Rate My Professor Jenny Ombler

Jenny Ombler serves as a Research Fellow in the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago, Wellington, within the Faculty of Medicine. She is affiliated with the New Zealand Centre for Sustainable Cities, particularly through the Resilient Urban Futures programme focusing on urban change and local governance, and the He Kāinga Oranga/Housing and Health Research programme. Ombler holds an MA in International Relations and a BA (Hons) in Art History, International Relations, and Asian Studies from Te Herenga Wānanga o Te Ūpoko o Te Ika, Victoria University of Wellington. Her research specializations encompass governance dynamics, sustainability, and homelessness policy, alongside strong interests in the arts, critical theory, and international relations. She contributes to the Ending Homelessness in New Zealand: Housing First research programme, evaluating housing interventions for formerly homeless individuals, and has recently commenced a PhD examining the right to housing.

Ombler's scholarly contributions include key publications such as Ombler, J., Pehi, T., Chun, S., Lawson-Te Aho, K., Jiang, T., & Pierse, N. (2025). Outcomes for Māori participants in Housing First. International Indigenous Policy Journal, 16(2); Pehi, T., Fraser, B., Ombler, J., Buchanan, M., O'Sullivan, K., Jiang, T., et al. (2024). What about the kids? Identifying children in the housing support system in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Children & Society (advance online); Fraser, B., Aspinall, C., Chisholm, E., Ombler, J., Bierre, S., Telfar-Barnard, L., Johnson, E., & Howden-Chapman, P. (2024). A snapshot of a fragmented landscape: Homelessness law and policy in Aotearoa New Zealand. In C. Bevan (Ed.), The Routledge Handbook of Global Perspectives on Homelessness, Law & Policy (pp. 500-516); Jiang, T., Fraser, B., Buchanan, M., Aspinall, C., Guha Thakurta, A., Fasoro, A., et al. including Ombler, J. (2025). A survival analysis of mortality in a Housing First population in Aotearoa New Zealand. People, Place & Policy, 19(1), 20-34; and Fraser, B., Jiang, T., Aspinall, C., Pehi, T., Ombler, J., et al. (2026). Evaluating fifth-year outcomes of Housing First for women in Aotearoa New Zealand. Discover Public Health, 23, 198. Her work informs policy and practice on housing stability, health outcomes, and equity for vulnerable populations in Aotearoa New Zealand.