20 YEARS OF SEARMS: Fighting for Aboriginal housing

What’s the story behind one of Australia’s longest-running Aboriginal community housing organisations? We speak to Tony Gilmour who joined forces with Uncle Tom Slockee to immortalise the history of SEARMS in print with the book An Aboriginal Voice in Housing: The history of SEARMS.

2023 marked a significant milestone for the Southeast Aboriginal Regional Management Service (SEARMS). Having existed in different guises for many years, the organisation marked its 20th anniversary with several initiatives, one of which was commissioning former ahi: President Tony Gilmour to document their history. The resulting book, An Aboriginal Voice in Housing: The history of SEARMS, is their story and an opportunity for Tony to re-examine how white Australia believes Indigenous Australians should live.

For SEARMS, the choice of Tony Gilmour to document their history was a no-brainer. His association with the organisation stretches back almost seven years, having done consulting and advisory work for them in the past. He knew the people, he knew the organisation and, when he heard about their plan to commission a history of the Service, he was immediately interested.

“My ears prick up when somebody asks me to write something like that, particularly a long-form book,” Tony confesses. “I mean, this is 75,000 words – it's not just a back-of-the-envelope publication. And it started being talked about probably about a-year-and-a-half ago.”

Not surprisingly, the 2023 referendum on An Aboriginal Voice to Parliament spurred Tony and his co-author Uncle Tom Slockee to complete the book in a timely fashion.

“October 2023 is ostensibly 20 years since SEARMS was set up as a co-op, but there's also plenty of history before then. When it also happened to be the date when the referendum was taking place, we had to get our skates on to make sure the two coincided. It would look a bit silly doing this book a month or two after there'd been a referendum.”

Documenting history has no shortage of challenges attached to it but, when it comes to a project like An Aboriginal Voice in Housing, the degree of difficulty increases considerably. For Tony, this wasn’t his first attempt at penning the history of a community-based organisation and, with three previous books to his name, he had important insights into making sure the finished product wasn’t just a PR exercise glossing over the lows and only focusing the highs.

As Tony himself put it, some organisations want a history along the lines of “We started, and then we got better and we it got even better and look how fantastic we are now. There are some organisations who think of themselves like that as well but that's marketing — and makes for a bad book!” he says.

“I've written organisational histories before and, in every case, it's a little bit awkward because you're being paid by the organisation you're writing about, so you have to establish the rules of the game.”

"If you don't describe some of the things that can go wrong, then people will never learn."

“In a sense, what my co-author, Uncle Tom Slockee, and I both wanted was that, if you don't describe some of the things that can go wrong, then people will never learn. What tends to happen when a community organisation has problems — and nearly every community housing organisation will have some problems at some stage — it just shows that they are addressed. And maybe other people can look at it and think, well, actually from what we've read in this book, maybe we wouldn't want to go down that pathway, we could do it differently.”

“This is the old story that, if you don't talk honestly about the past, then the mistakes carry on repeating themselves. And that's been the case, particularly with Aboriginal affairs, since colonisation started.”

Scholastic rigour, accuracy and balance are essential to any historical documentation project. In this instance, Tony was confronted with many competing elements to weigh up. In the case of SEARMS, finding a starting point at which to launch from was problematic. Evidently, even though they were marking their 20th anniversary, it turned out that 2003 could be said to be a contentious starting point.

"So, how do you manage the whole pre-invasion then colonial times?"

“It turned out to be a bigger task than I thought because a lot of their antecedent organisations that coalesced in 2003 had been set up in the 1970s and 1980s. It was a rather larger history. To some extent, with any history, but particularly with Aboriginal histories, you have to go back a long time because of all the deeply ingrained issues. And so, how do you manage the whole pre-invasion then colonial times?”

In telling SEARMS’ story, Tony was forced to reassess many of the things he’d learned during his long and illustrious career in the housing sector. Even though it was charting the history of SEARMS from 2003 to 2023, he could see that a proper history of the Aboriginal community housing sector needed to go back further.

"I found out that Aboriginal community housing predated mainstream community housing by nearly 10 years."

“We'd already found another 30 years, which I don't think people were particularly aware of,” he says. “I also found out that Aboriginal community housing predated mainstream community housing by nearly 10 years. So, actually, all these community housing providers have learned from blackfellas and their history — or they should have done! — which I think is a lovely reflection.”

As well as these insights, Tony quickly learned that Aboriginal housing extended well beyond Australian capital cities too.

“I saw it as being quite an urban thing. I used to live in Redfern, and I knew about The Aboriginal Housing Company there. I was aware of housing from the Aboriginal urban activist side, and I'd written the history of Shelter New South Wales, so I knew about urban activism.”

Uncle Tom Slockee reads selected text from the book, including some traditional Aboriginal approaches to housing.

“What I hadn't realised was there was an equal amount going on in regional areas, and that it just so happened [that] the south coast of New South Wales — maybe that's because that was the area I was studying — was a hotbed of activism and leadership.”

“It's really the way that the activists who were empowered through getting free higher education, and the civil rights movement in the ‘60s into the '70s, it's those activists that were involved both in white and black activism that then were the people who took the leadership role of these organisations going forward. SEARMS didn’t just land in 2003 in Yangary Batemans Bay, and wow, that's that. They were building on the shoulders of blackfellas who'd been pushing for this for 30 or more years. There wasn't very much that happened in Aboriginal housing affairs that wasn't pushed for, and led, by Aboriginal people.”

Honouring the cultural sensitivities and use of language was something Tony was determined to try to get right, as well as addressing the optics of a whitefella writing an Aboriginal history.

“How do you refer to things?” he begins. “Well, I chose the term ‘non-Aboriginal people’. I had to agree with the organisation whether I call people ‘white’ or ‘black’, which I wouldn't like to do. The organisation doesn't use ‘First Nations’ as a term, so I didn't use that. But they also don't use ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander’. So, you have to develop an agreed set of wording, which you probably wouldn't do if you're just writing the history of another mainstream community housing organisation.”

“It's not necessarily a good look that a white person's writing black history,” Tony continues. “And so, I only wrote the book on the basis that it will be jointly authored by myself and Uncle Tom Slockee who I've known for a long time, and we get on like a house on fire.”

"There are a lot of tensions and issues as to how things can be covered [in the Aboriginal sector] – even a few decades back, some of those issues are still quite raw."

“It was an interesting set-up because, obviously, I'm the one who's doing most of the writing, but he's the one who's carrying the cultural burden. And talking about things in the Aboriginal sector, there are a lot of tensions and issues as to how things can be covered – even a few decades back, some of those issues are still quite raw. We had an ongoing negotiation but, on issues to do with Aboriginality, I followed Tom. That's the only way to do it.”

The project also forced Tony to re-evaluate what he’d been taught and the academic paradigm from which it had been derived.

“Some of the non-Aboriginal academics who I'd learned my housing history from, I think had taken a bit of a top-down view of policy stuff that goes on in government departments and government agencies. A lot of that is actually reacting to what's been happening and pushed for on the ground. And so, bringing in these black voices – black leaders – I think is a really good kind of balance to what I realise now was a fairly white view of housing history, if we can say such a thing... a non-Aboriginal view of housing history.”

"I got a PhD in community housing from the University of Sydney. I realised I knew next to nothing about Aboriginal community housing. How can that be?"

“I got a PhD in community housing from the University of Sydney. I realised I knew next to nothing about Aboriginal community housing. How can that be? This book, in a sense, is going to be a leading book in its field… because it’s the only one,” he laughs.

On a serious note, Tony sees the book as a starting point for a greater awareness of Aboriginal housing: “There's been virtually nothing written about this area. If you look up mainstream community housing, it's been done to death. But Aboriginal community housing hasn't! Like why has that happened?”

“This is only a starting point. When other people come to write the next Aboriginal housing book, at least they can refer to this one and they can say that I got bits wrong, or they’ll know where the sources are, but they won't have to start almost from a blank sheet of paper, which I sometimes felt I was doing.”

The takeaway from An Aboriginal Voice in Housing, in both Tony and Uncle Tom’s opinion, is the importance of listening. For all his research and academic rigour, it was taking the time to listen to Aboriginal elders and the wider SEARMS community, as well participating in yarning circles and other Aboriginal cultural ceremonies, that taught Tony the most.

“I spent a lot of time with Uncle Tom and Auntie Muriel, and they actually felt like my family. I was welcomed. Tom knows that my heart's in this. And so, we've caught up, had meals, had a laugh, and it just felt like being part of a family arrangement, which I don't think I'd have got writing any other organisational history.”

“The general point is that we need to listen to Aboriginal people about Aboriginal housing. We need to listen to all sorts of people about housing. So, a lot of the lessons from this are: you need to be close to, and consult with, your community, and communities have different needs and expectations.”

Tony believes this is as true for Aboriginal housing as it is across the spectrum: social housing for people on low incomes, housing for people with disabilities, housing for new migrants and people from culturally and linguistic backgrounds: “You have to be a community organisation,” he makes a point to emphasise the word ‘community’.

“One of the things Uncle Tom is very keen on is promoting further Aboriginal community-controlled organisations like SEARMS – whether it's housing co-ops or community housing organisations, Aboriginal community housing organisations. I think it’s a bigger discussion that we need.”

We need to have more SEARMS-type of organisations in Australia, full-stop, because one size does not fit all,” he states passionately. “The housing and living conditions of Aboriginal people in the south coast of New South Wales are distinctly different to Aboriginal people living in capital cities, and people living in remote areas.”

“We tend to hear a lot about Aboriginal people living in remote areas because the conditions there are the most shocking. But the approaches and solutions we need for those regional and remote areas are different to the ones we need for other areas. I feel like I've been saying that since I got involved in community housing 25 years ago, but we still need to drum that home.”

“This might seem like an Aboriginal housing book,” he concludes, “but it's got broader implications for how we run our country, how we run social services, and how we deliver things to people.”

An Aboriginal Voice in Housing: The History of SEARMS and Southeast NSW Aboriginal Community Controlled Housing can be purchased online with all proceeds going to SEARMS.

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Brighter Future Awards nominations now open!!

February 14, 2025

It is with great pleasure that we announce nominations are now open for the ahi: 2025 Brighter Future Awards .

Submission in response to the Draft NSW Homelessness Strategy 2025 - 2035

February 14, 2025

About the Australasian Housing Institute The Australasian Housing Institute (ahi) is a professional body for workers in the social and affordable housing and Specialist Homelessness Service (SHS) sectors across Australia and New Zealand. It has Branch Committees in each state and territory, as well as in New Zealand. The ahi is submitting a response to the Draft NSW Homelessness Strategy (the Strategy), representing the collective feedback of the NSW Branch Committee, with the support of the entire ahi organization. With over 2,000 members across NSW, ahi members work in both government and non-government housing organizations. The ahi has a long history of collaborating with SHS, Specialist Disability Services, and other mainstream services, including health, education, and local councils. For the past 25 years, ahi has been proudly delivering training for industry housing professionals across a wide range of areas, including tenancy management, asset management, and governance. The ahi also hosts masterclasses and networking events to support its members. The ahi provides professional development to the workforce through: Training and knowledge-building on a range of issues relevant to social housing professionals, from induction programs for new workers to advanced and specialized training in areas such as asset management, trauma-informed approaches with applicants and tenants, personal development, and community participation. A mentoring program that pairs experienced professionals with newer or younger members to help them achieve their career aspirations and goals. A certification program for social housing professionals to uphold professional standards and ensure success in their area of expertise. Leading the Annual Brighter Future Awards, which recognize excellence in the social housing industry. Promoting active, engaged, and connected membership through the delivery of topical events, seminars, webinars, masterclasses, and more. As a member-based professional body, the ahi is uniquely positioned to build trust, enhance skills, and foster relationships across both the government and non-government sectors, as well as between organizations. Summary The ahi congratulates the NSW Government on its significant investment of $6.6 billion in the 2024 budget, aimed at tackling the unprecedented housing stress and the rising numbers of individuals experiencing homelessness driven by the ongoing rental crisis in both the private rental and social housing sectors. The Strategy for 2025-2035 is highly commendable, with its three core goals—rare, brief, and non-repeated—standing out as ambitious and impactful objectives aimed at addressing homelessness. These goals are set to bring about significant changes in the social housing system and provide a clear policy framework to guide efforts toward achieving meaningful outcomes over the next decade. The ahi recognizes the importance of this Strategy and the critical role that the social and affordable rental housing system plays in meeting these goals, emphasizing the need for genuine, whole-of-government collaboration in delivering results. This approach involves collaboration across government, the not-for-profit community housing sector, and mainstream services, all supported by SHS’s within a Housing First framework and guided by a clear governance structure. It marks a shift from a deficit-driven perspective to a solution-focused, positive approach. The success of this transformation relies on collective efforts through co-design, co-evaluation, and co-delivery, ensuring the long-term effectiveness of the change. For this paradigm shift to succeed, it will require a skilled, committed, and dedicated workforce, as outlined in Principle 8 (The Workforce is Strong and Capable). Recognizing the need for a sustained, locally connected workforce is crucial to addressing the diverse needs of individuals experiencing homelessness across all three phases of their journey. In its feedback on the Strategy, the ahi emphasizes the importance of focused attention on homelessness and social housing workforce planning, professional development, industry support, and the need for culturally competent workers—both paid and voluntary—who bring diversity, inclusion skills, and lived experience. Finally, the ahi urges that Principle 8, which highlights the strength and capability of the workforce, be prioritized, particularly in supporting First Nations people experiencing housing stress and homelessness, with a long-term vision extending beyond the next 10 years. Detailed response The following is more a detailed response from the ahi to the questions outlined in the consultation paper for the Strategy. SECTION 1: The Guiding Principles of the Strategy 1. What do we need to consider as we implement services and system reform guided by these principles (total 9) over the next 10 years? As we implement services and system reform guided by these principles over the next 10 years, the ahi suggests the following approaches be prioritized: Workforce planning should be a key focus in the first rolling action plan (2025-2027), with an emphasis on forecasting the ongoing skills and competency needs throughout the life of The Strategy. This will ensure the workforce is equipped to meet evolving demands. Increasing the supply of dwellings to address crisis, transition, and permanent housing needs must be matched by a parallel increase in the workforce. This includes expanding both paid employees and volunteers within social housing, community housing organizations, and Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS). A well-supported workforce is essential to ensuring the successful and sustainable delivery of outcomes envisioned by the Strategy. Skilling workers who assist First Nations people experiencing homelessness should be prioritised. This requires a culturally competent workforce at all levels to provide high-quality services and ensure that First Nations people do not experience repeated homelessness. By focusing on cultural competence, we can foster better outcomes and long-term stability for these communities. 2. Which Principle should be prioritized and why? The ahi fully supports all nine Principles, with particular emphasis on Principle 8: Workforce is Strong and Capable, as being foundational. Addressing homelessness is a person-centered solution that requires culturally competent employees and volunteers who can establish strong, supportive networks with wraparound services at the local community level. This is essential to meeting the evolving needs and remains a high priority in the First Action Plan (2025-2027). Ongoing professional development for workers is crucial to ensuring long-term success in meeting the changing social, economic, and environmental needs of those living in quality housing. It is also vital for ensuring tenants not only live well but stay connected to their communities. Supporting the workforce’s safety and wellness is key to maintaining a capable, resilient workforce, which in turn ensures the best possible quality of housing, management, and support for tenants. SECTION 2: Strategy focus areas: 1. To make homelessness rare, what should NSW prioritise for action and why? The ahi believes that adequate funding for SHS’s is essential to ensure they are properly resourced to assist individuals at risk of or in a crisis state of homelessness at the point of need. The ability to identify risks and allocate resources effectively for intake assessments and service coordination is key to early intervention and prevention. A triage system is vital for facilitating positive outcomes, aiming to make homelessness a one-off experience. The ahi also supports dedicated funding for staff training and development in this field, recognizing its importance in preventing homelessness from becoming a long-term issue. Investing in training allows for timely and appropriate interventions, helping to break the cycle of homelessness early on. 2. What opportunities and risks are there for implementing actions under this outcome? Delaying action in assisting individuals experiencing homelessness can lead to a loss of faith and hope in the NSW housing system, pushing them toward the justice system or, in the case of older people or women escaping domestic violence, even premature death. Implementing this outcome presents an opportunity to build a culturally competent, and trauma-informed workforce, a key factor to transforming lives while simultaneously increasing the supply of housing. Supporting a resilient workforce, where high job satisfaction is fostered, creates committed and effective workers who can make a lasting difference. 3. What types (s) would be most useful to measure our impact and why? A key target in the First Action Plan (2025-2027) is to reduce the number of people on the social housing waitlist during the reporting period. This measure will serve as an indicator of success and validate the effectiveness of early intervention policies in preventing homelessness. Additionally, setting targets for the number of employees and volunteers in the social housing and SHS sectors, as well as tracking turnover rates, is essential to assessing the success of building a stronger, more capable workforce. 4. To make homelessness brief, what should NSW Priorities for action & why? Domestic violence, family abuse, and coercive control are major causes of homelessness among women, with the number of homeless women and children increasing according to the latest data. Adequate funding for this vulnerable group is a top priority. Supporting these women has a profound impact on their recovery, resilience, and ability to raise their children, leading to positive generational outcomes in the long term. The rising trend of older women experiencing homelessness for the first time also requires early intervention to prevent premature death. 5. What opportunity and risks are there for implementing actions under this outcome? The continued trend of women dying as a result of domestic violence and family abuse is deeply concerning. In 2024, 14 older women aged 55 and over were killed, a distressing statistic according to the Commissioner for Domestic and Family Violence, Michaela Cronin. These women are at a higher risk of vulnerability, often with no support systems to rely on. Implementing actions under this outcome presents a crucial opportunity to save lives, reduce the number of women experiencing both domestic violence and homelessness, and help them rebuild their lives. 6. What types of target(s) would be useful for measuring our impact and why? Reducing the number of women who die as a result of domestic violence and family abuse during the First Action Plan (2025-2027) is an important metric to track and report, demonstrating the efficacy of The Strategy. Individual success stories are powerful testimonies that show the goals of the Strategy are benefiting both individuals and the housing system. The skills required for employees and volunteers in this area demand dedicated funding and training resources. Implementing a measure to evaluate the outcomes of training courses would be valuable, helping to refine and improve the content and application of these programs. 7. To ensure homelessness is not repeated, what should NSW prioritize for action and why? First Nations people are overrepresented in experiencing homelessness and face significant challenges in breaking the cycle. Priority should be given to this group under the Housing First Principle, supported by skilled and capable staff and volunteers, to empower them and prevent repeat homelessness. Rental tenancy laws in NSW should be reviewed, particularly regarding the cessation of tenancy due to prolonged absences. Cultural customs related to death and bereavement (Sorry Business) should be recognised as acceptable reasons for absences and incorporated into tenancy policies. 8. What opportunities and risks are there in implementing actions under this outcome? The risk of not achieving the goals outlined in the National Agreement on Closing the Gap for the NSW Government is significant if priority is not given to properly housing and supporting First Nations people. There are valuable opportunities in collaborating with Aboriginal leaders through a co-design, co-evaluation, and co-delivery approach. Their collective commitment to improving the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people can lead to positive outcomes in housing, health, education, employment, justice, safety, and inclusion. 9. What types of target(s) would be most useful to measure the impact and why? Increase the number of Aboriginal workers with certified qualifications across various areas of the Aboriginal housing sector. Aboriginal tenants depend on highly qualified and culturally competent workers and volunteers to help build their resilience and prevent repeated homelessness. Regular customer satisfaction surveys should be conducted to measure tenants’ satisfaction levels and identify areas of strength and improvement. Conclusion The ahi supports an ambitious supply growth program throughout the life of the Strategy to address homelessness in NSW. With 63,260 households (based on 2023-2024 data) currently on the waiting list, it is crucial to reduce this number over the next 10 years through the rolling action plans. Successfully delivering the Strategy will require a skilled, trauma-informed, and competent workforce to implement an integrated housing system. While workforce planning is mentioned as one of the nine principles, its lack of detailed planning is concerning. The ahi strongly suggests that the principles of co-design, co-evaluation, and co-delivery be incorporated from the outset in developing the rolling action plans. The ahi thanks the NSW Government for the opportunity to submit feedback and for its ongoing consideration of building a strong and capable workforce that is recognised and supported by a broad range of industries. The value of including people with lived experience and their unique knowledge and skills cannot be overlooked as an essential voice in this transformative process. Contact NSW Branch Committee - Australasian Housing Institute admin@housinginstitute.org www.theahi.com.au (02) 6494 7566 Date submitted: 11/2/25 Submitted to: Homelessness.strategy@homes.nsw.gov.au

Appointment of new auditor

October 24, 2024

Australasian Housing Institute (the Company) wishes to announce that effective from today, 24th October 2024, Accounting & Audit Solutions Bendigo (AASB) has been appointed as auditor of the Company. The change of auditor has occurred due to the resignation of Kelly Partners (Sydney) as the company’s auditor. The company received approval from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to change its auditors in accordance with section 329(6) of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth). Accordingly, the Company has accepted the resignation of Kelly Partners (Sydney). AASB’s appointment is effective until the next Annual General Meeting of the Company. In accordance with section 327C of the Corporations Act, a resolution will be put to members at the 2025 Annual General Meeting to appoint AASB as the Company’s ongoing auditor.