REIA is a proud founding member of the Parliamentary Friendship Group for Better Cities. The group features a diverse membership from the Bus Industry Confederation to the Council of Capital City Lord City Mayors. All of its member organisations collectively believe that the design of better cities is vitally important to our nation. 

Since the group was established we have held several highly successful functions at Parliament House with keynote guest speakers (such as urban specialist, Lucy Turnbull), who have passionately spoken about the importance of offering multiple transport options to residents as well as the important of transport connectivity for both residents and commerce. These functions have attracted many Senators and Members of Parliament interested in learning more about how the Commonwealth Government can help ensure the liveability of our cities into the future.

REIA believes in the importance of this group in highlighting issues that effect real estate but may not be traditionally perceived as associated with the housing market.  Active transport is a great example as a transport system has the potential to make a considerable contribution to boosting physical activity levels through active travel, which in turn reduces the burden on our federal and state/territory health budgets while increasing the efficiency of the road network.

The Move It report, released by the National Heart Foundation and the Cycling Promotion Fund, both founding members of the parliamentary group, demonstrates that it is becoming more and more recognised that the transport system affects the health and wellbeing of the whole population, both directly and indirectly. The report provides the example that it has been estimated that the Australian healthcare system could save $1.5 billion each year if more people were physically active for 30 minutes a day.

Further, the report highlights that a comprehensive literature review looking at the relationship between population health and built environment has identified the following as significant domains of the built environment that support human health:

- physical activity—getting people active for travel and recreation.

- social interaction—connecting and strengthening communities through incidental interaction, planning and building community spaces, and designing for crime prevention.

Both factors are strongly linked to transport and access. Walking, cycling and taking public transport all involve significant amounts of physical activity and so are good for people’s health. 

However, ensuring that our transport network also improves access to low and no-cost modes, which is a significant benefit to disadvantaged and low socio-economic groups.

These issues may seem removed from the real estate sector but consider how well entrenched the concept of home is in the Australian mindset. Australia has high home ownership levels and people often consider their home to be the foundation of their lifestyles. Given this, access to multiple transport options including active transport is a very real factor considered by potential home buyers and any real estate agent will tell you, that transport access is frequently raised in home inspections. For this reason, REIA will continue to be an active member of this group and encourage the Commonwealth Government to help ensure the liveability of our cities.