Day One | Tuesday, 17 June 2025
7:45
Registration and Networking
Coffee and light breakfast provided
8:40
Welcome to Country
Kombumerri Man, Uncle John Graham
8:50
Housekeeping and Chairperson Introduction
Kate Colvin, Chief Executive Officer, Homelessness Australia
Queensland in Focus
9:00
With not for: Embedding practice, partnership and people
Stephen Simpson, Chief Executive Officer, Homelessness Queensland
9:05
From Policy to Practice: How Queensland is Tackling Homelessness and Housing Insecurity
Government initiatives, priorities, and collaborative strategies to prevent and end homelessness
Homelessness Ministerial Advisory Council
Providing tailored housing solutions to demographics at greater risk of homelessness
Hon. Samuel O’Connor MP, Minister for Housing and Public Works and Minister for Youth, QLD Government
Foundations of Practice: Theories, Knowledge and Safety
9:20
A stitch in time: Homelessness prevention in focus
Stephen Vines, State Director QLD, Mission Australia
9:35
International Keynote: Housing First as a program to end persistent homelessness: Learning From Success in the Netherlands
Supported by Launch Housing
Understanding the fundamentals of the Housing First model
Introducing Housing First as a systems approach
Anke Jansen, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Housing First Nederland
10:20
Morning Tea
10:50
Keynote: First Nations Homelessness- Activating real change
How to ensure service providers are facilitating a culturally safe environment for First Nations clients
Understanding homelessness with a First Nations lens to ensure responses are reflective of community needs
Neil Willmett, Chief Executive Officer, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Housing Queensland
11:15
Move to streams
11:20
Concurrent Sessions
Attendees can move between the three streams listed below
Sunset Room Stream: At the Intersection of Homelessness and Domestic and Family Violence
11:20
Exploring age-appropriate responses to young people fleeing domestic and family violence and homelessness
Session Moderator: Frances Crimmins, Chair, Homelessness Australia; Chief Executive Officer, YWCA Canberra
Amplify: A new family-violence and homelessness response for unaccompanied children and young people
Alice McDonald, Senior Family Violence Practicioner, Melbourne City Mission
Ollie Ryan, Youth Family Violence Peer Worker, Amplify
The Aspire Program - Meli Youth Services
Fiona Millard, Senior Case Worker, The Aspire Program, MELI
Jo Baillon, Manager Housing Services, MELI
12:05
Achieving better outcomes at the intersection of family violence and homelessness
Deborah Di Natale, Chief Executive Officer, Council to Homeless Persons
Tania Farha, Chief Executive Officer, Safe & Equal
Joal Presincula, Lived Experience Advisor, Council to Homeless Persons
Vicki V, Lived Experience Advisor, Council to Homeless Persons
12:50
Lunch
1:40
Panel: “You Can’t Ask That”
Join Professor Catherine Robinson as she takes a deep dive with panel members to unpack some of the sectors' most complex questions.
Moderator: Catherine Robinson, Associate Professor in Communities and Social Justice Lead, Homelessness ColLAB, University of Tasmania
Frances Crimmins, Chair, Homelessness Australia; Chief Executive Officer, YWCA Canberra
Dom Rowe, Chief Executive Officer, Homelessness NSW
Leah Watkins, Senior Advisor Supportive Housing Impact & Advocacy, Housing Choices Western Australia
Pam Barker, Chief Executive Officer, Brisbane Youth Services
Jonathon Louth, Director, Strategy, Research, Innovation, Centacare Catholic Community Services
2:20
Move to streams
2:25
Concurrent Sessions
Attendees can move between the three streams listed below
Malibu Room Stream: Ending First Nations Homelessness
2:25
Centering self-determined solutions
Session Moderator: Tina Ugle, Managing Director, Noongar Mia Mia
Exploring a blueprint for an Aboriginal specific homelessness system
Tim Cronin, Manager, Aboriginal Homelessness Reform, Aboriginal Housing Victoria
Indigenous Homelessness in the greater Darwin region
Scott McKeen, Chief Executive Officer, CAAPS Aboriginal Corporation
3:10
Afternoon Tea
3:40
Panel: Engaging Philanthropy in Ending Homelessness
Understanding philanthropic priorities and expectations
Creating a compelling funding proposal
Fostering on-going relationships with philanthropic organisations
Session Moderator: Frances Crimmins, Chair, Homelessness Australia; Chief Executive Officer, YWCA Canberra
Ryan Ginard, Head of Sector Development & Innovation, Minderoo Foundation
Sue Mowbray, Chief Executive Officer, Mercy Foundation
4:10
Move to streams
4:15
Concurrent Sessions
Ballroom Stream: Homelessness Systems Change
4:15
Homelessness is solvable: The Advance to Zero (AtoZ) framework in practice – WA case study
Debra Zanella, Chief Executive Officer, RUAH; Chair, Australian Alliance to End Homelessness
Michael Piu, Chief Executive Officer, St Patrick’s Community Centre; Co-Chair, Western Australia Alliance to End Homelessness; Board Member, Homelessness Australia
5:00
End of Day
Day Two | Wednesday, 18 June 2025
8:00
Registration and Networking
8:50
Housekeeping and Chairperson Introduction
Kate Colvin, Chief Executive Officer, Homelessness Australia
The Nation in Focus
8:55
A Systems Approach to Housing First: Learning from Success in the Netherlands
What transitional changes are needed to achieve a systems approach
Continuing to achieve progress in difficult times
Anke Jansen, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Housing First Nederland
9:40
Panel: New Directions for Community Controlled Homelessness Responses
Looking to an Aboriginal led homelessness system
Understanding place-based self-determined solutions to end First Nations homelessness
Moderator: Zachariah Matysek, Chief Executive Officer, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Housing Association (NATSIHA)
Darren Smith, Chief Executive Officer, Aboriginal Housing Victoria
Tina Ugle, Managing Director, Noognar Mia Mia
10:20
Morning Tea
10:50
Minister Address
The Hon Clare O’Neil MP, Minister for Housing, Minister for Homelessness and Minister for Cities (VIRTUAL)
11:20
Panel: Supportive housing: Joining up policy to address persistent homelessness
People experiencing persistent homelessness often have complex needs that intersect with disability, mental health, family violence, child and youth services, and aged care. With major reforms underway in aged care and disability — and growing government interest in supportive housing — this panel explores how the homelessness sector can leverage these shifts to deliver housing and support that lasts.
How can we tap into funding and policy beyond the homelessness portfolio to meet people’s full support needs? And how do we mitigate the risks of reform to ensure no one falls through the cracks?
Moderator: Gemma Pinnell, Principal, Right Lane Consulting
Danielle McAllister, Deputy Director-General, Policy, Performance and First Nations, Department of Housing and Public Works
Karen Walsh, Interim Chief Executive Officer, Community Housing Industry Association
Jane Barnes, Chief of Staff, Wintringham
Sue Pope, Chief Executive Officer, Common Ground Australia
Kate Colvin, Chief Executive Officer, Homelessness Australia
12:10
Lunch
1:00
Concurrent sessions
Attendees can move between the three streams listed below
Malibu Stream: Improving Homelessness Responses
1:00
Ending homelessness for older people
Session Moderator: Ivan Simon PSM, Inaugural Chairperson, NATSIHA
Supporting women over 50 years to access affordable and appropriate housing - how HOWSS is making a difference
Tegan Haslam, Program Coordinator, Footprints Community Limited
Not Gone and Should Never be Forgotten - Older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People's Housing Needs and Issues
Ivan Simon PSM, Inaugural Chairperson, NATSIHA
Elders Housing Project
Tina Ugle, Managing Director, Noongar Mia Mia
1:45
Unpacking coercion and how it seeps into our practice – by stealth, by design and by accident
Leah Watkins, Senior Advisor Supportive Housing Impact & Advocacy, Housing Choices Western Australia
Ewan Higgs, Housing Services Program Manager, Hobart City Mission
Charlotte Georgiou, Housing First Practice Lead, Unison
2:30
The Case for Youth Homelessness as a National Priority
John Macmillan, Chief Executive Officer, YFoundations
Lorraine Dupree, Executive Director, Queensland Youth Housing Coalition
3:15
Afternoon Tea
Advocacy
3:45
Panel: Winning Outcomes for Homelessness: Advocacy to Change the Nation
Moderator: Dom Rowe, Chief Executive Officer, Homelessness NSW
Nick Lucchinelli, Director, Hortons Advisory
Josh Burns MP, Special Envoy for Social Housing and Homelessness, Federal Member for Macnamara
4:30
Chairperson's Closing Comments
Kate Colvin, Chief Executive Officer, Homelessness Australia
4:40
End of Conference
5:00
Post-Conference Drinks Reception
Supported by QShelter
Keep the Conversation Flowing – Exclusive Closing Drinks
Join us for an intimate and relaxed gathering to continue those conversations you started throughout the conference. With extremely limited spaces available, this is a unique opportunity to unwind with fellow attendees, speakers, and industry leaders.
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