Community Housing Futures WA:
The sector is ready to do more
The past few months have been a significant period for CHFWA, with activity spanning the Business Advisory Grant round, regional engagement and the development of the program’s Learning & Development stream offer.
And the message coming back from the sector has been clear: there is strong appetite to build capability and strengthen the community housing sector across Western Australia.
The sector is seizing the opportunity
The first Business Advisory Grant round received a strong response from community housing organisations across WA. Applications came from both metropolitan and regional organisations, including a strong representation of Aboriginal-controlled organisations, with submissions seeking support across a range of practical capability areas including business planning, risk management, asset management, finance and registration readiness.
The level and breadth of interest has provided a strong indication of the sector’s willingness to invest in organisational capability and prepare for growth.
The assessment process is now progressing through its final stages. Successful and unsuccessful applicants will be notified in early September, providing organisations with certainty on the next phase of support and enabling funded projects to commence. The strong response to this inaugural round demonstrates that the industry is ready to invest in capability, strengthen organisational performance and play an even greater role in addressing Western Australia’s housing challenges.
Taking the conversation across WA
The grant round has been complemented by direct engagement on the ground.
During July and August, the CHFWA team travelled to Kalgoorlie and Karratha and participated in the Yule River On-Country Bush Meeting, engaging with Aboriginal organisations, community housing providers, homelessness services, regional development organisations and government representatives.
These conversations reinforced that there is no single approach to housing and capability building that will work everywhere.
Regional and remote communities face different housing markets, workforce pressures, governance arrangements and cultural considerations. The engagement also highlighted strong support for Aboriginal organisations to play a greater role in housing delivery, maintenance and sector leadership.
Maintenance and asset management emerged as another consistent challenge, particularly in regional and remote operating environments. Across the conversations, organisations also identified priorities around governance and leadership, registration readiness, strategic planning, organisational growth and understanding the housing system.
Turning what we’ve heard into action
This engagement is now informing the next phase of CHFWA program.
Community Housing Futures WA is now progressing the development of its Learning & Development Hub, the last project stream designed for organisations across the sector to find relevant learning opportunities, resources and professional development support. Rather than creating duplicate training, the Hub will focus on connecting people with what already exists, while helping identify where new investment and development may be needed. The Hub will initially focus on three key areas:
- Creating a directory of existing and relevant training opportunities, resources and learning providers. The directory will include all levels of training from paid to free options.
- Developing a sector-wide calendar of learning and development events and opportunities available throughout 2027.
- Identifying critical training, knowledge and capability needs across the sector to inform future priorities and investment.
To ensure the Hub reflects the needs of the sector, Community Housing Futures WA will launch two sector-wide surveys in September. One survey will focus on organisational capability needs across the housing sector, while the second will focus on individual career pathways, professional development and workforce learning needs. The surveys will help inform the development of the Learning & Development Hub and ensure future activities reflect the needs of the people and organisations working across the sector.
We encourage participation from across the sector, including community housing organisations, Aboriginal organisations, homelessness services, government agencies, training providers and other sector stakeholders. Whether you work in frontline service delivery, leadership, policy, governance, asset management, tenancy management or housing development, we want to hear from you.
What’s next?
While applications for the first Business Advisory Grant round are currently being assessed, organisations do not need to wait for future funding opportunities to engage with Community Housing Futures WA.
The Growth Readiness Assessment (GRA) remains open and available free of charge to community housing organisations across Western Australia. The assessment helps organisations identify capability strengths, gaps and priorities, providing a clear roadmap for future organisational development.
For organisations already thinking ahead, the Growth Readiness Assessment can help identify capability priorities and create a practical roadmap for organisational development. Organisations that complete a GRA now will be better positioned for future Business Advisory funding opportunities. In future rounds, Tier 2 and Tier 3 organisations will be able to apply for more than $50,000 where proposed projects are implementing Growth Readiness Assessment recommendations or are directly informed by GRA findings. Planning early starts now.
Expressions of Interest for the Growth Readiness Assessment remain open. Organisations interested in participating are encouraged to apply now and start planning for their next stage of growth.
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Contact
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team@chfwa.org.au -
0475 409 667 -
(08) 9325 6660 -
Mon-Fri 9am – 5pm
Community Housing Futures WA and Shelter WA acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country and their ongoing connection to land, waters and community. We pay our respects to all First Nations peoples and to the Elders past and present. We support the Uluru Statement from the Heart and our recognition and acceptance of your invitation to walk with you towards a movement of the Australian people for a better future.
