Housing emerged as a key shared priority, alongside continued work on loneliness and social isolation, with plans for a Hunter specific Housing Forum, which our Senior Policy Officer Thomas Chailloux is working on, and a targeted ‘Lobby Day’ at NSW Parliament. Shelter NSW is part of the housing team for the Lobby Day, scheduled for 23 September, so if you’d like to get involved, reach out to our team!
For Shelter NSW, the Convention was another reminder of the importance of building broad alliances for housing justice. The housing crisis affects people across the community in different ways; whether they be renters, workers, young people, families or people experiencing homelessness or at risk, and responding to it requires more than the professionalised housing and homelessness sector acting alone. Bringing together unions, faith communities and diverse civil society organisations creates opportunities to connect housing with the other issues people care about, such as energy, climate action, and the ever-increasing cost of living pressures, to build community leadership and develop the collective power needed to secure change.
Shelter NSW has been proud to work alongside the Hunter Community Alliance since its formation, including through previous Assemblies and local organising around social and affordable housing. We look forward to continuing that work as the Alliance moves into its next phase ahead of the 2027 NSW State Election.