1 SAFER HOUSING: WHAT DO CONSUMERS THINK? J. Minnery 1 , S. McFallan 2 , E. Mead 3 and D. Fedrick 4 Abstract This paper reports on a specific component of a project that investigated the barriers to implementing safe housing features in new and renovated Queensland homes. Builders and suppliers claim that the knowledge, opinions and demands of consumers are critical in shaping the features builders include in housing. So what do customers actually think about safety inclusions in housing? This question was explored using focus groups made up of first home buyers, people buying a second or later home, home renovators, and residential property investors. The research found that the knowledge held by customers was extremely variable. Some were poorly informed, had little idea of the extent of injury in the home, and had only a hazy knowledge even of mandatory safety requirements. Some were very well informed but traded off safety improvements against aesthetics, convenience or cost. Overall, this research on consumer knowledge and opinions showed that there are considerable gaps in consumer awareness, but that these vary according to the type of consumer being addressed. Merely making information available – or even regulating safety features – will not necessarily lead to greater consumer awareness and acceptance. Keywords: Customer opinion, home safety, Queensland, knowledge. 1 Introduction There is clear evidence that people’s homes are a major setting for injuries and even death from accidents and the cost to the community is enormous. In 1995-96 the estimated cost of injury in Australia was $13,000,000,000 [1]. Almost half of the injury presentations to emergency departments in Queensland hospitals are the result of an accident in the home [2]. This jumps to 57 per cent when focusing on children alone [3]. The cost of injuries to the community and government is huge. Yet despite the evidence available, individual consumers appear to be unaware of how unsafe their homes can be. There are many widely acknowledged ways of making homes safer. Two important approaches that have become the basis of government programs and regulations are:  The use of appropriate devices or fixtures, such as smoke alarms, hot water tempering valves, grab rails, hobless showers and electrical safety switches; and/ or 1 School of Design & Built Environment, Queensland University of Technology, Australia. j.minnery@qut.edu.au 2 CSIRO Manufacturing & Infrastructure Technology, Australia. stephen.mcfallan@csiro.au 3 School of Design & Built Environment, Queensland University of Technology, Australia. e.mead@qut.edu.au 4 School of Design & Built Environment, Queensland University of Technology, Australia. d.fedrick@qut.edu.au