Today, in his first partnership forum, Housing Australia CEO Scott Langford shared insights from his first few months in the role, sharing priorities and inviting honest and constructive feedback, including on partnering models.
“Housing Australia is the independent national housing delivery agency. We play a really important role in getting blood to the muscle of the housing delivery system in the form of various financing, investment, and grant mechanisms.”
Scott emphasised that while the capital Housing Australia can deploy is crucial, it is partners who bring projects to life, saying, “You are the muscle in this partnership, and your role is crucial.”
He also highlighted the need for continuous improvement in Housing Australia’s processes to ensure funds flow efficiently to partners including Community Housing Providers, enabling quicker delivery of housing outcomes.
During the Q&A, Housing Australia Chair, Carol Austin, addressed the oversubscription of applications to the Housing Australia Future Fund in Round 1. She acknowledged the significant effort and cost involved in applications and assured partners of Housing Australia’s commitment to provide clearer guidance to increase success rates in future rounds.
“We want to guide you more clearly on what we’re looking for, to narrow the gap between applicants and successful projects… The lesson learnt is communicate more clearly, and give you clearer guidance before future rounds so that you spend your money wisely.”
Scott concluded with optimism about the level of innovation and partnership in the market, highlighting the collective effort needed to solve the housing problem.
“We are looking at timeliness, guidance and how we continue to give the best signals to give you the opportunity to convert that into projects. The target remains 40,000 homes over five years.”
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