Sydney, Australia - CIH President's Blog Stardate Tuesday 1st December 2009 , midair somewhere between Sydney and Auckland New Zealand. 1st Decemeber, but for you in the UK it is only just 1st December, for me it is 8pm. I am just beginning to get this 'time thing'. After about five weeks travelling from UK to Honk Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Melbourne and Sydney, the trick is you ring hotel reception and ask the time and if it is morning or evening and you then just go with the flow!
Other than the 'time zone' thing Australia was amazing and the Australasian Institute of Housing could not have made us more welcome. I say us because there are several of us Brits over here giving papers at both the Melbourne and Sydney conferences.
The Australian Social housing sector is extremely interesting. It is very small compared to the UK market but it plays an absolutely vital role that seems in the most part to be undervalued, except by those who it helps. But there is a real feeling that change is afoot. The Commonwealth Minister for Housing appears to be setting a climate for change and there is a real energy about the place. What is almost tangible is the raw energy and vitality that comes over when you speak to the dedicated housing professionals who are doing some amazing work. There seems a close affinity with the UK but everything is on such a smaller scale. The sector has that feel about it that suggests it is on the cusp of major change and in the next few years I think it will really find its feet and develop very quickly.
Meeting colleagues here is like meeting up with old friends, even though you have only just met. The Australasian Institute of Housing is carving out a professional practitioner position for itself that parallels that of CIH in its early years, but is doing this across an extremely large geographic area. Joan Ferguson, the CEO, almost seems to have the ability to dematerialise from one venue and reappear elsewhere, possibly hundreds of Kilometres away - scary but very impressive. Come to think about it, trying to keep track of our own Chief Executive Sarah Webb can be a bit like that.
We are about 30 minutes out of Auckland and just starting our descent so I just have time to tell you about the Aboriginal Housing Project we visited about two hours before we flew. Redfern is a small area on the outskirts of Sidney's city centre. Predominantly an Aboriginal inner city suburb that suffered extreme poverty and deprivation, it was the target of drug pushers and all the violence which is associated with this. A small core of community leaders, led by Aboriginal activist, Mick Mundine (brother to Tony Mundine of rugby league and super middleweight boxing fame), drew the community together through the formation of the Aboriginal Housing Association.
They have transformed the area from a 'No go' zone into an area with support structures and Mick and his team have given the people in the area real hope for the future. They have a vision that has survived all sorts of pressure for the Aboriginal Community Association to part with its valuable land assets. But they have hung on in there and in the words of Mick 'bring it on'. Inspirational, just inspirational! I just don’t know how they will bring their dream of redevelopment together but if anybody can I am sure it will be Mick and his team.
So the wheels are down and we are coming in on a 3 degree flight path, time to switch the computer off and stow it in the overhead locker for landing.
Other than the 'time zone' thing Australia was amazing and the Australasian Institute of Housing could not have made us more welcome. I say us because there are several of us Brits over here giving papers at both the Melbourne and Sydney conferences.
The Australian Social housing sector is extremely interesting. It is very small compared to the UK market but it plays an absolutely vital role that seems in the most part to be undervalued, except by those who it helps. But there is a real feeling that change is afoot. The Commonwealth Minister for Housing appears to be setting a climate for change and there is a real energy about the place. What is almost tangible is the raw energy and vitality that comes over when you speak to the dedicated housing professionals who are doing some amazing work. There seems a close affinity with the UK but everything is on such a smaller scale. The sector has that feel about it that suggests it is on the cusp of major change and in the next few years I think it will really find its feet and develop very quickly.
Meeting colleagues here is like meeting up with old friends, even though you have only just met. The Australasian Institute of Housing is carving out a professional practitioner position for itself that parallels that of CIH in its early years, but is doing this across an extremely large geographic area. Joan Ferguson, the CEO, almost seems to have the ability to dematerialise from one venue and reappear elsewhere, possibly hundreds of Kilometres away - scary but very impressive. Come to think about it, trying to keep track of our own Chief Executive Sarah Webb can be a bit like that.
We are about 30 minutes out of Auckland and just starting our descent so I just have time to tell you about the Aboriginal Housing Project we visited about two hours before we flew. Redfern is a small area on the outskirts of Sidney's city centre. Predominantly an Aboriginal inner city suburb that suffered extreme poverty and deprivation, it was the target of drug pushers and all the violence which is associated with this. A small core of community leaders, led by Aboriginal activist, Mick Mundine (brother to Tony Mundine of rugby league and super middleweight boxing fame), drew the community together through the formation of the Aboriginal Housing Association.They have transformed the area from a 'No go' zone into an area with support structures and Mick and his team have given the people in the area real hope for the future. They have a vision that has survived all sorts of pressure for the Aboriginal Community Association to part with its valuable land assets. But they have hung on in there and in the words of Mick 'bring it on'. Inspirational, just inspirational! I just don’t know how they will bring their dream of redevelopment together but if anybody can I am sure it will be Mick and his team.
So the wheels are down and we are coming in on a 3 degree flight path, time to switch the computer off and stow it in the overhead locker for landing.
