As the Housing Choices Australia Group continues to evolve, we welcome experienced Director and former Deputy Chair, Heather McCallum to the Chair, and Fabienne Michaux as the new Deputy Chair. We will also be welcoming new Western Australia Directors David Lantzke and Matt Raison in the coming year as WA Member Company representatives. We also pay tribute to outgoing Chair, Arthur Papakotsias and Director, Saul Eslake and thank them for their tremendous contribution and support during their tenure. This year the world has been overshadowed by the risk posed by the COVID-19 epidemic. Within a matter of days after the Australian outbreak, the organisation moved into rapid response with project structures set in place to manage the associated risks for residents and for sta . Julie Duncan, General Manager of Housing Services (South Australia), was appointed COVID-19 Controller and a COVID Response support team was organised around her. The executive team met on a weekly basis to manage the risk, and sophisticated levels of co-operation across Housing Choices were quickly established to assess and mitigate risk. In the period following, we maintained regular contact with our residents, especially in Victoria where considerable attention was given to the welfare and wellbeing of residents and sta . The response of the organisation to this was outstanding and demonstrates both the values and the capability of Housing Choices. Near the end of the financial year, the final steps in the merger between Access Housing Australia in Western Australia and Housing Choices were taken, final approvals were agreed upon and an implementation date of 1 July 2020 was set.
This now takes the Housing Choices Australia Group into five States and more importantly, the combined capability of the two entities strengthens the ability of the merged organisation to provide more and better services to expand its response to housing needs. Notwithstanding limitations on funding, our development pipeline continued to increase the supply of accommodation. Spence on Light in the Adelaide Central Business District exemplifies our capability to provide outstanding, quality accommodation, work with partners in government and the private sector and establish partnerships with service providers. This time with the ACH Group providing aged care services to the site. The development is outstanding by any measure and illustrates the progressive building and quality standards in our property developments. Another highlight for the year was that in every state that Housing Choices operates, all regulatory standards were met and there were no issues reported by regulators in any of the jurisdictions. This is a testament to the professionalism of our sta throughout the organisation. As we proceed into the next phase of organisational development, a range of new structures, processes and capabilities are progressively and carefully being introduced into the organisation. This is deliberately positioning us for what we see as a new phase of opportunity. To our residents and sta , I would also like to acknowledge the positive results recorded in the resident and sta surveys throughout the year. We do not take these for granted and look forward to working with everyone in the year ahead.
06
Housing Choices Australia | Annual Report 2019-20
Made with FlippingBook - Online Brochure Maker