Beyond Shelter: Safe Housing Futures Summit
Short-Term, Mental Health, Crisis, Disability Accommodation & Robust SDA Housing

Monday 20th Oct 2024

This event has now passed.

Thank you to all who attended, all Speakers and those who travelled to ensure the success of this event

The Safe Futures Summit brings together professionals across housing, mental health, disability accommodation, and workplace safety sectors to explore practical strategies, innovations, and regulatory updates.

Why this event?

Collaboration is essential for building effective, sustainable solutions—especially in the short-term, disability and crisis accommodation sectors.

From Short-Term Accommodation, Crisis and Mental Health Accommodation, to Robust SDA Housing, stakeholders must understand the lived realities of those directly impacted.

This Summit goes beyond conversation. It highlights the power of knowledge-sharing and cross-sector collaboration.

By hearing from leading experts, you will gain insights to improve, adapt, and tailor solutions that truly meet the needs of individuals who rely on these homes, services, and environments to thrive.

We all share a responsibility to drive progress. Our role is to provide the platform -we invite you to contribute your expertise, build partnerships, and bring solutions that make a real impact.

Together, we can create safer futures and stronger communities.

Summit Structure

The Summit features 2 streams, allowing attendees to participate in one or both sessions depending on their focus areas.

Morning Sessions: Safer Workplaces & Resilient Housing

Discover practical approaches to creating mental health-centred living environments.
Innovative Housing Responses to Social Challenges
Expanding Safe Places: Explore the Safe Steps Sanctuary model, demonstrating how crisis accommodation for women and children escaping family violence can integrate therapeutic support, wraparound services, and culturally safe practices—and what short- or medium-term providers can learn from this model.
From Crisis to Care: Examine the Home in Mind initiative, offering workforce-focused strategies for supporting youth (aged 15–25) experiencing homelessness and complex mental health needs, with practical lessons for SDA and mental health accommodation providers.
Learn about new Victorian regulations for psychological health and practical strategies for managing psychosocial hazards and work-related violence.
Apply these insights across diverse settings, including mental health and accommodation services.
Explore robust Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) design, balancing safety, durability, and dignity.

A panel discussion and Q&A will allow attendees to explore collaboration opportunities and practical solutions.

Who should attend?

NDIS and SDA providers (Short-term, Medium-term, Robust SDA stakeholders, and all interested parties)
Mental health accommodation providers and specialists
Housing developers, builders, architects, and designers
Crisis accommodation services and organisations, including youth and domestic violence support
Community service providers

Why attend?

Attendees will gain up-to-date knowledge of regulatory changes, innovative housing and care models, and practical workforce strategies. The forum encourages cross-sector collaboration, enabling attendees to share insights, identify opportunities for integrated care, and improve outcomes for vulnerable populations.

Key Takeaways:

Explore innovative crisis accommodation models for women, children, and youth, including wraparound services and culturally responsive practice.
Build knowledge and skills to strengthen workforce capability, manage risks, and deliver person-centred, integrated housing and support services.
Identify opportunities for collaboration across sectors to enhance housing, care, and workplace wellbeing outcomes.
Gain insight into designing and delivering robust SDA and mental health accommodation that promotes recovery, safety, and resilience.
Understand the new Victorian psychological health regulations and how to implement them in diverse workplaces.
Learn practical approaches to preventing and managing work-related violence and psychosocial hazards

Second Session (For NDIS Providers) Optional
Provides additional NDIS-focused content tailored to providers managing compliance, payment holds, and workforce challenges. Attendees may choose to attend one or both sessions.

Session 1
Beyond Shelter : Safe housing futures Summit

Arrival and registration

8.00am - 8.30am

8.30am - 8.45am : Opening Statements

Lynn Gabriel -NDISDA and Impact Housing Director

8.45am - 9.15am

Creating Safer Workplaces: Managing Psychosocial and Physical Hazards in Health and Social Assistance Care

Pia Cerveri | Worksafe Victoria

Healthcare and Social Assistance (HCSA) Program Manager

The presentation will provide a high level overview of Worksafe Victoria’s regulatory role, and employers’ duties under OHS law, with a focus on managing psychosocial and physical hazards in healthcare and social assistance workplaces.

It will outline a practical risk identification and control framework, and highlight key resources and guidance available to support compliance and safer workplace practices

9.15am - 9.55am

Systemic Responsibility: Leadership Strategies to Prevent Harm in Mental Health, Housing, and Social Support
Mario McDonagh | Director of Education & Prevention – SALUSALL
Creator – Support Over Suicide (SOS) Program

In this compelling and deeply human keynote, Mario McDonagh explores the consequences when systems fail — and shows how leaders, Supported Independent Living providers, and all employees in the mental health and crisis accommodation space can intervene early to prevent harm.

Drawing from more than 30 years’ experience in high-risk industries, Mario shares his personal journey from soul-destroying despair to purpose-driven prevention, and how it has shaped his life’s work: empowering organisations to recognise risk, meet their legal Duty of Care, and build safer, more compassionate systems through structure, empathy, and accountability.

He introduces The D.A.G.S. — Drugs, Alcohol, Gambling, and Suicide — four silent factors eroding workplace and community safety — and demonstrates how they intersect with youth vulnerability, psychosocial hazards, and the responsibilities of accommodation and support providers.

Mario also unpacks The Five Ds of youth suicide ideation, offering practical strategies to identify distress before it escalates, and shares the Stop the Video mindset — a tool to help individuals break harmful behavioural loops and take control of their future.

This session is designed to help leaders, managers, carers, Supported Independent Living providers, and all mental health employees better understand the needs of those under their care, so they can walk away equipped with practical tools to identify risks, manage challenging situations, and proactively prevent escalation that can lead to crisis or suicide. It’s for those ready to move beyond awareness into meaningful action — creating safe, compliant, and compassionate environments for Australia’s most vulnerable.

Topics Covered:
1. From Soul-Destroying to Salvation – Lessons from personal journey to prevention
2. The D.A.G.S. – The Unseen Epidemic – Hidden risk factors in workplaces and communities
3. STOP THE VIDEO – The Moment Everything Changes – Intervening before crisis
4. The Five Ds – Spotting Suicide Before It Speaks – Practical strategies for early identification
5. The SALUSAL System – Turning Awareness into Action – Embedding sustainable, responsible systems
Key Themes:
• Understanding the needs of vulnerable individuals under care
• Youth mental health and suicide prevention
• Psychosocial hazards and Duty of Care in housing, disability, and social support
• The D.A.G.S. framework (Drugs, Alcohol, Gambling, Suicide)
• Recognising early suicide ideation – The Five Ds

10.00am - 10.15am

Morning Tea

10.20am - 10.50am

Designing for Resilience: Robust SDA and Mental Health Accommodation that supports recovery and safety

Bill Katsabis : CBG Architects

This presentation explores how Robust Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) and mental health housing can be designed to balance safety, durability, and dignity. With rising demand for housing that supports people with complex behaviours and mental health challenges, providers and designers must move beyond compliance to create environments that foster stability, recovery, and long-term wellbeing.

Key discussion points include:

• Principles of Robust Design: Minimising risk and damage while maintaining comfort and normalcy

.• Mental Health-Centred Environments: Creating therapeutic spaces that reduce triggers, promote calm, and support recovery

.• Balancing Durability and Homeliness: Designing environments that are resilient to challenging behaviours without feeling institutional.

• Safety for Tenants and Staff: Integrating design solutions that protect both residents and frontline workers.

• Innovation in Practice: Exploring new materials, layouts, and technologies that enhance the effectiveness and sustainability of robust SDA housing.

• Future Directions: How robust SDA and mental health accommodation can evolve to meet both NDIS requirements and human-centred care goals.

10.50am -11.05am

Beyond Robust: Building Safer, Stronger Futures through Tailored Support

Juliette will share insights into CareChoice’s approach to supporting participants in Robust SDA, and how tailored support models promote safety, stability, and independence. She’ll also introduce Victoria’s first Robust Plus homes - an enhanced version of the Robust SDA design, offering additional features and supports for participants with more complex needs. Through this partnership, CareChoice is helping to shape the future of high quality, fit-for-purpose housing

11.05am - 11.35am

Expanding Safe Places: Transforming Crisis Accommodation for Women and Children escaping family violence in Victoria

Suzanne Paynter | Safe Steps

Group Director, Business Group Family Violence Response Centre

Safe Steps Family Violence Response Centre, Victoria’s 24/7 statewide crisis service, responds to over 150,000 calls each year and provides more than 35,000 bed nights for women and children fleeing family violence.

Despite this, too many victim-survivors are still placed in motels due to a shortage of appropriate supported housing.

With support from the Australian Government’s Safe Places Emergency Accommodation Program, Safe Steps is expanding its Sanctuary model, creating an additional 102 safe places. This model offers onsite therapeutic support, wraparound services, and culturally safe environments, tailored to the needs of women and children, including those from CALD communities and those living with disability.

Attendees will gain a deeper understanding of the urgent need for expanded safe places, the role of innovative crisis accommodation in breaking cycles of violence, and how trauma-informed, collaborative approaches can create lasting pathways to safety and stability.

The session will also open discussions on practical collaboration between short-term housing providers, SDA accommodation, and domestic violence services.

11.40am - 12.05pm

From Crisis to Care: Youth Mental Health and Housing

Sam Barrett (he/him), Head of Social Innovation Programs (including Youth Housing Initiative (YHI))

The 2025 Victorian Youth Homelessness Snapshot paints a stark picture of the challenges young people face when navigating homelessness in Victoria.

With 4 in 5experiencing family violence, two in three reporting self-harm or suicidal ideation, and one in four experiencing homelessness for four years or more, the findings highlight that services alone cannot meet these complex needs.

This presentation translates the Snapshot’s data into practice-focused insights for frontline workers, housing providers, and community organisations to include;

Key insights into young people's lived experiences in 2025
Strategies for addressing the intersections of homelessness, family violence, mental health, and disconnection from education and employment.
Youth Housing Initiatives – approaches for supporting young people with high and complex needs.

The presentation will also highlight Melbourne City Mission’s Home in Mind initiative, which supports young people aged 15–25 experiencing homelessness and mental health challenges. It will cover key insights into youth in crisis and share lessons from frontline practice, including case studies of effective housing and mental health support.

Attendees will gain practical insights into designing, delivering, and operating robust SDA and mental health accommodation, with a focus on recovery-oriented housing models, safety, and long-term resilience.

12.05pm - 12.30pm

Q & A and close of the first session.

Option to book second session or depart.

1.15pm - 4.00pm

Second session start (same room)

Session1

Session 2

NDIS Provider Pricing and Claims Update 2025–26:

and
NDIA Payment hold implications

1.15pm - 4.00pm

Networking optional in the restaurant /bar on the ground level

About this Session
This Forum provides a concise, practical update on NDIS funding changes effective 1 July 2025, designed to keep providers informed and compliant. Attendees will learn about the Annual Pricing Review, the removal of therapy supports from Core, and updated travel claim rules for therapy providers.

The session will cover:

• Annual Pricing Review 2025–26 – updated pricing arrangements and limits.
• Disability-Related Health Supports (DRHS) – claiming therapy supports under Capacity Building only.
• NDIS Travel Claim Rules – correctly claiming travel time and associated costs.

• Practical implications for providers – invoicing, planning, and budgeting for participant supports.

Attendees will gain the knowledge needed to navigate new funding rules, avoid claim rejections, and plan sustainable service delivery under the updated NDIS framework.

NDIA Payment Holds and Provider Compliance :
As NDIS/ SIL providers strive to maintain high-quality care for participants, navigating the evolving compliance landscape becomes an increasingly complex challenge.

Recent Federal Court rulings have reinforced the NDIA’s authority to impose payment holds, highlighting the need for strict adherence to the NDIS Act and accurate record-keeping. However, cases such as Affinity Care Services Pty Ltd v NDIA and Northern Disability Services Pty Ltd v NDIA also bring to light concerns about procedural fairness, delayed payments, and the financial pressures they impose on providers.

With over 1,000 active payment holds disrupting vital services, providers face significant financial risks, which in turn affect their ability to deliver the best care for participants.

This session will address:

How NDIA payment holds impact NDIS / SIL business operations and financial sustainability.
The challenges of balancing compliance with the financial realities of running a business while prioritising participant care.
Approaches to challenging unreasonable NDIA decisions without compromising the quality of care provided to participants.

By the end of this session, attendees will understand how NDIA payment holds impact NDIS and SIL provider operations, financial sustainability, and service delivery.

They will gain insight into the legal and regulatory framework governing payment holds, learn strategies to maintain compliance while managing financial and operational risks, and explore practical approaches to challenge or respond to NDIA decisions without compromising participant care

Who should attend?

This session is ideal for:
NDIS providers (including SIL providers)
Therapy providers and allied health professionals
Support coordinators and plan managers
Finance and compliance officers in disability services
Organisations managing participant supports under the NDIS
Any stakeholder responsible for service delivery, invoicing, or compliance under the NDIS framework
Attendees will gain the knowledge and strategies needed to navigate funding updates, understand regulatory compliance, and manage NDIA payment holds while maintaining high-quality services.