From the ‘burbs, to the bush, to the inner city, Australians are obsessed with the idea of home and the dream of home ownership.

Architecture and design enthusiast Tim Ross grew up in the suburbs, and ever since he was 8, when he found himself drawn to a family friends’ very groovy conversation pit, he has been thinking about homes and what makes a good one. 

In The Australian Dream? Tim Ross casts his discerning eye across the archival treasures of our much-loved public libraries and uncovers the telling images that reveal a multi-decade story of Australian homes - how they’re sold to us, why we buy them, and how we make them our own. Ross explores the reasons why home ownership is such an all-consuming distraction among Australians and uncovers some of the unique and special ways we have built in this place. 

A funny and factual talk based on 18 months of research, it includes a selection of new cinematic style films produced specially for The Australian Dream?

Australia is a nation that is undeniably fixated on property, but increasingly the headlines are about housing scarcity, affordability, and mortgage pain. For many Australians, owning a home now seems like an unattainable dream. So, what can we learn from our past to help solve the problems of the future, and how can we reimagine the Australian Dream?

This is Tim Ross doing what he does best: telling human stories anchored by his passion for Australian design, previously showcased in his ABC TV shows Designing A Legacy and Streets Of Your Town. 

“Ross has become one of TV’s most persuasive presenters: authentic, congenial, and knowledgeable. He brings with him a moral conscience too…He never misses an opportunity to slip a gag in, or an appropriate defusing one-liner delivered almost by a kind of verbal sleight-of-hand.” – The Australian 

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_{Image credit: Domestic swimming pool in the shape of Australia, 1979 - Stevenson, Kinder & Scott}