FAQs

Yes, having your assets assessed for investment and divestment opportunities in order to build a redevelopment pipeline is within scope.

Community Housing Organisations (CHOs) can apply to be on the Approved Advisory Panel for the Community Housing Futures Program. This decision came from CHOs who expressed their desire to collaborate with more growth experienced CHOs to advance their growth initiatives.

The identified benefits include facilitating knowledge sharing, fostering partnerships, and innovation within the community housing sector as the program commences planning for Round 2 of the Business Advisory Grant Program. It is encouraged that organisations possessing capabilities in Finance, Development, Risk, or Business Planning, and who are interested in sharing their expertise with other CHOs, consider applying to join the Approved Advisory Panel here.

CHOs who wish to join the panel will need to undertake the same application process as any other consultant, which includes demonstrating specific skills, relevant qualifications and memberships, and adequate insurance.

It’s essential to note that CHOs serving on the Advisory Panel will not be eligible to apply for grant funding for the same activity which they are providing guidance for.

CHOs are encouraged to take an active role in shaping the future and strengthening the QLD community housing sector through collaboration and expertise sharing.

Registered CHOs can be searched by region here. It is a good idea to visit each of the CHOs’ websites to find out more about them, what they do and the cohorts they house.

The purpose of the Program is the improve the long-term viability and financial strength of Queensland community housing organisations (CHOs), by enhancing and supporting access to training, education, tools and specialist business advisory services.

The main objectives of this Program are to:

• Enhance capacity to bid for financial assistance for housing growth Programs
• Enhance capability to deliver further housing supply
• Increase CHOs capability to diversify operating models to increase affordable housing.

To achieve the above, organisations will have opportunities to apply for business services grants, nominate for a capability and readiness assessment, participate in training or use tools and resources that the program will develop.

The overall Program Evaluation will consider aggregated and anonymised data, including the number of assessments completed, and the size and location of the organizations involved. Pre and post-surveys involving the consultants and organisations will capture perceptions of the benefits of the assessments and process improvements to the program. The consultants will summarise thematic capacity and capability needs in a report to the Peaks, which will drive further design of capacity and capability offerings.

A total of $5million in funding from Treasury over two years was committed to capacity building activities. Community Housing Futures has been funded $4million over two years. Treasury has retained $1million for additional capacity building support if required and will administer this directly.

From January 2025, the Queensland Government, through the Department of Housing and Public Works, has provided a further $4 million (GST Exclusive) grant to extend the Community Housing Futures Program for an additional two years. The purpose of the Program has been refined to focus on growth and concentrating on initiatives for Community Housing Providers (CHPs) and Indigenous Controlled Housing Organisations (ICHOs) who are growing or are likely to grow their housing portfolios. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Housing Queensland, CHIA Queensland and Q Shelter are delivering the CHFP with Q Shelter as the auspice body. 

The co-contribution has been set by the Governance Group of the program inclusive of CHIA Qld, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Housing Queensland and Q Shelter in addition to Queensland Treasury and the Department of Communities, Housing and the Digital Economy. The intention is to maximise the funds available to reach as many CHOs as possible. Co-contributions can either be in-kind or financial. The information package about the Grants is due to be released very soon and frequently asked questions will be updated regularly so information that is relevant to all potential applicants is universally available and easy to access.

• Grants of up to $250,000.00 (ex GST) for CHOs or $700,000.00 for ICHOs are available and are exclusively to cover the cost of consultancy services by member(s) of the Approved Professional Advisory Panel. Grant funds will not be approved for general operating or staff costs.
• Projects can extend over 12-18 months depending on grant amount, timing, and location.
• CHOs and ICHOs can use their own preferred professional services provider, not just the professional services panel. The provider would need to be approved by the Project Team and hold relevant skills/qualifications to undertake the work. The professional services provider would be invited to join the panel if their capabilities and experiences may be of relevance to other CHOs and ICHOs, however this is optional.
• Applications must include a proposal and quote from the professional service(s) panel member they intend to engage with the grant funding.
• Grant funding will be paid in milestones that will be determined against the project plan supplied by the applicant.
  Successful organisations must:
• Enter into a funding agreement with Q Shelter.
• Enter into a contract with the panelists directly for their project and manage the entire project delivery.
• Contribute to the program evaluation through timely input to interviews, surveys and the submission of a brief project report and acquittal.

Community Housing Futures is committed to a thorough evaluation of the program and have appointed AHURI as evaluation partners to establish framework, key deliverables, timeframes and stakeholder engagement and communications strategies to ensure the program is as meaningful as possible to the sector. Further, AHURI will establish a baseline report of the sector and a final evaluation report and analyses program outcomes, and impacts. The Peaks advocated strongly for evaluation to ensure the impact of the program is measured, formative improvements can be made, and future capacity needs are documented.

Grant applications collect information that enable the assessment and approval of grants. Information collected in the grant application process is also designed to enable evaluation of the program purpose and objectives.

No information about individual CHOs will be reported in an identifying way. Aggregate and anonymised data will be reported in the evaluation. The purpose of this data is to:

• drive formative program improvements
• contribute to program evaluation
• support future assessment of sector capacity needs for the purposes of designing capacity and capability building programs, projects, and activities.

The Declaration and Privacy Statement on the Grant Application has now been updated to more clearly reflect this.

Organisations must meet all of the following criteria to be eligible for funding under this program:

• Organisations must be a community housing provider (under the National Regulatory System for Community Housing (NRSCH), The Queensland State Regulatory System for Community Housing (QSRSCH) or an Indigenous Community Housing Provider).
• Organisations must be delivering or intending to deliver additional housing supply in Queensland.
• Organisations must have supply growth as a strategic objective and have the capacity to increase affordable and social housing supply.

Community Housing Futures Governance Group

The Programs Governance Committee is made up of representatives from Queensland Treasury, Department of Housing, the CEO of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Housing, the EO of Community Housing Industry Association of QLD and a representative from the Q Shelter management committee who is independent from Community Housing Organisations (CHOs). There are no CHOs on the Governance Committee of the program. In order to seek sector feedback to ensure the program meets and continues to meet sector need, the program relies on the peak organisations mentioned above, environmental scanning and the Industry Reference Group.

Q Shelter Executive Director is part of the delivery team and as such reports to the Governance Group.

The Industry Reference Group

The Program has an Industry Reference Group made up of representatives from CHOs to inform the program delivery and ensure it responds to industry needs. The Industry Reference Group does not have access to any information before it is published or any information about individual grant applications. If you are from a CHO and would like to join the Industry Reference Group, please contact communityhousingfutures@qshelter.asn.au

The role of Q Shelter Management Committee

Q Shelter’s management committee is ultimately responsible for oversight of contract delivery. Reports about the program’s delivery to Q Shelter management committee include risk reporting, financial reports and program milestones to demonstrate the delivery of the contract. No identifying information about CHPs is included in Q Shelter reporting to its management committee.

The role of other participating peak/industry associations

Each peak/industry body will provide reports on progress to their own governing body. No reporting to governing bodies will include identifying information about CHOs.

Key points

• Early in the Program’s development, it was decided and formalised that the Governing bodies of the participating peaks would not assist in the detailed design of the program including the grants because they consist of CHPs that may intend to apply for grants or other services, and this may result in an unfair advantage.
• Design of this program and program delivery decisions will be made by the Community Housing Futures Governance Group and not the governing bodies of the participating peaks.
• No identifying information about individual CHPs will be provided to governing bodies of the participating peaks.
• Oversight to the Approved Advisory Panel Grants Program methodology will rest entirely with the Community Housing Futures Governance Group.

Meet Eligibility: All eligibility criteria specified under Eligibility in the Grant Guidelines must be met.
Purpose: How the project aligns with the program’s Objectives and to the organisation’s strategic direction.
Growth: How the proposed project will directly support growth in the supply of social & affordable housing in QLD.
Financial: How the grant money will be disbursed per stream of activity.
Capacity: How well the CHO has demonstrated their capability and capacity to manage a consultancy project successfully including a project plan and timeline.
Timing: Grants will be prioritised for organisations with growth objectives who have the capacity to increase the supply of housing in the next three years.
Value for Money: The proposed project demonstrates value for money and has an in-kind or financial co-contribution by the CHO.

You will be able to find the guidelines on the first page of the grant’s portal. For reference, the first iteration of the program’s guidelines can be found HERE. Please note these guidelines are in review currently in preparation for the second grant round opening. The revised guidelines and will be available soon.

Tools and resources will be available to access organisation wide, however face-to-face or webinar learning sessions and workshops will be topic specific so it is best to choose people from your organisation that the topic is most relevant too to attend.

The Community Housing Futures team have already commenced travel to many regions across Queensland and is eager to hear from you.

You can express interest HERE if you would like to discuss a regional consultation or speak with the team directly.