The Community Housing Disability Network marked its first full year of operation with a presentation from Senator for Western Australia, Jordon Steele-John, the Greens Party spokesperson for (among other subjects) Disability Rights and Services. The Senator gave the network an insight into his own experiences living with a disability, reflected on the findings from the Disability Royal Commission and finished with a call to action on replacing existing legacy group homes. Apart from much of this housing being below the standards we would build now, the Senator called attention to the fact that few people living in this accommodation are able to exercise any choice in who they share a home with.

Later in the meeting the network heard from Lisa Hayes, Specialist Group Project Manager  at Housing Choices about the Singletons Renewal Project. The project involves the replacement of Housing Choices oldest Specialist Disability Accommodation, with residents, assisted by family and support workers co-designing their new homes. Architects experienced in designing accessible and inclusive homes have been commissioned to incorporate resident priorities into homes that also meet the needs of support staff and are long term sustainable. We are very pleased Lisa will be presenting at the  9th Affordable Housing and Investment Summit in February.

The network is also lucky to be working with A/Prof Ilan Wiesel  and Dr. Raelene West at the University of Melbourne. They have put together and are administering a survey of community housing organisations to understand their provision of services to people with disability. We hope the results in the New Year will help us build capacity in the sector and assist in our advocacy with governments.