Michael Lennon Interim CEO Michael Lennon’s career has focused upon the Urban Planning, Housing and Development sectors, with over three decades of senior roles in executive management, governance, and policy development, across both private and public sectors in Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.

In Australia, he has championed the significant growth and development of the not-for-profit community housing sector in Australia. This sector is now a major provider of housing for people living on low incomes, with a property portfolio of almost AU$40 billion, providing over 100,000 homes to Australians in need. Housing Choices Australia is one of the leading and largest providers of community housing and affordable housing in Australia, with over 7,700 properties, 13,000 tenants, assets in excess of AU$1 billion, annual turnover of AU$110 million, and more than 330 staff across five states. Michael provides industry insight and high-level counsel to local, state and federal governments and regularly contributes to a wide range of committees, inquiries and other advisory bodies providing policy advice to both state and federal governments and their agencies. From 2016-19 he chaired the national community housing peak body in Australia – the Community Housing Industry Association (CHIA). He led a complex national federation process, bringing together 170 registered housing associations and all state-based peak bodies under national leadership. He spearheaded CHIA’s first ever National Plan for Affordable Housing, delivered in 2018. From 2017-21 he served as Chair of the South Australian Planning Commission, overseeing a complex and nationally significant re organisation of the State’s entire planning framework, including digitisation and rationalisation into a single Planning and Design Code for the Government of South Australia. As Chair and Executive Director of the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) (1998-2000) he led its restructure to become the pre-eminent research resource for the housing industry in Australia.