CHIA is pleased to announce that Wendy Hayhurst will take up the position of Chief Executive Officer of the community housing industry’s national peak body at the end of February 2019.
CHIA Chair Michael Lennon said CHIA is thrilled to have Wendy on board. “Wendy has a deep knowledge of community housing in Australia and overseas and will be a great asset to CHIA as we move into the next exciting phase of expansion of the industry.”
“We have been very impressed with the impact Wendy has had over the past three years in her role as CEO of CHIA NSW (formerly the New South Wales Federation of Housing Associations). We are looking forward to using her experience to expand our suite of member services and industry support for smaller and larger housing providers across the country. She is an excellent choice to take CHIA and the community housing industry forward on the next phase of our journey.”
John McKenna, Chair of CHIA NSW agreed with Lennon’s assessment, saying that he and the NSW Board are very sorry to lose Wendy, but recognise the impact she can make on the national stage.
“Wendy brought new skills and resources to our team at CHIA NSW,” McKenna said. “She has been very successful in raising the profile of community housing in this state and forged valuable links across government and industry. She will be hard to replace, but I know her future work with CHIA national will continue to benefit community housing providers in New South Wales.”
Immediately before taking up the role as the CEO of CHIA NSW, Ms Hayhurst was the Manager (Regulation) for the Registrar of Community Housing in NSW. Her extensive housing experience ranges from front-line housing management services, to Head of Housing at East Lothian Council in the UK and Regulation Manager at the Scottish Housing Regulator. She has also held senior roles in UK housing consultancy services working on policy and capacity building for a range of clients.
With Ms Hayhurst’s appointment, CHIA’s national office will relocate from Melbourne to Canberra.