Peter Mares
Journalist, Broadcaster, Presenter, MC & Facilitator
An independent writer and researcher specialising in housing, migration and social policy. A former ABC journalist and foreign correspondent, Peter is the author of No Place Like Home: Repairing Australia’s Housing Crisis and several award-winning books on migration and refugees.
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Peter Mares is an independent writer and researcher specialising in housing, migration, cities and social policy. He is a contributing editor at Inside Story magazine, a fellow at the Centre for Policy Development, an adjunct senior research fellow at Monash University’s School of Media, Film & Journalism, and a member of the moderating team at the Cranlana Centre for Ethical Leadership.
Peter is the author of several influential and award-winning books. His most recent book, No Place Like Home: Repairing Australia’s Housing Crisis (Text Publishing, 2018), examines the structural causes of Australia’s housing challenges and pathways for reform. In June 2020, this work was extended into a four-part series, Housing the Australian Nation, broadcast on ABC Radio National’s Earshot program and now available as a podcast.
His earlier books include Not Quite Australian: How Temporary Migration Is Changing the Nation (Text Publishing, 2016) and Borderline (UNSW Press, 2002), an award-winning account of Australia’s treatment of refugees and asylum seekers. In 2018, Peter co-edited an edition of Griffith Review with Julianne Schultz titled Who We Are, focusing on migration, identity and belonging.
From 1987 to 2011, Peter worked as a journalist and broadcaster with the ABC, presenting national radio programs and serving as a foreign correspondent. Following his time at the ABC, he worked on urban policy as Cities Fellow at the Grattan Institute. He has been associated with the Cranlana Centre for Ethical Leadership since 2013 and served as its Lead Moderator and Program Director from 2018 to 2022.
