Leonie King

Some information was released overnight about the LNP Housing Plan, ahead of today's State Budget reply speech. While there are still many details to come, it's encouraging to see some of the proposed measures in scope, including shared equity programs and major infrastructure partnerships with local government to increase housing supply. New and innovative concepts for maximising church-owned land and utiliising vacant bedrooms make for interesting reading. And if the reports are accurate, there is a strong commitment to achieving housing targets leading up to 2046. Q Shelter is looking forward to unpacking all the details and providing useful budget analysis for the sector. This will include areas of convergence with the major parties on housing policy and differences in approaches. https://lnkd.in/g6FcR_Qh Stay tuned. #StateBudget #Housing #Homelessness #HomeMatters #BetterTogether #Queensland

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Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) Alliance have published our Best Practice Guide: SDA. Best practice specialist disability accommodation (SDA) is participant-focussed, ethical, and relentless in its pursuit of delivering high-quality, contemporary housing. The collaboration of our board, staff, membership, and sponsors has enabled us to publish a document that I see as the capstone of the next phase of work needed in the SDA space. The purpose of the best practice guide is to offer guidance and recommendations on several significant areas of SDA, including: -Design best practice + innovation in design -Thin markets -Participant engagement: design + build process -Conflict of interest + rights and responsibilities -Separation of housing and care supports -Service agreements with participants -Tenancy management -Safety and complaints process -Choice and control + participant safety -Diversity + inclusion -Quality providers – staffing, organisational culture The Best Practice Guide: SDA is available via our website: https://lnkd.in/gRhcU_6F #SDA #SpecialistDisabilityAccommodation #SDAAlliance #Disability #NDIS #NationalDisabilityInsuranceScheme Toni Michael Tina

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The South Australian Housing Authority will be renamed the South Australian Housing Trust to restore community connection with the organisation and to better reflect its current objectives. In 2018, SA Housing Authority (SAHA) was created and had responsibility for all functions of the Housing Trust. As a result of decisions taken by former Governments, SAHA had a mandate to sell housing – which it did for 29 out of the past 30 years. Not only has this government stopped the sale of public housing properties, it is also on track to deliver the biggest investment in public housing in decades, fast-tracking construction, with over 1,000 homes projected for completion by 2026. Total commitments to public housing total 4,817 homes by 2026, including major updates and upgrades to existing homes.

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Queenstown Lakes District Council looks likely to drop its controversial Inclusionary Housing Variation to the Proposed District Plan at its next Full Council meeting on 1 August. In a surprisingly direct move, the Independent Hearing Panel has asked that Council drops the Variation, primarily because it does not believe that the Council has adequately explored alternative ways of achieving affordable housing objectives. The IHP recommendation was buried 150 pages deep into a lengthy report and was very critical of Council officers' work. The following is a direct quote by the Panel "there are a number of reasonably practicable options before the Council that have not been assessed, or which have been inadequately assessed." The panel then went on to say "Given the lack of adequate assessment, we do not have the evidence to assess the efficiency and effectiveness of those options, and the submissions and evidence of the various submitters indicate that they may well be equally or more efficient than the provisions of the Variation." In other words, the Commissioners found that Council should have done more detailed work on other options before it tried to push through the Inclusionary Zoning Variation in its current form. The Commissioners concluded by saying that because of this inadequate evidence provided by Council there would be greater risks at this stage acting on the Variation rather than not acting. In response to the Commissioners' report, Council officers have recommended to Councillors that the proposed Variation be dropped, primarily citing prudent use of resources through not needing to go through legal appeals processes as being the key reason. So does this push us back to square one on affordable housing in Queenstown Lakes? The short answer is no, we do need to bear in mind that inclusionary zoning was merely one potential tool for affordable housing in play. Clearly more work needs to be done on improving the long-term provision of affordable housing in the District, but in the meantime, the work by the Queenstown Lakes Housing Trust, which continues to scale up will continue. And bear in mind that many developers are, and will continue to voluntarily contribute affordable housing allocations, often totaling 5% or more as part of their developments. Of course, these two activities are clearly not yet enough to structural improve housing affordability and security of tenure for households across the District , but in the eyes of the Commissioners, neither is the Inclusionary Zoning Variation in its current form... Council officer report to Councillors is available here: https://lnkd.in/gBDNsRuN The Independent Hearing Panel report that recommends Council drops the Variation is available here: https://lnkd.in/gdZGPDA9

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Too many public services have become disconnected from the people and places they serve, which is having profound implications on outcomes and costs. In the fifth installment of our Prioritising Public Services series, John Copps delves into the power of cooperative principles in reshaping public service delivery models to be more community-centric. By involving local people and communities in decision-making processes, we can bridge the gap that often exists between services and their users. Over the course of the next month, we'll explore what applying insights from cooperative principles means in the these three areas where the issues facing public services are most acute: ➡ Children's residential care ➡ Primary care ➡ Adult residential care Cooperative principles are a powerful tool to guide change. Read the full blog to learn more: https://lnkd.in/eGxkzNVJ Interested in hearing more about cooperative principles in action? Register for our upcoming webinar on June 27th, 'Connecting Public Services with People and Places using Cooperative Principles'. 📅 Save the date! #CooperativePrinciples #PublicServices #PublicServiceReform #Communities #CommunityMatters #CommunityEngagement

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Government Grant funding between $80,000 and $400,000 to support projects which prevent technology facilitated abuse of women. Projects should be focussed on the prevention of online harm and enhanced safety for women and children. For example projects may: - Aim to change community attitudes and behaviours, - Focus on the perpetrators of technology-facilitated abuse, or - Seek to protect and support women and children. Up to $600,000 of the total funding is allocated to organisations delivering projects that focus on prevention of tech-based abused of First Nations women. Eligible applicants must: - Hold an ABN. - Be registered for GST. - Have an Australian bank account. - Be a legal entity. - Be a non-government organisation, NFP or charitable organisation registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profit commission. - Be financially viable. Eligible applicants for priority funding as a First Nations focussed project must: - Be an Aboriginal Controlled Community Organisation (ACCO), or - Be an organisation that is primarily focussed on achieving outcomes for First Nations communities, or - Be an organisation that is partnering with one of these eligible entities. Applications must be submitted by rpm (ACT local time) on 16th December 2024. For more information and to access the online application form follow the link below. If you need assistance with your application or an independent review to increase your potential for success please contact GrantSmart vie direct message.

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Important to see this action. As an organisation the Launceston City Mission joins with others looking to address the spectrum of needs to support the homeless and families needing a safe home, and welcome the support of all levels of government to help make that a reality. With the high cost of construction, rising cost of living, and the lack of availability of land, we stand at an importanttime in this nations history. Key, though, is that this issue cannot be seen only as an issue for the government and community sectors. Those corporations reaping the rewards of productivity gains from the Industrial Revolution 4.0, have an opportunity as corporate citizens to match the efforts of inspiring industry leaders during earlier industrial revolutions to help address social infrastructure and housing needs. Individuals and communities can also help, perhaps helping to find homes or opening land. Together we can make a real difference.

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It's hard to believe that the Commonwealth Government can't allocate a small portion of the $32 billion housing budget to support key peak bodies that play a crucial role in connecting the government and the housing sector. For almost fifty years, National Shelter has united the shelter network to aid governments in developing housing and homelessness policies. DSS, one of the mega departments that underpins policy in these areas- supports numerous peak bodies in the health sector for example, and had played a similar role in supporting housing and homelessness peaks until 2014. In contrast to this federal anomaly, most states and territories governments fund this critical function in their jurisdictions and seem to speak highly of the value it provides in terms of advocacy, policy development, sector engagement and participation. I note the support for the value and function of National Shelter from the crossbench, including Andrew Wilkie MP, Senator David Pocock. I know there has been several other representations made behind the scenes on this issue too. We hope the government and the opposition reconsider their positions on the importance of Commonwealth funding, at least in part, for the valuable role of bringing the ‘collective voice’ together in the housing and homelessness system, at the national level. Read more about the current predicament in The Saturday paper below 👇 https://lnkd.in/gxSedwpc #National #Housing #Homelessness #Funding #Coordination #FiftyYearsOfShelter #HomeMatters

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One of the themes I have been following across a range of terrific presentations at #Housing2024 is the theme of Place, People and Communities. Of course it’s a ‘no-brainer’ that Housing Associations (in the UK) and Community Housing Providers (in Australia) have direct control over ‘place’ and direct relationships with ‘people’ and inevitably this makes them a key contributor in the communities they work in. Some familiar concepts were routinely repeated: * where we live matters - in terms of health and well-being and providing a sense of connection * don’t talk about Houses and Units - but about ‘Homes’ * place making is at the heart of what housing providers do A new concept to reflect on was the extent to which the role of housing providers can be expanded to that of an ‘anchor institution’. In Australia, the concept of anchor institutions has more often been assigned to service agencies or other institutions (eg. Universities) but some of the examples demonstrated by various housing providers includes their roles in: *providing community spaces for children and families to gather * supporting community hubs where learning and social interaction occurs * in one case, running the postal service in that community because that was what the community needed (their CEO believed he was the only housing provider running a post office!) The reflection of another CEO on this topic, was rather than an ‘anchor institution’ - which has the connotation of being ‘stuck’ and ‘standing still’ - the preference was to be regarded as a ‘lighthouse or beacon’ in the community they supported. Do you agree there is opportunity for housing providers in Australia - whether as primarily Community Housing Providers or where housing provision is alongside community service activities - to take up the role of ‘Anchor Institutions’ - encouraging greater collaboration and leveraging collective resources with other providers and agencies - placing their residents at the centre of their approach? Charlotte Watson Housing 2024

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How do we improve independent scrutiny during policy reform? Independent scrutiny is critical to sound public policy governance, but how do we get the most out of it? 1️⃣ Who commissions the review matters! 2️⃣ Choose truly independent consultants. 3️⃣ Ensure a direct line to decision-makers. 4️⃣ Protect confidentiality. ➡️ Learn how to fix your reviews for better policy-making in my latest article: https://lnkd.in/gGzy-4Xm #PublicPolicy #Governance #PolicyReview

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Another spotlight on the State Budget here, this time focusing on areas responding to homelessness. Q Shelter and its members are actively participating in the ‘independent review of the homelessness response in Queensland’, being led by Rachel Hunter. We are pleased to see the previously announced 20% uplift in funding for specialist homelessness services (SHSs) included in the State Budget until June 2025. The budget papers show that additional investment is for another 12 months only, so depending on the review outcomes, it is very likely both the government and the sector will need to revisit that investment based on increasing needs, which are pretty plain for all to see. We consider it essential that the 20% uplift is locked in permanently now, while the review helps to determine how a successful system can be designed and delivered, with a future focus on prevention as well as crisis response. Looking forward to the Opposition budget reply tomorrow to see how this and many other housing and homelessness matters are considered. (Note: comments below from Premier Miles when the funding announcement was made back in February of this year) #StateBudget #Homelessness #Prevention #BetterTogether #HomeMatters

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"Governments are working together to design and deliver additional supports in the community. These additional supports are called Foundational Supports. These are specific supports that would be available outside the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) to help people with disability, and their families and carers. The NDIS has transformed the lives of many people with disability, and it is here to stay. The NDIS provides supports to eligible people with disability. Many people with disability are not on the NDIS. Some of these people, who are not on the NDIS, may need more help than what is offered through mainstream or community services, like early childhood education, schools and community mental health. This is where additional Foundational Supports can assist. We want supports that work, and meet the needs of people with disability. To do this, we need your help. Commonwealth and state and territory governments are working on this together. Importantly, people with disability and mental health concerns will be at the centre of this work. So will their families and carers, and the wider community. Consultations The Department is running an introductory webinar. This webinar is an opportunity to find out more about: the different types of Foundational Supports upcoming opportunities to contribute to the national public consultations on Foundational Supports. You do not need to do anything to prepare for this webinar. During this webinar, we will also provide information on other opportunities to have your say on Foundational Supports. The webinar will include Auslan interpreters and live captioning. The webinar will take place at 12pm (AEST) on 20 September 2024." Find out more below: https://lnkd.in/gSqpux3j

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We need policy change! 1. Transition Community Housing Rent Calculation:Shift from market-driven rates to income percentages, ensuring affordability for all. 2. Expand Housing First Initiatives:Prioritize stable housing to address personal challenges such as mental health or substance abuse. 3. Mandate Inclusionary Zoning:Require new developments to include a set percentage of affordable housing units. 4. Fast-Track Modular Housing:Speed up the approval and construction of modular homes to quickly meet housing needs. 5. Support Cooperative Housing Models:Promote cooperatives that provide residents with control and stability. 6. Incentivize Mixed-Use Developments:Encourage developments that combine residential, commercial, and recreational spaces. 7. Implement Vacancy Taxes:Tax long-term vacant residential properties to encourage their use. 8. Revise Urban Planning Regulations:Allow for more diverse housing solutions by amending restrictive laws. 9. Integrate Mental Health Services:Directly connect mental health support with housing programs. 10. Establish a Crisis Response Fund:Create a fund for rapid response to housing crises caused by natural disasters or economic downturns. Your thoughts?

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Calling All Who Care About the Future of the NDIS: Your Voice Matters! Are you passionate about improving the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)? Whether you're a participant, family member, carer, service provider, or simply someone who cares about disability rights, your input is invaluable! The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) is inviting everyone with an interest in the NDIS to become Participant First members and share their unique perspectives. What does being a Participant First member involve? By joining, you'll have the opportunity to contribute through a variety of activities like focus groups, interviews, workshops, surveys, and more. Your feedback will directly influence how the NDIS evolves to better support people with disability and their families. Why should you become a Participant First member? - Make a real difference in the lives of people with disability and their families. - Connect with a diverse community of like-minded individuals. - Gain a deeper understanding of the NDIS. - Have your voice heard and shape the future of the NDIS. If you're passionate about improving the NDIS, I encourage you to visit the NDIA website and fill out the Participant First form. Your contribution is invaluable and will help us build a stronger, more inclusive NDIS for all.🤟🌻 https://lnkd.in/g9CQT-Ks #NDIS #Disability #ParticipantFirst #MakeADifference #Inclusion #NDIA #DisabilityAdvocate #ParticipantFirst #Transparent #Responsive #Respectful #Empowering #Connected Bill Shorten

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Kāinga poor-er: We cannot accept bad housing for Māori & Pasifika – Karamia Müller Throughout the housing sector, various strategies for emergency housing, land supply, and affordable housing have been explored and debated. However, discussions around the specific needs and aspirations for Māori and Pacific housing are far less frequent. Read more...

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Strategies for NFPs to win funding & reform this election For NFPs, election campaigns are all about securing one of two things: funding or reform. Funding to continue or expand existing or pilot programs, and reform to introduce change to benefit the sector of society you represent. We know budgets are tight at federal & state levels, with significant deficits forecast. To win funding today a campaign needs to: - Demonstrate how programs can deliver upstream/downstream savings in other areas of the economy,  - Demonstrate a dire need for this service and the devastating economic, social, or cultural impacts if funding doesn’t occur, & - Have a well-structured ‘outside’ campaign which can cohere & influence voting behaviour. For Treasurers their focus is on tightening the purse strings, but when elections arrive, there are other rules, namely, winning seats & getting their hands on the machinery of government. Your goal in a campaign is to cohere then influence voting behaviour in order to extract the best funding and reform commitments you can from as many parties and candidates as possible. This is where the outside campaign comes into play. After doing seat analysis on the best seats to target your messaging to, an outside campaign is about putting your campaign on the national agenda by engaging the public through traditional media, social media, ads (optional), stakeholder engagement, and public political forums. You want parties and candidates to neutralise your issue with funding or reform commitments. To make that easier, campaign groups should develop campaign asks which are a mix of program expansion, pilot programs, & reforms. Your campaign doesn’t need to garner the interest of 50%+1 of the voting population. What your campaign needs to do is cohere a voting bloc that’s highly impacted by an issue, and allies. Think about the African Australians, 3-4 percent of the population. That may seem insignificant, but the issues facing this community – from racial profiling to educational and employment opportunities – aren’t marginal to them. While the national average may be 3-4 percent (around 4,000 votes), the concentration in certain seats is much higher. Focus your campaign in 2-3 seats and you have the capacity to become an electoral bloc that needs to be taken seriously through reform or funding. There are 16 federal seats with sub 4,000 vote margins. To make it easier for political candidates to support your reforms & funding asks – and to deliver for and energise your base – have a mix of funding asks: lower investment, a higher ambition pilot program that can be expanded when the budget opens up, and reforms that don’t require government spending, but pack a major punch, like employment or education quotas. https://lnkd.in/gND3Xcsw

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Collaborating with Barry Vienet of Johnson Recruitments on this article was a significant opportunity to shed light on Mornington Peninsula Shire's innovative steps to address the housing crisis. The Shire's proposal to treat social housing as essential infrastructure is a forward-thinking approach that could set a new standard for how local governments tackle this critical issue. I believe housing must be elevated to the same priority level as health and education in government policy. This development contribution scheme is a promising model that could be applied across other LGAs, helping to ensure that secure, affordable housing is accessible to all, not just a privilege for the few. https://lnkd.in/giZHz-aZ

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