Q Shelter

💙Happy World Social Work Day!💙 It's so great to see our own Dr Fiona Oates: Q Shelter Practice Lead, Service Integration Initiative – Regional QLD presenting at today's Australian Association of Social Workers (AASW) World Social Work Day webinar. Every day across Queensland, thousands of people with a social work background work alongside people experiencing unmet housing need and homelessness - empowering them to obtain resources and support to overcome their housing challenges, and help create more equitable and inclusive communities. To all of our social work colleagues across the housing and homelessness sector - thank you for your tireless work in supporting vulnerable Queenslanders, each and every day. #WSWD #WSWD2025 #SocialWork #HomeMatters #BetterTogether

📣CEO and Senior Leaders Forum and Lunch - Guest speaker announcement📣 We can now confirm the second of our special guest speakers for the June CEO and Senior Leaders Forum and Lunch: 🌟 Hon. Sam O'Connor MP, Minister for Housing and Public Works, Queensland Parliament 🌟 Minister O'Connor's first public address as Minister for Housing and Public Works was at our CEO and Senior Leaders Forum in November last year. We're pleased to welcome him back to speak to us at this crucial time with all that's happening in Queensland's housing and homelessness landscape. Q Shelter CEO and Senior Leaders Forum and Lunch. 📆 Friday 20 June 2025 🕥 12pm - 3pm 📍QT Gold Coast, Surfers Paradise 🎟️ Discount ticket prices for Q Shelter members and people with lived experience of homelessness and housing need - BOOK NOW: https://bit.ly/41ud71f #HomeMatters #BetterTogether #housing #Homelessness #housingevents Department of Housing and Public Works

Help for Individuals and Organisations Following Cyclone Alfred Here's a great resource from Basic Rights Queensland for anyone wanting to know how to access recovery assistance payments or support following Cyclone Alfred. https://bit.ly/43WDYWm It includes factsheets and information on the Disaster Recovery Allowance, which may give those affected up to 13 weeks payment from the date they have a loss of income as a direct result of a disaster. There are plenty of other resources and links for disaster support for organisations, including: 🔹 Volunteering Queensland for organisations who need volunteers to assist: https://bit.ly/41Sk2BJ 🔹Queensland Government support for not-for-profit organisations https://bit.ly/4iVG2SL Please share any links and resources you've found helpful below. #BetterTogether #HomeMatters #CycloneAlfred

We know local councils are not equipped to solve these challenges alone. To really move the dial, a joined-up response across all levels of government, the private sector, and the community is required. However, local laws, homelessness action plans, and other interventions vary significantly from one council to another. This is why a truly regional response is needed. Check out our piece below from Acting CEO Stuart Jobling, calling on the State Government to convene all SEQ Councils alongside relevant state agencies—such as housing, health, justice, and communities—and stakeholders from the broader housing and homelessness system to address these shared challenges collaboratively on a regional scale. Pleasing, by the end of the week there has been some movement on what such a mechanism might look like. Queensland Government Department of Housing and Public Works Sam O'Connor MP Council of Mayors (SEQ) Local Government Association of Queensland #EndingHomelessness #SEQ #BetterTogether

📖Friday on The Deck👓 New on The Deck this week: We're pleased to announce that reporting from the first three workshops of the Brisbane Synthesis Series has been completed and published. You can download the reports at https://lnkd.in/gmanp_Fk As part of the Service Integration Initiative, the Synthesis Series events brings together sector experts and frontline homelessness and housing services practitioners to explore challenges and co-develop practical solutions on a range of key topics influencing unmet housing need and homelessness. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this significant body of work. The results inform best practice and continuous improvement in the sector, as well as developing policy recommendations made to the government towards achieving a healthy housing system for all Queenslanders. #TheDeck #SynthesisSeries #ServiceIntegration #homematters #bettertogether #housing #homelessness

Q Shelter joins our sector colleagues in calling for an urgent, coordinated and consistent regional response to the homelessness crisis in South East Queensland. In a letter to the Premier as part of the Brisbane Zero collective, we have reiterated our calls for collaboration between the Queensland Government, South East Queensland local councils, sector organisations and service delivery agencies. We must work together as a community to develop sustainable and consistent long-term solutions that support vulnerable people, particularly those who are sleeping rough because they have no safe or appropriate housing options. Enforcing punitive measures on people in these situations only forces them to relocate, shifting the issue rather than resolving it. Homelessness is incredibly complex, which is why we need all voices at the table and buy-in from all levels of government to develop coordinated, sustainable solutions. Now is the time to come together as a region to work together to end homelessness. Read more in our latest media release on our website: https://bit.ly/41RBW7g Today's Courier Mail features an opinion piece by Karyn Walsh, CEO of Micah Projects: https://bit.ly/4kSdXh1 (subscriber access). #AdvanceToZero #HomeMatters #BetterTogether #homelessness #housing

Ahead of the much-anticipated federal election announcement, National Shelter have released their 2025 Policy Platform Priorities with a call to the Australian Government to fix the housing crisis, to provide a fair, sustainable and healthy housing system for all Australians. Read National Shelter's Policy Platform here: https://bit.ly/4iHxwa0 As a proud member of the Shelter Network, Q Shelter has contributed to this collective policy design. Q Shelter members and stakeholders will see strong links between National Shelter's five policy priorities, and our own policy platform. 'Housing and homelessness issues can only be addressed by coordinated and formalised action from all levels of government.' Key Priority 1️⃣ calls on the federal government to deliver a legislated National Housing and Homelessness Plan that sets out dedicated funding, standards, and reporting. This echoes Q Shelter's long-standing call for every level of government to come together to deliver consistent and coordinated approaches to housing and homelessness that meet the real needs in each region. We also strongly support the call under Key Priority 4️⃣ to implement tax reform that moves away from contributing to 'housing as an investment' rather than 'housing as a home', particularly in an environment where people have insecure housing and homelessness is on the rise. Download the National Shelter policy platform to help inform your own discussions with candidates in the upcoming election. #homematters #bettertogether #federalelection #housing #homelessness

🔹 Youth Homelessness Matters Day | Breakfast Forum (QLD) 🔹 ⏳ Only 20 seats left! Registrations close 19 March - don’t miss out. Join us for an exclusive breakfast forum where an expert panel will explore collaborative solutions to end youth homelessness. Hear from our speakers Leah Lang, Queensland Government Architect; Pam Barker GAICD, Brisbane Youth Service; Tom Allsop, PeakCare Queensland; and moderated by Jackson Hills, Q Shelter. An incredible morning to advocate, connect, and take action. 📅 27 March 2025 ⏰ 7:30am arrival | 8:00am start – 9:00am 📍 KPMG Heritage Lanes, Level 11, 80 Ann Street, Brisbane 👉 Register now: https://lnkd.in/ef6AyVC6 Thank you to our partners Q Shelter and KPMG Australia. Antoinette Rusby-Perera Rebecca Field

Media coverage this week has highlighted the surge in young people seeking help from homelessness services in the Mackay region. Read the story here from the Mackay Daily Mercury, featuring Q Shelter members Kalyan Youth Service Inc and Community Accommodation & Support Agency Inc 🔗 https://bit.ly/3QZLwA6 (subscriber access only) It's just one example of a concerning trend being felt across Queensland and the country, with people under 25 experiencing significant disadvantages and challenges in accessing safe, affordable and appropriate housing. Q Shelter is proud to be part of the HomeTime campaign - a national coalition of community services, peak bodies, researchers, unions and community members - all calling for action and policy reforms to unlock the housing system for young people. #HomeTime recently launched its federal election platform, focusing on three key measures to significantly reduce child and youth homelessness: 1. Develop and maintain a national pool of 15,000 dedicated youth tenancies. 2. Provide linked support services to enable young people to pursue their goals and transition to independence. 3. Remove the Youth Housing Penalty that locks young people out of social housing tenancies. With around 40,000 Australians aged 15-24 without a place to live, it's time for dedicated investment and reform to fix housing for young people. Find out more and get involved in the Home Time campaign here: www.hometime.org.au #FixHousingForYoungPeople #HomeTime #2025Election #HomeMatters #BetterTogether #housing #homelessness

With a Bachelor’s in Psychological Science and a passion for helping people, Mason found his way into the housing and homelessness sector as a Data Officer. Watch now to hear Mason’s story and what inspired his journey!