Rate My Professor Hal Pawson

Hal Pawson is Emeritus Professor at the University of New South Wales. Designated as such in 2025, he was formerly Professor of Housing Research and Policy and Associate Director of the City Futures Research Centre from 2011 to 2025, within the Faculty of Arts, Design & Architecture. In this capacity, he led numerous research projects funded by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, the Australian Research Council, and other agencies. His key interests encompass housing policy governance and strategy, private rental housing, homelessness, social and affordable housing, and urban renewal.

Prior to joining UNSW, Pawson worked at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh from 1995 to 2011, where he retains an Honorary Professorship. He is also an Associate of the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at Sheffield University. Pawson served as Australasian Editor of the journal Housing Studies from 2011 to 2019 and as Managing Editor from 2019 to 2023. He holds a BSc in Geography with first class honours and a Masters in Public Policy Studies. Pawson is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, a non-Executive Director of Community Housing Canberra, and an unpaid policy advisor to Senator David Pocock. His publications include the co-authored books Housing Policy in Australia: A Case for System Reform (2020, second edition 2025) and The Private Rental Sector in Australia: Living with Uncertainty (2021), as well as After Council Housing: Britain’s New Social Landlords (2010) and numerous journal articles and reports on housing policy and related topics.