The high cost of housing in many parts of Australia is already causing home ownership levels to drop, and the proportion of renters to rise. But we are still a long way from becoming a nation of renters. And that's partly because our tenancy laws and culture don't encourage us to choose long-term renting over buying.

I have conversations with current and past home buyers all the time during which they describe a desire to not use a real estate agent to help them buy their home.

Caroline Stalker, a director of Architectus Brisbane, will sit on the panel at the “Equally Liveable?” talk that will be taking place on Sunday 21 June. Stalker said that over her 27 year career as an architect she has seen change in the industry, but she is still often “the only woman around the table” due to the lack of women in urban design. She said that she often wonders about the impact this has on the way cities are designed.