Jago Dodson informs us via Energy Bulletin of his new report, written with colleague Neil Sipe,  examining the spatial vulnerability of Australian urban areas to fuel price and mortgage interest rate rises.

An earlier paper "established a basic method for assessing oil vulnerability via a spatial index that measured a combination of car dependence and socio-economic status at the level of the Census Collection District. We termed our original index the ‘vulnerability index for petroleum expense rises’ (VIPER). "

The latest paper "examines the spatial vulnerability of Australian urban areas to fuel price and mortgage interest rate rises."

"The report maps the extent of mortgage and oil vulnerability at the local scale. We note that outer and fringe suburban areas where there are higher proportions of households with mortgages, where car dependence is greater and where incomes are more modest are the most vulnerable to rising fuel price and interest rate impacts."

"To assess how the impact of these three factors is likely to be distributed across Australian cities we have created a new index, the ‘vulnerability assessment for mortgage, petrol and inflation risks and expenditure’ (VAMPIRE)." 

The report is available for free download [PDF].