Australian
Alliance to End
Homelessness

Community, Business
& Government Ending
Homelessness

About Us

Who we are

The Australian Alliance to End Homelessness (AAEH) is an independent champion for preventing and ending homelessness in Australia.

Despite the common misconception to the contrary, the scale of homelessness in Australia is both preventable and solvable.

AAEH supports Australian communities to individually and collectively end homelessness. Specifically, we work with local communities at all levels to ensure everyone has access to safe and sustainable housing services and that any incidents of homelessness that do occur are rare, brief and non-recurring.

Our membership includes individuals and organisations who are social service and policy leaders from across Australia who share our commitment to the vision or preventing and ending homelessness.

While Australia is a rich country, many individuals and families continue to be trapped in a cycle of homelessness, often transitioning from unstable accommodation to emergency shelters to rough sleeping. This can continue for many years resulting in a state of chronic homelessness.

Despite the common misconception to the contrary, the scale of homelessness in Australia is both preventable and solvable.

The work of the Alliance is evidence-based. It is informed by global best practice and research available from the most innovative, credible and successful international studies and programs in the most effective ways to end homelessness. Our members include organisations dedicated to identifying, promoting, championing and implementing these evidence-based ideas.

We work with practitioners, policymakers, academics, corporate and community leaders to build increased understanding of the complex and interconnected causes of homelessness, the challenges of overcoming it at a personal and community level, and the most effective initiatives, programs and policies for preventing and ultimately ending it in our towns and cities, our states and our country. And from this increased understanding, inspire strategic, evidence-based and socially-just action.

By working together with the community at all levels including citizens, organisations and government.

Ultimately, AAEH exists to promote the most effective ideas for ending homelessness based on the most credible research and studies conducted around the world.

What we stand for

AAEH is committed to preventing and ending homelessness in Australia by ensuring everyone has access to safe, sustainable housing and the services they need. We believe any incidents of homelessness that do occur should be rare, brief and non-recurring.

We understand that access to safe, affordable, appropriate and sustainable housing is not merely about shelter.

The benefits of ending homelessness

Research studies from around the world consistently demonstrate that having access to safe, affordable housing provides a foundation on which individuals and families can build better futures.

Specifically, individuals and families can use the safety, security and stability of housing to:

Exit homelessness
Rise out of poverty
Improve the health of themselves and their family
Reconnect with family where there has been estrangement
Engage in work, study and community participation
Provide a stable home, school and community for children to be a part of
Break the cycle of intergenerational poverty by giving children the chance to thrive.

The benefits of such actions extend far beyond individuals and families to the whole community. Community benefits include reducing the economic impact on Australia’s taxation system by reducing overall spending on health, justice and welfare budgets. By investing funds strategically into evidence-based programs that prevent crisis situations or quickly address them, we can reduce the number of high-cost tertiary level incidents such as emergency room presentations.

Our strategy

Based on evidence from around the world we know the scale of homelessness in Australia is both preventable and solvable.

Housing First is a proven approach that connects people experiencing homelessness with long-term housing as quickly as possible and without preconditions. Work performed by our member organisations around Australia using the Housing First approach has demonstrated that homelessness is not inevitable, that Housing First principles work in the Australian environment, and the work done and successes to date are scalable.

The collaborative, multi-organisation projects completed to date that successfully met and exceeded targets also highlighted that there is excellent impact potential when organisations work together to deliver a coordinated approach to ending homelessness.

Homelessness is solved by providing an adequate supply of safe, appropriate and affordable housing and for those who require it, supportive housing with tenancies that have intentional community services. In some situations, people who experience homelessness will also need ongoing community support to sustain their housing and to access other services they need like health and employment. Resolving homelessness requires a range of responses to meet the needs of individuals experiencing homelessness.

We seek strong, bipartisan, national, state and local political leadership on the issue to ensure homelessness will be solved by a coordinated local effort.

We are committed to working in partnership with local communities to develop effective local responses to homelessness built on robust and well-informed research. We seek strong, bipartisan, national, state and local political leadership on the issue to ensure homelessness will be solved by a coordinated local effort. We need a national agenda that focusses on providing our communities with an adequate supply of affordable housing, one that matches people to the housing and support services they require to access and successfully maintain their tenancy.

Our plan to end homelessness is multi-faceted, reflecting the holistic nature of homelessness, and the collaboration required to prevent and end it.

Our plan includes six distinct but interrelated elements:

Homelessness – prevention and early intervention
National rough sleeper housing and support: Advance to Zero
Increased safe and affordable housing
Increased permanent supportive housing
Essential links between health and housing
Partner to achieve the vision for ending homelessness in Australia.

Working together as a community, with a shared vision we will deliver the foundation on which individuals and families can build better futures.

Read the Partners Guide (PDF)

Our Partners

Founding Partners

Major Partners

Campaign Partners

Supporting Partners

International Partners

Research Partners

Our Board/Directors

The Australian Alliance to End Homelessness Board is made up of number of dedicated individuals with expertise in housing and homelessness from around Australia.

AAEH Board Charter 2022

Australian Alliance To End Homelessness Ltd Constitution (Amended 07 April 2022)

Chair: Karyn Walsh CEO Micah Projects
(Queensland)

David Pearson CEO Australian Alliance to End Homelessness

Debra Zanella CEO Ruah Community Services
(Western Australia)

Felicity Reynolds Facilitator, Australian and NZ Common Ground Community of Practice
(ACT)

Heather Holst Commissioner for Residential Tenancies
(Victoria)

Keith Bryant Convenor of the Business Alliance to End Homelessness and Chair of the Foyer Foundation

Bevan Warner CEO Launch Housing
(Victoria)

Livia Carusi Strategic Advisor, Toward Home Alliance and Senior Project Officer South Australian Housing Authority (South Australia)

Tom Dalton CEO, Neami National

Peter Sandeman Anglican Canon for Social Justice and Director of Strategic Advice, South Australian Housing Authority and Adj Professor Centre for Social Impact, Flinders University (South Australia)