With the full roll-out of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) around the corner, disability organisations are looking for partners to engage with on the issue of the provision of housing for people with disabilities. There are approximately 410 000 people in Australia who will become participants in the NDIS and of these, 154 000 to 193 000 are on low to very low incomes who will need housing assistance of some sort[1]. This is going to present great challenges for an already stressed affordable and social housing market. The Community Housing Federation of Australia (CHFA) recently hosted a one day conference for housing industry insiders to sit down and discuss future options with the disability sector. Click here to access the CHFA Presentations on the NDIS. Churches Housing was also a part of a small roundtable conference for sector leaders from both housing and disability, held the following day at Parliament House in Canberra. The group explored in more detail what ideas, concepts and strategies may work in order to forge a partnership between community housing providers and the disability sector. This is a great opportunity for partnership across sectors and we sincerely hope that the challenges and potential pitfalls will be overcome through continued partnership and involvement of these sectors as well as businesses and all levels of government.

One great challenge is of course the initial capital investment required to get any housing of any kind off the ground in Australia, which may become even more expensive depending on the needs and space requirements. Churches Housing is committed to being part of the solution and we would love to dialogue with organisations that have interest and engagement in this area.

Click here to see the recently released CHFA forum communique on “Housing, Disability, and the NDIS”