Agenda

Day One | Wednesday, 17 June

8:30

Housekeeping

8:45

Welcome to Country

9:00

Chairperson’s Welcoming Address 

Mark Degotardi, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Community Housing

9:15

What is Affordable Housing? Why Clarity and Purpose are Critical to Effective Delivery

Unclear and inconsistent definitions of affordable housing continue to undermine the establishment of a coherent and scalable affordable housing sector
Variations across jurisdictions increase the risk of misaligned policy settings, ineffective investment decisions, and housing outcomes that fail to deliver genuine, long-term affordability
Understanding the critical differences between affordable rental housing and discounted-to-market models, and why a consistent, workable definition is essential to enable productivity, investment confidence, and effective delivery at scale

Professor Rachel Ong ViforJ, Member, National Housing Supply and Affordability Council

Building Confidence in Affordable Housing

10:00

The HAFF and Affordable Housing

Impact of HAFF on the supply of affordable housing in 2026
What’s working, what’s stalling, and what comes next for affordable housing supply?
What has changed in R3 compared to earlier rounds, and why?

Michael Carmelengo, Deputy Chief Investment Officer, Housing Australia

10:30

Morning Tea

11:00

Building Hope: The Long Road to Affordable Housing at Queenscliff Community Centre – presented by IDG Architects

Simon Thorne, Director, IDG Architects

11:20

From Policy Innovation to Delivery at Scale – Insights from around Australia

What it takes to build affordable housing faster and lessons from delivering at scale
Compare and contrast with what's happening in NSW, Victoria and WA

Facilitator: Mark Degotardi, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Community Housing

Simon Newport, Chief Executive Officer, Homes Victoria

Andrew Hannan, General Manager Built Form, DevelopmentWA

Rebecca Pinkstone, Chief Executive Officer, Homes NSW

12:35

Networking Lunch

12:55

Lunch and learn: Data is the Difference

This session will look at two different case studies, that paint a clear picture on how data is the difference: between intent and execution, between savings and cost, and between leading change and reacting to it.

Daniel Tregurtha, Sales Director, Detector Inspector

1:30

Attendees will now have the opportunity to join a stream of their choice. These are smaller grouped sessions, designed to be more interactive and engaging with audience involvement encouraged.

Stream A: Planning
Facilitator: Jason Perdriau, Deputy CEO, CHIA Vic

1:30

Data Driven Affordable Housing

Improving housing data collection to ensure policy is evidence based
Using technology to speed up the preconstruction phase

Professor Christopher Pettit, Director, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW

2:15

How is Planning Reform Impacting the Delivery of Affordable Housing?

Rebecca Lyons, Partner, Urbis Planning

Stream B: Build
Facilitator: Caitlin McDowell, Deputy CEO, CHIA NSW

1:30

Fireside Chat: The Future of the Construction Workforce

Understanding the construction workforce gap and what this means for housing delivery, project timelines, and long-term industry capacity
Examining how competing infrastructure pipelines, skills shortages, and current training and migration settings are shaping workforce availability
A look into strategies for skilled migration and reforming apprenticeships

Dr Robert Sobyra, General Manager of Research and Strategy, BuildSkills Australia

Melissa Byrne, National Director of Policy and Legal, Master Builders Australia

2:15

Panel: Beyond the Build

Why maintenance and lifecycle costs in remote housing are significantly higher than metropolitan averages and how this should reshape funding and design decisions
Innovative maintenance and asset management models that build local capability, reduce response times and improve housing longevity
Shifting the focus from upfront capital delivery to whole-of-life stewardship, to ensure remote housing remains safe, functional and fit for purpose

Tony Del Nevo, Associate, MBM

Scott Bacon,Group Executive Manager – Strategic Assets and Growth, Home in Place

Nicholas O'Neill, Managing Director, Moov Modular

Stream C: Finance & Innovation
Facilitator: Peter Johnston, Executive Director, Socia Investors

1:30

Panel: Returns, Rents and Reality: The truth about BTR and Affordability

How Build-to-Rent developers can effectively partner with CHPs
Leveraging this model to diversify rental stock and meet planning mandates

Jan Berriman, Chief Executive Officer, Housing First

Ashley Reed, Chief Financial Officer, Model

Steph Harper, National Director, Living Sectors, Valuation & Advisory Services, Australia, CBRE

2:15

Bringing Diverse Funding Streams Together: Delivering Real Community Outcomes

How Community Housing Providers can combine multiple funding sources to deliver projects that achieve both scale and meaningful social outcomes
Managing compliance, reporting, and operational requirements across multiple funding sources
What makes a site feel equitable and cohesive, especially for older residents (65+)
Strategies for designing and managing spaces that foster genuine community, not just co-location

Salman Choudhry, Interim Chief Investment Officer, Housing Choices Australia

Lucy Simms, Chief Commerical Officer, WPI

3:00

Afternoon Tea 

3:35

Panel: Designing Communities with Affordable Housing

Designing for community - exploring how affordable housing requires a different place management approach
Making mixed-tenure communities work in practice
From theory to delivery: what actually works?

Facilitator: Sarah Toohey, Chief Executive Officer, CHIA Vic

Sarah Buckeridge, Co-Managing Director, Hayball

Tanya Edmonds, Director, Placemaking & Partnerships, Housing Choices Australia

Alix Rhodes, Executive Director Strategy, Policy & Planning, Homes Victoria

4:35

Chairperson’s Closing Address

4:45

Networking Drinks and End of Day 1

Day Two | Thursday, 18 June

8:50

Chairperson’s Welcoming Address

Mark Degotardi, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Community Housing

9:00

Affordable Housing in 2026 (Minister for Housing Opening Address)

Overview: As Australia enters 2026, housing affordability and homelessness remain defining national challenges with profound social and economic consequences. In this opening address, Hon Clare O’Neil outlines where the housing system stands today, what has shifted over recent years, and what must happen next to deliver lasting change.

The Hon Clare O’Neil, Minister for Housing, Minister for Homelessness, Australian Government

Economic Enablers for Housing Affordability

9:20

Panel: Investing in Community Housing: From a Super Perspective

Looking at investment/capital to date, and what can be done to encourage this from an investor perspective
BHC: Example of a strong partnership and scalable model that is attractive to institutional capital
What must happen next to scale investment in 2026 and beyond?

Facilitator: Gemma Pinnell, Principal, Right Lane Consulting

Jamie Muchall, Deputy CEO & COO, Brisbane Housing Company Limited

Ryan Murphy, Director, Real Estate Strategy, QIC

James Koval, Chief of Policy, ASFA.

10:15

First Nations Housing Sovereignty

What Housing Sovereignty actually means in practice and why control over housing design, tenancy models, and place matters for outcomes
What happens when funding flows directly to Aboriginal Community Controlled Housing Organisations?
Housing as a foundation for closing the gap and understanding links between secure housing and outcomes in health, education, justice, and employment

Stacey Broadbent, Chief Executive Officer, Aboriginal Community Housing Limited

10:45

Morning Tea & Networking

11:15

Attendees will now have the opportunity to join a stream of their choice. These are smaller grouped sessions, designed to be more interactive and engaging with audience involvement encouraged.  

Stream B: Remote & Regional Housing Delivery
Facilitator: Sarah Toohey

11:15

Delivering Regional Affordable Housing

What is blocking regional delivery today? Unpacking the compounding barriers of land availability, infrastructure readiness, construction costs, workforce shortages, and planning timelines
Why do current funding and delivery models struggle in regional contexts, examining where metro-centric assumptions fail, and how risk is mispriced
What must change to unlock sustainable regional supply? From policy, procurement, and partnership reforms

Alicia Follent, Acting Chief Executive Officer, Community Housing Ltd.

John De Vries, Chair of the Board, Community Housing Ltd.

11:55

Designing for Country, Climate and Culture

Embedding Indigenous knowledge and connection to Country into affordable housing design
Integrating climate-responsive design with cultural and environmental context
Balancing cost, scale, and delivery constraints with design quality
Encouraging collaborative, community-led and multidisciplinary design approaches

Dr Jefa Greenaway, Founding Director, Greenway Architects (GA)

12:25

New path to home ownership for Australia’s forever renters: Can we make housing more affordable and improve intergenerational equity

Caitlin McGee, Research Director, University of Technology Sydney

Stream A: Finance & Innovation
Facilitator: Michael Palassis, Executive Director, Paxon Group

11:15

Valuing Social and Affordable Housing: Driving Finance & Asset Class Establishment Through Cashflow-Based Approaches

How cashflow-based valuations support finance and meet lender LVR covenants
Practical examples of projects that have been supported
The potential for standardising this approach to unlock broader funding streams, including super funds

Steph Harper, National Director, Living Sectors, Valuation & Advisory Services, Australia, CBRE

12:10

From Concept to Capital: Engaging Institutional Investors for Community Housing Projects

How can Community Housing Providers work with institutional investors to fund affordable housing projects?
Understanding operational insights, risk management, and practical considerations for scaling projects through HAFF and other investment pathways
What are the key constraints for project funding?

Andrew Brooks, Group Executive Homes, SGCH

Iain Wood, Director, Conscious Investment Management

1:00

Networking Lunch

1:20

Lunch and learn: Managing risk and insurance across the property development lifecycle

Join us for a practical Lunch & Learn that walks through the key risk and insurance considerations across pre‑construction, construction, and operational phases of property development. Dean and Brad will explain the insurance timeline — including principal‑arranged vs contractor‑appointed covers, Delay in Start‑Up and Latent Defects policies — and highlight what to look for in construction contracts and SPV arrangements as debt covenants and stakeholder roles evolve.
Designed for Community Housing Provider development stakeholders and project teams, the session will cover site‑selection factors, when principal‑arranged insurance makes sense, implications of modern methods of construction, and how to manage insurance within a project SPV. Expect practical, contract‑focused guidance you can apply straightaway to align insurance with risk transfer and financing requirements from development into operation.

Brad Day, National BRM – Corporate Construction, Marsh

Dean Mumm, Executive Manager - Client Solutions, JLT Risk Solutions

The Road Ahead

1:50

Closing the Gender Gap in Housing – A Roadmap for Change

Housing systems are not gender neutral — women and gender-diverse people face disproportionate barriers to housing security driven by the gender pay gap, unpaid care responsibilities, and gender-based violence
Drawing on a multi-year national research project engaging over 100 stakeholders, this session presents a practical roadmap for embedding a gender lens across housing investment, policy and program design
From gender-disaggregated data and trauma-informed design to institutionalising gender in funding rounds and planning reform, the roadmap outlines concrete short and long-term actions for government, philanthropy, investors and housing providers

Dr Kate Raynor, Fellow & Lead Researcher, Per Capita

Julie Reilly OAM, CEO, Australians Investing In Women

2:30

Panel: The Impact of AI on Affordable Housing in Australia

This session will look at the impact AI has and could have on Australian affordable housing in the future. From positive impacts such as faster approvals, smarter planning and better resource allocation. To the negative, including, possible job displacements, regulatory compliance and distraction from deeper issues such as labour shortages and finance. One thing is certain, AI offers significant potential in affordable housing however, its role will be complex.

Facilitator: Luke Achterstraat, CEO, CHIA NSW

Michael Park, Partner, Dentons

George Giannes, National Manager – Capital Markets & Special Projects, Blue CHP

Professor Christopher Pettit, Analytics Lab, City Futures Research Centre, UNSW

3:20

Closing Discussion: Demographic Trends and What It Means for Affordable Housing

A robust debate on demographic trends and what it means for affordable housing
How are demographic trends going to impact demands?
Final predictions for the market in 2027

Facilitator: Alexandra Raphael, Director of Policy, ACH

Simon Welsh, Director – Research and Reputation, Redbridge Group

Caitlin McGee, Research Director, University of Technology Sydney

4:00

Chairperson’s Closing Remarks

4:10

End of Summit

Day 1

Agenda

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Day One | Wednesday, 17 June

8:30

Housekeeping

​

8:45

Welcome to Country

​

9:00

Chairperson’s Welcoming Address

​

9:15

What is Affordable Housing? Why Clarity and Purpose are Critical to Effective Delivery

​

​

​

Building Confidence in Affordable Housing

10:00

The HAFF and Affordable Housing

​

10:30

Morning Tea

​

11:00

Building Hope: The Long Road to Affordable Housing at Queenscliff Community Centre – presented by IDG Architects

​

11:20

From Policy Innovation to Delivery at Scale – Insights from around Australia

​

12:35

Networking Lunch

​

12:55

Lunch and learn: Data is the Difference

​

1:30

Attendees will now have the opportunity to join a stream of their choice. These are smaller grouped sessions, designed to be more interactive and engaging with audience involvement encouraged.

​

Stream A: PlanningFacilitator: Jason Perdriau, Deputy CEO, CHIA Vic

​

​

​

1:30

Data Driven Affordable Housing

​

2:15

How is Planning Reform Impacting the Delivery of Affordable Housing?

​

3:00

Afternoon Tea

​

3:35

Panel: Designing Communities with Affordable Housing

​

4:35

Chairperson’s Closing Address

​

4:45

Networking Drinks and End of Day 1

Stream A: Finance & InnovationFacilitator: Michael Palassis, Executive Director, Paxon Group

​

​

​

11:15

Valuing Social and Affordable Housing: Driving Finance & Asset Class Establishment Through Cashflow-Based Approaches

​

12:10

From Concept to Capital: Engaging Institutional Investors for Community Housing Projects

Chairperson’s Welcoming Address 

Stream A: Planning
Facilitator: Jason Perdriau, Deputy CEO, CHIA Vic

Afternoon Tea 

Stream A: Finance & Innovation
Facilitator: Michael Palassis, Executive Director, Paxon Group