Rate My Professor Clare Aspinall

Dr. Clare Aspinall is a Research Fellow in the Department of Public Health at the University of Otago, Wellington, within the Faculty of Medicine. She earned her Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health in 2007, Master of Public Health in 2013, and PhD in Public Health in 2025, all from the University of Otago. Her doctoral thesis, titled "The evolution of housing first in Aotearoa New Zealand," examined the implementation and adaptation of the Housing First model across Hamilton, Auckland, and Wellington, employing qualitative case study methods and relating findings to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and policy contexts.

Prior to her academic roles, Aspinall served 13 years as a public health advisor at Wellington Regional Public Health, specializing in housing and homelessness. At Otago, she has worked as a Research Assistant, Lecturer—convening a postgraduate course on Society, Health, and Health Promotion—and Research Fellow within the He Kāinga Oranga Housing and Health Research Programme. She holds leadership positions as Vice Chair of Dwell Housing Trust and founding co-chair of the New Zealand Coalition to End Homelessness, with 16 years of governance experience in the community housing sector.

Aspinall's research specializations include homelessness, housing adequacy and equity, emergency and temporary housing, and effective interventions like Housing First. Key publications include "People with Disabilities in Emergency Housing: An Analysis of a National Administrative Database" (2026, International Journal on Homelessness), "People receiving the emergency housing special needs grant in Aotearoa New Zealand" (2025, International Journal of Housing Policy), "Evaluating fifth-year outcomes housing first for women in Aotearoa New Zealand" (2026), "A Survival Analysis of Mortality in a Housing First Population in Aotearoa New Zealand" (2025), and "Five-Year Post-Housing Outcomes for a Housing First Cohort in Aotearoa, New Zealand" (2024, International Journal on Homelessness). Her work contributes to understanding housing's impact on health and informing policy in Aotearoa New Zealand.