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Partnering with sector advocates

Haven; Home, Safe proudly partners with both state and national peak bodies and community housing sector advocates to help improve outcomes for our organisation and the sector as a whole.

Over the past year, we have partnered with Community Housing Industry Association Victoria (CHIA Vic) and PowerHousing Australia (PHA).

CHIA VIC

‍Our Deputy CEO Trudi Ray is on the Board of CHIA Vic and is state secretary, other managers and staff have keenly contributed to the following working groups with CHIA Vic:

  • Transitional Housing Managers Sector Group
  • Transitional Housing Tenancy Coordinators Group
  • Rooming House Sector Group
  • Housing Associations Group
  • Marketing & Communications working group 

Transitional Housing Managers Sector Group included: The group met 10 times throughout the year for the THM Review, COVID-19 impact, changes to the Residential Tenancies Act, DHHS leasing program, rent setting, fire safety inspections, and methamphetamine contamination. Eight guest speakers from the DHHS addressed the group about maintenance practices, maintenance changes, and the THM review and DHHS leasing program.

Transitional Housing Tenancy Coordinators: The group met four times during the year with meetings focused on proposed changes to maintenance – especially vacate maintenance. The impact of COVID-19 and members were able to share and compare experiences and practices

‍Rooming House Sector Group: The group met six times during the year. Due to the pandemic, a key focus for the group was infection control in high-density accommodation like rooming houses. Other points for discussion were VHR allocations, RTA amendments, general lease renegotiations, and VHR Post-implementation review.  

Housing Associations Sector Group: The CEOs of the Housing Associations met regularly to address issues of common interest. They primarily focused their attention on growth, developing a proposal to put to Government, analysing the Social Housing Growth Fund, and considering the design of a future Stimulus Package. 

Marketing and Communications working group: Two meetings were held to discuss the challenges and opportunities for working more closely together and sharing knowledge, skills, and tools. The March, 2020 meeting was a forum to discuss how different organisations had been handling both their internal and external communications during the pandemic and what practices had been most successful. 

PowerHousing Australia

Haven; Home, Safe is a foundation member of PowerHousing Australia, and we proudly build on that strategic relationship through collaborative practice across the members. Haven; Home; Safe are true leaders in collaboration, especially amongst the work we do at PowerHousing Australia to support CHPs’ ability to undertake their important work that drives social and economic growth across the Australian community.
‍Nicholas Proud, CEO PowerHousing Australia

We have engaged with PowerHousing Australia in peer-to-peer exchanges and collaboration through networks of Community Housing Providers, businesses, policymakers, international partnerships, and a wide range of other stakeholders.  

These programs of exchanges, provide a forum in which our organisation can participate, share, learn from, participate, and help build strength both internally and as part of the wider sector.

We have participated in roundtables and communities of practice undertaking high-quality aggregations to create operational certainty and to support the current and future organisation’s operations.  

We have been able to bring back and implement best practice information to our various teams.