="_blank">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>.
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Ipswich house rents in reverse: CoreLogic RP Data

The residential transformation of St Kilda Road is set to continue into with more new apartment plans for the sought-after boulevard.

Wing Tai Asia has lodged plans for a major residential tower at 464-466 St Kilda Road, replacing the former VACC House with an 18-storey mixed-use development designed around a retained heritage podium and a sculpted contemporary tower.

The proposal, prepared under Victoria’s Significant Residential Development with Affordable Housing pathway, would deliver 325 apartments and ground-floor retail across the prominent 4,653 sqm boulevard site in Melbourne’s St Kilda Road North Precinct.

The project centres on the adaptive reuse of the site’s heritage-listed VACC Building, an eight-storey office designed by Bernard Evans that has occupied the address for decades. Planning documents state the development would involve “carefully dismantling and conserving off-site the original metal fabric of the podium visible from St Kilda Road,” before reinstating it as the defining frontage of the new scheme.

Above the restored podium, Wing Tai is proposing a curvilinear residential tower. The scheme includes 172 one-bedroom apartments, 63 two-bedroom apartments, 66 three-bedroom apartments, and 24 four-bedroom apartments, alongside two ground-floor food and beverage tenancies fronting St Kilda Road.

The tower has been designed with substantial articulation and variable setbacks to minimise perceived bulk and maintain view corridors along the boulevard. Urbis, which prepared the planning report, said the design “has been significantly articulated through a curvilinear design” with “an interplay with materials, façade expression and depth” to create visual separation and visual interest.

The proposal also includes 254 basement car spaces, landscaped pedestrian links connecting St Kilda Road and Queens Lane, and a biophilic landscape strategy featuring canopy trees, raised planters, cascading greenery and a glass oculus pool overlooking the eastern frontage.

Planning documents confirm the $270.1 million development will contribute 3 per cent of project costs to the Social Housing Growth Fund as part of the application process.

Wing Tai acquired the St Kilda Road property in 2018 alongside Abacus Property Group for $95.38 million, before later consolidating ownership of the site. The property previously served as the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce headquarters for around 60 years.

The transformation of the St Kilda Rd boulevard is already beginning to materialise, with a number of high-profile projects recently completed, launched, or approaching launch as developers continue to back the long-term appeal of the precinct.

Among the most notable recent completions is Louise by Samuel Property Group, just off the strip on Queens Lane, the same pocket Hirsch &amp; Faigen recently launched The Queensbury. Mirvac is too on the same street with The Albertine, which is approaching completion.

Dexus recently secured approval for its slice of St Kilda Road, while Gurner also has approved plans for the precinct.

Joel Robinson

Wing Tai unveils 325-apartment St Kilda Road tower on former VACC House site

Malaysian developer <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/s-p-setia">SP Setia</a> is the latest to jump into St Leonards booming Transport Oriented Development precinct.

The developer, which has previously delivered Sapphire by the Gardens apartment development in Melbourne, identified the Atchison Street site in 2023. It filed a Scoping Report around 12 months ago, and now has revealed the designs for the new&nbsp;40-storey mixed-use tower.

The State Significant Development Application covers <a href="https://next-portal.urban.com.au/projects/14650/summary">20-22 Atchison Street</a>, a 1,374 sqm site positioned between St Leonards Station and the new Crows Nest Metro station.

Designed by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/cox-architecture">COX Architecture</a>, the project would deliver 181 apartments, above a four-storey commercial podium, five basement levels, and new public domain works along Mitchell Street. The apartment mix comprises 35 one-bedroom apartments, 39 one-bedroom-plus-study apartments, 85 two-bedroom apartments, and 22 three-bedroom residences.

The proposal has been lodged as a shop-top housing development under the NSW Government’s TOD planning pathway, which allows increased density around key transport infrastructure. The site sits within the recently rezoned Crows Nest Accelerated TOD Precinct.

<img alt="First look: SP Setia targets St Leonards skyline with 40-storey TOD tower" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="b799673d-48e2-46b0-801a-0e33a9330100" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/atchinson%20site.png?VersionId=dPh0UfwfaHpbFL1R7H1cbZNbIW0CHbCC" />

SP Setia acquired the Atchison Street site as part of its continued expansion into the Australian apartment market. In comments made to City &amp; Country (The Edge Malaysia) in 2023, SP Setia President and CEO Datuk Choong Kai Wai described the acquisition as “a strategic move” aligned with the group’s post-pandemic market recovery strategy.

“Our target for this exceptional development is local and overseas buyers, including first-home buyers, downsizers and investors,” Choong said.

The tower has been designed as a slender vertical form rising from a mixed-use podium, with COX Architecture positioning the development as a response to the evolving St Leonards and Crows Nest skyline.

“The purpose of the project is to facilitate the delivery of high-quality housing at a strategically located site and deliver a built tower outcome that is consistent with the desired future character of St Leonards and aligns with the TOD controls,” the design report stated.

<img alt="First look: SP Setia targets St Leonards skyline with 40-storey TOD tower" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="b1a85eee-76f7-436c-a6da-73ba827b9b13" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/atchinson%20entry.png?VersionId=dA9jHGPMcm.dDbwk4QfxqWiY5bfh3UVt" />

The podium would incorporate retail uses fronting Atchison Street, commercial tenancies, landscaped communal areas, and pedestrian improvements along Mitchell Street. Vehicle access and loading would be consolidated via Atchison Lane.

Residents would have access to more than 665 sqm of communal indoor and outdoor spaces, while the development proposes 96 parking spaces across five basement levels.

The proposal also includes a commitment for 10 per cent of residential floor space to be allocated toward affordable housing through a monetary contribution.

COX said the tower form responds directly to the emerging high-density character of the precinct while seeking to maximise solar access, cross ventilation, and outlook from apartments.

<img alt="First look: SP Setia targets St Leonards skyline with 40-storey TOD tower" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="2163f85c-f63b-4be3-aafa-f8763976cec5" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/Article%20Feature%20Image%20%28Grid%29_5.png?VersionId=WiAmtIKJ6.ZQ41EtYEQ1fol7AeorKBlL" />

“The building is orientated towards north,” the Apartment Design Guide compliance report noted, adding that the tower’s slim form was driven by the constrained inner-urban site dimensions.

The design also incorporates landscaped setbacks and communal open space at podium level, intended to soften the interface with surrounding streets and improve pedestrian amenity.

The project adds to a growing wave of redevelopment proposals reshaping St Leonards and Crows Nest following the opening of the Sydney Metro City line and the NSW Government’s push for higher-density housing around major transport nodes.

Last week Stockland filed plans just down the road. They want to build a <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/601-pacific-highway-st-leonards-nsw-2065">52-storey tower on Pacific Highway</a>.

Read more:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/news/nsw/first-look-stockland-plans-52-storey-538-apartment-st-leonards-tower">First look: Stockland plans 52-storey, 538-apartment St Leonards tower&nbsp;</a>

First look: SP Setia targets St Leonards skyline with 40-storey TOD tower

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/urban-property-group">Urban Property Group</a> has revealed plans for a new mixed-use tower at 10 Dangar Street, Wickham, advancing a proposal that would reshape the southern gateway to Newcastle’s city centre with one of the city’s tallest residential buildings.

The State Significant Development proposal, now on exhibition, seeks approval for a <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/bowline-10-dangar-street-wickham-nsw-2293">43-storey tower</a> immediately adjacent to the Newcastle Interchange. The project would deliver around 200 apartments, including 42 affordable housing dwellings, alongside 99 co-living units, a 171-room hotel, retail space, and new public domain integrated through the site.

The scheme marks a significant escalation of plans previously approved for the site. Urban Property Group took over the prominent 2,904 sqm parcel, where excavation and demolition had already commenced under an earlier consent for a 14-storey mixed-use development.

<img alt="First look: Urban Property Group unveils Newcastle’s next supertower at Wickham interchange" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="58a96dd9-407f-4d20-86b4-94e4bfeef74b" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/wickham%20podium.png?VersionId=LGlf08pdFGAZDzvx_CXC4XakHNZRuEE0" />

Designed by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/sjb-architects">SJB</a>, the tower has been conceived as a landmark transit-oriented development anchored to the Newcastle Interchange precinct. The proposal includes 245 build-to-sell apartments across a mix of one, two, and three-bedroom residences, as well as two penthouses. Fifteen apartments and one operational unit are earmarked for NDIS housing. The co-living component would add a further 99 units, while the podium would accommodate retail uses and hotel facilities.

SJB said the site presents “a valuable opportunity to anchor the precinct by setting the standard for design, active ground planes and character at the key southern gateway.”

The architecture responds directly to the site’s position beside major transport infrastructure and within one of Newcastle’s fastest-evolving urban renewal precincts. The tower form sits above a sculpted podium designed to frame new public spaces, including a through-site pedestrian link connecting Station Street to Hannell Street, landscaped plazas, and activated retail edges.

<img alt="First look: Urban Property Group unveils Newcastle’s next supertower at Wickham interchange" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="a7bd6ff0-f7db-4ce8-a6dc-ea56e72c6149" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/wickham%20lanne.png?VersionId=xzf39VADyhj7zBQY2I9fx9vI62u2tuSb" />

The design report describes the project as part of the broader transition of Wickham into “a vibrant, high-quality mixed-use urban precinct” that leverages proximity to the station, open space, and regional connectivity.

A detailed public art strategy has also been prepared for the development. The strategy positions the project as “a transit-oriented development of state significance at the gateway to Newcastle’s city centre” and outlines a series of integrated artworks responding to Newcastle’s industrial and transport heritage.

Creative Road’s curatorial framework for the project, titled Unveil, draws on “stratified surfaces, carved volumes, and light-filled apertures” while referencing Newcastle’s transformation from an industrial city into a contemporary education and technology hub.

<img alt="First look: Urban Property Group unveils Newcastle’s next supertower at Wickham interchange" data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="77a882bb-14b1-4d28-99ff-9438e39508c0" src="https://s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/www.urban.com.au/s3fs-public/inline-images/wickham%20site.png?VersionId=cevgo_vN0eKPK78P8YcEu3mKPLkpFqE7" />

The proposal is being advanced through the NSW Housing Delivery Authority pathway after being declared State Significant Development in June 2025. The accompanying scoping report states the development aims to “maximise the site’s proximity to the Newcastle Interchange by delivering transit-oriented development” while increasing housing supply and affordable housing provision within the Newcastle LGA.

Urban Property Group’s plans align with the long-term strategic vision established under the Wickham Master Plan, which identified the interchange precinct as suitable for substantial uplift in height and density. The current proposal would significantly intensify that vision, positioning the tower among the tallest developments proposed for Newcastle.

The site sits immediately north of the Newcastle Interchange, bounded by Dangar Street, Hannell Street, and Charles Street. It is surrounded by a rapidly growing cluster of residential towers and mixed-use projects that have emerged following the completion of the light rail and transport interchange.

First look: Urban Property Group unveils Newcastle’s latest tower at Wickham interchange

Bottega House has completed settlement of a landmark riverfront site in Macquarie Street, St Lucia, representing its first major Brisbane development.&nbsp;

Positioned on the banks of the Brisbane River, the <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/180-macquarie-street-st-lucia-qld-4067">premium site at 180 Macquarie Street</a> features uninterrupted river frontage in one of Brisbane’s most tightly held residential precincts.&nbsp;

The proposed development, currently under assessment with Brisbane City Council, has been designed by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/architects/plus-studio">Plus Studio</a> with interiors by <a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/interior-designers/mim-design">Mim Design</a> and will deliver a boutique collection of premium residences positioned specifically for owner occupiers and downsizers.&nbsp;

The residences are set to redefine luxury apartment living in the area, with a focus on architectural quality, refined finishes, landscape integration and elevated amenities including curated wellness facilities, resort-style pools and recreation spaces rarely seen in the local market.&nbsp;

Exclusive sales for the project will be led by Keenan &amp; Byrne, ahead of an anticipated launch later this year.&nbsp;

Bottega House Managing Director Nick Malloch said the project reflects the group’s ambition to deliver a highly curated residential offering within one of Brisbane’s most tightly held precincts.&nbsp;

“This is an incredibly rare riverfront opportunity and one we have approached with a long-term perspective,” Malloch said.&nbsp;

“Our vision from the outset was to create a boutique collection of residences that feel more like private homes than traditional apartments, with generous proportions, refined finishes and exceptional amenity throughout."

Malloch says there is a&nbsp;lack of premium owner-occupier stock of this quality in the market, particularly for downsizers wanting space, privacy and a true lifestyle offering without compromise.&nbsp;

"Demand is expected to be strong given the scarcity of premium riverfront opportunities of this nature within Brisbane’s inner-west."&nbsp;

Bottega House secures landmark riverfront site in St Lucia 

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The arrival of the first piling rig officially marks the commencement of construction at SIERA’s new beachside apartment development, Exhale, in Northcliffe.

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/new-apartments/exhale-surfers-paradise-8-enderley-avenue-surfers-paradise-qld-4217">Exhale</a>, a glass-encased tower featuring 54 large-scale apartments at 8 Enderley Avenue, is SIERA’s third Gold Coast development. It follows the recently completed PIPIS Bilinga beachfront project, which achieved suburb-record prices, and the soon-to-be-completed Chevron Island development, Tapestry.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=112661 project_image_fid=359603]

<a href="https://www.apartments.com.au/developers/siera">SIERA</a> Founder and Managing Director Brent Thompson said the arrival of the piling rig represented a significant milestone for the development, which is scheduled for completion in late 2028.

Over the next month, around 260 piles are expected to be installed as work progresses on the basement structure. The building is anticipated to rise above ground level early next year, before unveiling its sculptural glass curtain wall, developed in collaboration with specialist façade engineers.

“The façade was designed to maximise panoramic coastal views while creating a distinctive architectural identity,” Thompson said.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=112661 project_image_fid=355935]

Designed by BDA Architecture, Exhale will comprise just 54 two- and three-bedroom residences across 26 levels, a level of low-density living rarely delivered in this beachside pocket between Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach.

The project has been conceived as a resident-only building, with no short-stay accommodation permitted. SIERA says the model is intended to appeal to long-term owner-occupiers rather than transient holiday demand.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=112661 project_image_fid=361052]

Residences have been designed with large-format layouts and expansive glazing, with most apartments featuring more than 30 metres of glass frontage to maximise natural light and ocean views.

The amenity offering spans two levels and centres on wellness and lifestyle, including a heated magnesium pool, sauna, yoga and Pilates studio, gymnasium, private dining facilities, cinema lounge, and dedicated surfcraft storage.

[smartcode_project:default project_id=112661 project_image_fid=359607]

More than half of the apartments have already sold. SIERA has also opened a sales gallery for Exhale at its Chevron Island commercial premises, near its Tapestry tower and the site of its second Chevron Island apartment development, which is slated to launch in early 2027.
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[smartcode_project_cta:default project_id=112661]

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