Day One | Tuesday, 17 June 2025
8:00
Registration and Networking
Coffee and light breakfast provided
8:40
Welcome to Country
8:50
Housekeeping and Chairperson Introduction
Kate Colvin, Chief Executive Officer, Homelessness Australia
Queensland in Focus
9:00
Co-Chair Address: New directions in homelessness practice
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
Expanding Coordinated Housing and Homelessness Responses in priority locations to support people with complex needs
Providing tailored housing solutions to demographics at greater risk of homelessness
Samuel O’Connor MP, Minister for Housing and Public Works and Minister for Youth, QLD Government
Foundations of Practice: Theories, Knowledge and Safety
9:25
International Keynote: Housing First as a program to end persistent homelessness: Learning From Success in the Netherlands
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
10:10
Morning Tea
10:40
Keynote: Culturally Safe Homelessness Responses for First Nations Communities
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
Concurrent Sessions
Attendees can move between the three streams listed below
At the Intersection of Homelessness and Domestic and Family Violence
11:10
Exploring age-appropriate responses to young people fleeing domestic and family violence and homelessness
Moderator: Frances Crimmins, Chair, Homelessness Australia; Chief Executive Officer, YWCA Canberra
The Aspire Program - Meli Youth Services
Fiona Millard, Senior Case Worker, The Aspire Program, MELI
Jo Baillon, Manager Housing Services, MELI
11:55
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
12:40
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
Panel Speakers Incoming
Concurrent Sessions
Attendees can move between the three streams listed below
Ending First Nations Homelessness
2:15
Centering self-determined solutions
The Ngwala and Wathaurong entry points
Aboriginal Housing Victoria
Indigenous Homelessness in the greater Darwin region
Scott McKeen, Chief Executive Officer, CAAPS Aboriginal Corporation
3:00
Afternoon Tea
3:30
Panel: Engaging Philanthropy in Ending Homelessness
Understanding philanthropic priorities and expectations
Creating a compelling funding proposal
Fostering on-going relationships with philanthropic organisations
Ryan Ginard, Advocacy & Engagement, Minderoo Foundation
Concurrent Sessions
4:10
Housing First Systems change in Practice; Using the AAEH framework
Maria Leebeek, Chair, Gold Coast Homelessness Network (QLD), Chief Executive Officer, Gold Coast Youth Services
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
4:55
Chairperson Closing Comments
5:00
End of Day
Day Two | Wednesday, 18 June 2025
8:30
Registration and Networking
8:50
Housekeeping and Chairperson Introduction
Kate Colvin, Chief Executive Officer, Homelessness Australia
The Nation in Focus
9:00
Opening address: Speaker Incoming
9:25
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
10:15
Morning Tea
10:45
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
11:30
Panel: Supportive housing: Joining up policy to address persistent homelessness
12:10
Lunch
Concurrent sessions
Attendees can move between the three streams listed below
Improving Homelessness Responses
1:00
Ending homelessness for older people
Supporting women over 50 years to access affordable and appropriate housing - how HOWSS is making a difference
Footprints
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
2:30
Housing First, then what? Insights from the Lived Experience of the Housed Homeless
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
4:30
Chairperson's Closing Comments
4:40
End of Conference
5:15
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.
70% of tickets already sold! Email info@aventedge.com to secure your ticket