Day One | Tuesday| 9th September
8:30
Registration and Networking
8:40
Welcome to Country
8:50
Chairperson’s Welcoming Address
9:00
Keynote: Local Decision Making and The Place Based Approach
Plans for the $4 billion committed over ten years to improve housing in remote Northern Territory communities and homelands.
How should culturally safe tenancy and homelessness services be adapted in different locations to reflect local Aboriginal cultural practices?
What are the opportunities for shared equity or build-to-rent models to be applied in specific regions through partnerships with local ACCOs?
Hon. Chansey Paech MLA, Shadow Minister for Housing, Local Government and Community Developmen, Northern Territory Government
INDIGENOUS HOUSING & THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT
9:35
Country Building: Funding Local Construction and Infrastructure
Existing pathways for accessibility towards funding for development
What policies are needed in skills funding for indigenous builders and laborers (education and accreditation)
Sustainable Funding Models for cyclical maintenance of infrastructure free from the political cycle
Farin Wanganeen, Managing Director, Birubi Australia
Michael Hromek, Technical Executive of Indigenous Architecture, WSP
10:20
PANEL: State by State the Regulation Patchwork
Various regulatory schemes of each different state and challenges in registration
Discuss cultural inaccessibility of mainstream government housing services
Solutions to the cycle of overcrowding and evictions, a crisis in need of commonwealth intervention
Grant Cheatham, General Manager, Kabi Kabi Aboriginal Corporation
Stacey Broadbent, CEO, Aboriginal Community Housing Ltd
Amanda Doyle, CEO, Yilli Rreung Housing Aboriginal Corporation
11:00
Morning Tea
STREAM A: Housing
11:30
Indigenous-Led Sustainable Solutions
Design Solutions to remote/regional infrastructure gaps
Sustainable material/ energy/ land use techniques and examples
Simon Quilty, CEO, Wilya Janta Housing Collaboration,
Jimmy Frank Jupurrurla, Chief Cultural Officer, Wilya Janta Housing Collaboration
12:00
Housing for a Fair-go: Interim housing
What are the specific needs for this type of housing?
The importance of education & economic advantage in breaking the cycle of homelessness
Dermot Walsh CEO, Aboriginal Hostels ltd.
Michael Rotumah, CEO, Larrakia Nation
STREAM B: Homelessness
11:30
Stolen Lands: Cultural Competencies
Cultural competence must be core in management, Ask, don't tell; and leave biases at the door.
Effective approaches to Aboriginal homelessness will be centered around extended families, not just individuals.
Andrea Khan, General Manager, Aboriginal Sobriety Group
12:00
Homelessness Reformation Through Lived Experience
Exploring policy and program success from inter-state
Hearing from first-hand accounts of lived homelessness experience and how these experiences are shaping policy
12:30
Networking Lunch
1:30
Panel: Innovative Solutions that are Increasing First Nations Home Ownership
How our empowerment model helps to equalise home ownership outcomes
Collaboration and innovation: simplifying home ownership
Overcoming barriers: home ownership success stories
Stephen Woodlands, Founder and Managing Director, Head Start Homes
Pam Jackson, First Nations Collaboration and Liaison Officer, Head Start Homes
Debbie Avery, Project Manager, Aboriginal Housing Office
1:30
Panel: Ending Homelessness to Save Lives, and Reconnect Community
Challenges faced by harm reduction programs in today’s political climate
Access to rehabilitation and empathy for those suffering addiction
Intersection of Domestic Violence and homelessness
De-Joel Upkett, CEO, Ngwala
Carly Stanley, CEO & Founder, Deadly Connections Community and Justice Services
Trevor walker, Manager, Aboriginal Corporation for Homeless & Rehabilitation Community Services
2:15
Interactive Yarning Groups
3:30
Afternoon Tea
ENCOURAGING INDIGENOUS ENTERPRISE
4:00
Increasing Home Ownership Pathways and The Housing Focuses of the IBA
Potential implications of changes in 2025, How Indigenous businesses can prepare for these shifts
Why indigenous enterprise moves the goals of housing and economic independence forward.
Jenny Pepper, Senior Manager Business Development, IBA
4:30
Mainstream Partnerships and Supply for Sustainable Indigenous Housing
Importance of distributed support in housing supply and maintenance
Processes and documentation e.g. MOU’s
Mainstream housing provider partnerships
Paul Coe, CEO, Biribee Housing
5:00
Chairperson’s Closing Address
5:15
Networking and End of Day One
Day Two | Wednesday | 10th September
8:50
Chairperson’s Welcoming Address
FIRST NATIONS-LED SOLUTIONS
9:00
First Nations Youth Homelessness Outreach: Case Study
Programs shaping the future generations in education and funding
Hear how community engagement can help improve the outcomes form your work
Scott McKeen, CEO, CAAPS Aboriginal Corporation
9:30
Place-Based Decisions
Discuss strategies for strengthening community-controlled organizations (plans, partnerships, and goal tracking)
How should culturally safe tenancy and homelessness services be adapted in different locations to reflect local Aboriginal cultural practices?
What are the opportunities for shared equity or build-to-rent models to be applied in specific regions through partnerships with local ACCOs?
10:00
Morning Tea
10:30
Protected from Political Influence, The Goals of Economic Independence
What does it mean to be economically independent?
Discuss the benefits of standing on cultural principles for the health, mindset, and strength of aboriginal corporations?
Nathan Mcivor, CEO, Djarindjin Aboriginal Corporation
STREAM A: Housing & Infrastructure Development
11:00
Approach to Indigenous Collaboration and Development: Barpa Case Study
The Process Behind development of community assets from funding to outcome
Barpa’s focus to improve the health, wellbeing, and prosperity of Indigenous Australians.
Tips for engaging in Local Partnerships for supply and collaborating with local Indigenous Business
Jordan Falla, Indigenous Co-Ordinator, Barpa Construction Services
11:30
Housing Fit for Culture: Development Challenges
How can Indigenous knowledge and cultural narratives shape housing that strengthens identity, community, and connection to place?
What models support communal living and cultural needs whilst remaining viable for needed capacity?
Sarah Lynn Rees, Associate Principal , Jackson Clements Burrows (JCB)
12:00
Panel: From the Ground: Environmental Concerns
Address increasing disadvantage due to severe weather events
the impacts of building materials, energy consumption, and urban sprawl, leading to habitat loss, increased emissions, and potential health risks
Simon Quilty, CEO, Wilya Janta Housing Collaboration
Jimmy Frank Jupurrurla, Chief Cultural Officer, Wilya Janta Housing Collaboration
Barry Williams, Lecturer in Cultural Landscapes, University of Newcastle
Melissa Nursey-Bray, Professor & Deputy Director ISER, University of Adelaide
STREAM B: Community Housing
11:00
Improving community assets around the neighbourhood to reduce disadvantage
Ensuring that policy settings mandate equitable access to health, transportation, and community infrastructure as part of urban renewal and social housing development.
Meeting First Nations peoples where they are by embedding cultural safety and place-specific strategies that reflect community leadership, identity, and lived realities.
Expertise on disability housing, access, and the NDIS to support evidence-based decision-making and policy development.
Jeramy Hope, CEO, SDA Alliance
11:30
Strengthening Aboriginal Housing Futures: Navigating Accreditation and Compliance in 2025
Leveraging multiple accreditations to unlock funding and growth opportunities
Balancing regulatory demands with the values of self-determination and cultural integrity
John Stott, Project Director, Housing Action Network
12:00
Panel: Ready for the transition: the role of community housing
Discuss the various jobs of a community housing provider: Carers, trusted consults, labourers, landlords, Community organisers
Appropriate support is essential for the transition to culturally appropriate housing tenure
Suzanne Nadeen, CEO, Bungree Aboriginal Association
Matthew Duggan Executive Director Aboriginal Housing and Homelessness, Homes Victoria
Asha Bhat, CEO, Southern Aboriginal Corporation
12:45
Networking Lunch
DATA FOR STRATEGY AND STRATEGY FOR DATA
1:45
Data for Strategy & Maintaining Data Sovereignty
What is the data and KPI’s required to show need for and start ACCHO in a community
What Partnerships can be formed to access data?
What are data safety practices and data brokerage?
Dr Jacob Prehn, Director of Research, Evaluation and Data Governance Treaty Authority
2:15
Justice Reform for Housing and Belonging
Examining how unstable housing and out-of-home care fuel justice system contact.
Exploring how systemic housing insecurity, inadequate out-of-home care, and cultural disconnection are contributing to criminalisation, trauma, and intergenerational cycles of disadvantage.
Preventing the breaking up of families by automated systems with no oversight
2:45
Advocacy for Ambitious Growth Targets & Local Strategic planning
Disambiguation in government funding around construction of new stock and renewal of existing stock, a target is needed
Funding for local strategic planning to account for infrastructure development
3:15
Afternoon Tea
STORY OF FIRST NATIONS CREATION
3:40
Culture, Health & Housing
Understanding the interconnected reality of housing, health, and culture through the lens of future generations
Completed Community Projects with successful stories e.g. Walumba Elders Centre & Solutions for large scale new housing capacity increases
Re-iteration of the scales of development that must be done and the opportunity for an internationally recognised culturally Aboriginal housing style (tourism + cultural pride)
Richard Tester, CEO, Rasp Architecture
4:10
Film: Family Housing
4:15
Bringing the conversation to local communities
1 home may house 100 families over its lifetime, the goals of housing are fundamental to heritage
Decisions made by Aboriginal corporations must be backed completely for the growth of the cultural mindset
What must the communication be for the realistic visions of the future of housing, that will be supported by Indigenous communities but also the Australian public
Murray Riley, Service Lead Cultural Advice and Employment, Ruah Community Services