Leah Watkins
Senior Advisor Supportive Housing Impact & Advocacy
Housing Choices Western Australia
Leah works for Housing Choices Australia where she is responsible for measuring impact and advocating for supportive housing models. Prior to this, she has over 30 years’ experience in the homelessness sector including frontline services, consultancy, information systems, and collective impact projects. She is internationally accredited in Housing First training and co-authored the Housing First Principles for Australia. For the past 5 years she has been developing and delivering training on Housing First for state, national and internation settings. Leah is passionate about using Housing First and other evidence-based approaches to end homelessness.
SESSIONS
Day 1
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
Day 2
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
Workshop
8:30
Workshop – Part 1: Exploring Housing First and how we can use the principles without coercion to rework our practice, service models and system to end homelessness
This session is split into two parts, with the first part before the break exploring the Housing First principles by placing the lens of “without coercion” over them.
This interactive workshop will delve into the Housing First model as a proven approach to ending homelessness. The first part will explore how coercion impacts our day-to-day practice, the design of our service models and our wider service system and how applying the Housing First principles can find ways to reduce and eliminate coercion from our work. The session will include group discussions, problem-solving exercises, and scenario-based learning to help attendees translate theory into action.
By the end of part 1 of this workshop, participants will:
Understand the Housing First model – its principles, benefits, and how it actively challenges the use of coercion.
Explore explicit and unintended use of coercion – unpack examples of how coercion seeps into practice, service models and the wider system and the impact this has on both the people we are aiming to help and the staff in our services.
Identify opportunities for change – within our current work environments, service models and system that could be used as leverage points to create change, that will be workshopped in part 2 of this session.
Facilitators:
Leah Watkins, Senior Advisory Supportive Housing, Housing Choices
Ewan Higgs, Housing Services Program Manager, Hobart City Mission
Charlotte Georgiou, Housing First Practice Lead, Unison
Workshop
10:45
Workshop – Part 2: Exploring Housing First and how we can use the principles without coercion to rework our practice, service models and system to end homelessness.
This session is split into two parts, with the second part after the break exploring opportunities to leverage change in our practice, service models and the wider system to implement Housing First without coercion.
This interactive workshop will delve into the Housing First model as a proven approach to ending homelessness through systems change. The second part focuses on what can be done to drive meaningful change. The session will include group discussions, problem-solving exercises, and scenario-based learning to help attendees translate theory into action.
By the end of this workshop, participants will:
Identify their capacity to influence – at a practice, service or system level and understand the importance of each of these.
Engage in practical problem-solving by working through common challenges in Housing First implementation faced both in their own work or imposed on them by the service model and system we work in.
Develop an action plan for applying Housing First strategies within their own work, organisations or communities.
Facilitators:
Leah Watkins, Senior Advisory Supportive Housing, Housing Choices
Ewan Higgs, Housing Services Program Manager, Hobart City Mission
Charlotte Georgiou, Housing First Practice Lead, Unison