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Agenda

Please note that this is a preliminary agenda. The full program will be released soon.

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

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

9:20

Keynote: Future Directions for the Homelessness Sector, a Queensland Perspective

  • Exploring a new homelessness practice model

  • Understanding new directions from the homelessness sector


Stephen Simpson, Chief Executive Officer, Homelessness Queensland

Foundations of Practice: Theories, Knowledge and Safety

9:45

International Keynote: A Systems Approach to Housing First: Learning From Success in the Netherlands

  • How to work collaboratively to realise Housing First together

  • Understanding the fundamentals of the Housing First model

  • What transitional changes are needed to achieve a systems approach


Anke Jansen, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Housing First Nederland

10:30

Morning Tea

11:00

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

11:30

Concurrent sessions

Attendees can move between the sessions listed under the three streams

New Homelessness Research

Presenting the latest data and findings to help deepen understanding and inform evidence-based practice

12:30

Lunch

1:30

Concurrent sessions

Attendees can move between the sessions listed under the three streams

Ending First Nations Homelessness

Centering culturally informed solutions and self-determination to achieve sustainable housing outcomes for First Nations people

2:40

Afternoon Tea

3:10

In Conversation: Ending Family Homelessness

Moderator: 

Frances Crimmins, Chair, Homelessness Australia, Chief Executive Officer, YWCA Canberra

3:40

Interactive Breakouts

Breakout A: 

New homelessness insights from AIHW data


Nikki Schroder, Head, Housing and Homelessness Reporting and Development Unit, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW)

4:30

Panel: Getting to First Base with Philanthropy

  • Understanding philanthropic priorities and expectations

  • Creating a compelling funding proposal

  • Fostering on-going relationships with philanthropic organisations


Ryan Ginard, Advocacy & Engagement, Minderoo Foundation

5:00

Chairperson's Closing Comments

5:10

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, Acting Chief Executive Officer, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Housing Association (NATSIHA)

10:25

Morning Tea

10:55

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

11:45

Concurrent sessions

Attendees can move between the sessions listed under the three streams

Advocacy

Understanding the role of effective advocacy in driving systemic change to achieve long-term housing solutions

12:45

Lunch

1:45

Interactive Breakouts

Integration and Collaboration

2:45

Panel Q&A: Kicking goals with collaboration

  • Approaches across the nation

  • Exploring the change processes and improved outcomes achieved with collaboration in different forms


Shaya Nettle, Alliance Senior Manager, Toward Home Alliance (SA)


Maria Leebeek, Chair, Gold Coast Homelessness Network (QLD), Chief Executive Officer, Gold Coast Youth Services

3:35

Afternoon Tea

Advocacy

4:00

Panel: Winning Outcomes for Homelessness: Advocacy to Change the Nation

Moderator: 

Dom Rowe, Chief Executive Officer, Homelessness NSW

4:50

Chairperson's Closing Comments

5:00

End of Conference

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