Australian public housing does not adequately provide safe and secure housing for the disadvantaged and needy. This article will demonstrate the issues that arise from poorly planned public housing developments, in particular issues relating to the spatial concentration of commission homes in low socio-economic areas. Australian government agencies are currently exploring solutions to the problems caused by public housing developments, which were mainly developed after World War II to address housing shortages. These homes built between 1940 and 1960 created “stressed” suburbs (National Archives of Australia, 2011). The physical problems of aging infrastructure and inadequate housing reflect only part of the problems faced by tenants, who are increasingly characterized by poverty, high unemployment and low levels of education. Furthermore, “within some properties, crime and the incidence of violence are increasing and tenants are more likely to be involved in crime as victims and/or offenders” (Athurson, 2002, p. 3) . This essay will reveal the need to create a more balanced social mix in Australia's suburbs and regions to stop the cycle of disadvantage. Furthermore, it will provide information on current issues related to social housing, the authorities' proposals for resolution and the expected benefits that should arise from the new approach to public housing development. Various strategies are being tested in all Australian neighborhoods to solve the problems manifested in large social housing developments. Carlton High Rise Renewal is an example of a successful approach to public housing regeneration and this should be incorporated into more public housing developments such as West Hei...... middle of paper ......lopment (OECD ) ( 1998), new policies aim to encourage the integration of communities to hopefully expand opportunities for people. Government agencies continually develop new ways to improve social balance within neighborhoods, but unfortunately these proposals are not always put into practice (Jamrozik, 2005). A recent draft report of the European Council on Employment and Social Policy (European Commission, 2001, p1) refers to the socially excluded as people who are “prevented from participating fully in the economic, social or political life of the nation”. There is broad agreement with Atkinson's (2002, p. 4) belief that social exclusion leads to "poverty, income inequality, low educational qualifications, disadvantage in the labor market, unemployment, poor health, inadequate housing or homelessness, illiteracy and numeracy." , k, 2002