People become attached to places and places give meaning to their existence. Many rites of passage and significant moments are associated with certain locations which become recorded as favourite places. Ideas of home and neighbourhood also figure prominently in individual and collective self -understanding and identification, and yet in a world of increasing mobility and dsilocation, the idea of home also seems to be increasingly in question. The idea of home also figures for many as an image of security and safety, yet at the national level it is precisely the safety of the 'homeland' that has been made a central concern. The idea of home has also taken on a special form within Australian society and culture through the idea of home-ownership and the suburban lifestyle that often goes with it.