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

Dr Rachel Ong Viforj, John Curtin Distinguished Professor, Curtin University

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?

Scott Langford, Chief Executive Officer, Housing Australia

10:30

Morning Tea

11:00

Reserved Session

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

Simon Newport, Chief Executive Officer, Homes Victoria

12:30

Networking Lunch

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

1:30

Data Driven Affordable Housing

Improving data collection on affordable housing stock levels to ensure policy is evidence-based
Using technology to speed up the preconstruction phase

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

2:30

How is Planning Reform Impacting the Delivery of Affordable Housing?

Are planning changes at the state level delivering affordability?

Stream B: Build

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

Fireside Chat: 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, Executive Manager Strategic Growth, Home in Place

Stream C: Finance & Innovation

1:30

BTR & Affordable Housing Partnerships

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

2:15

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, Director, Living Sectors, Valuation & Advisory Services, Australia, CBRE

3:00

Afternoon Tea 

3:30

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?

Sarah Buckeridge, Co-Managing Director, Hayball

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

4:30

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: Who Lives in Affordable Housing?

For this discussion, we will be joined by tenants who will talk about the personal impact that affordable housing has made on their lives.

10:00

Reserved Session

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

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

Danny Dracic, Chief Executive Officer, Community Housing Ltd.

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

11:55

Designing for Country, Climate and Culture

Culturally responsive layouts that reduce overcrowding, improve liveability and extend dwelling lifespan in remote and First Nations communities
Designing homes that withstand extreme heat, humidity and weather events while remaining affordable to build and maintain over their full asset life
How poor design choices drive early asset degradation, high maintenance costs and poor tenant outcomes

12:25

How Government Partnerships Are Delivering Regional and Aboriginal Housing in South Australia

How South Australia is partnering with CHPs, Aboriginal organisations, and industry to deliver housing in regional and remote communities
What has had to change inside government to make delivery possible?
Practical lessons on collaboration, capability-building, and long-term stewardship

Stream A: Finance & Innovation

11:15

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

12:10

From Concept to Capital: Engaging Institutional Investors for CHP 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

12:35

From Capital to Concept: How Institutional Investors Assess, Shape, and De-Risk Affordable Housing Projects

How institutional investors assess affordable housing risk and return
How capital preferences shape project design, scale, and structure
What consistently prevents capital from moving, even when demand is strong?

Iain Wood, Director, Conscious Investment Management

1:00

Networking Lunch

The Road Ahead

2:00

Fireside Chat: 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?

Rebecca Oelkers, Chief Executive Officer, Brisbane Housing Company Limited

2:45

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.

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

Reserved Session

​

11:20

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

​

12:30

Networking Lunch

​

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

​

​

​

1:30

Data Driven Affordable Housing

​

2:30

How is Planning Reform Impacting the Delivery of Affordable Housing?

​

3:00

Afternoon Tea

​

3:30

Panel: Designing Communities with Affordable Housing

​

4:30

Chairperson’s Closing Address

​

4:45

Networking Drinks and End of Day 1

Stream A: Finance & Innovation

​

​

​

11:15

Bringing Diverse Funding Streams Together: Delivering Real Community Outcomes

​

12:10

From Concept to Capital: Engaging Institutional Investors for CHP Projects

​

12:35

From Capital to Concept: How Institutional Investors Assess, Shape, and De-Risk Affordable Housing Projects

Chairperson’s Welcoming Address 

Afternoon Tea 