When home is a caravan park

It is only since 1986 that relocatable dwellings in caravan parks have been recognised as a category of permanent residence for census purposes. This fact highlights the apparent invisibility of a small but significant proportion of the Australian population. Recent literature has implicated high differentiation of the population, urban sprawl, and high rates of internal (particularly intra-urban) migration in the transmission of disadvantage. In this article, staff of the National Dissemination Program of the Hunter Caravan Project apply that analysis to their own experience of caravan park residency issues. Some very practical suggestions are made for addressing some of those issues as they apply to children.