Faith Housing Australia

What Faith Housing Australia does

Faith Housing Australia (FHA) is an Australian not-for-profit peak body and membership association that advocates for and represents faith-based community housing providers, faith communities, and individuals committed to addressing homelessness and affordable housing. Founded in the mid-1990s as Churches Community Housing under the NSW Ecumenical Council, the organisation was incorporated as a membership association in 2010 and rebranded to Faith Housing Australia in 2022 to reflect its national and multi-faith orientation. FHA's core offering is membership services, including advocacy representation to state and federal governments, research and policy publications, capacity-building programs, networking events, and consultancy for Community Housing Provider (CHP) registration. Its membership spans tiered CHP membership (Tier 1: A$5,000 + GST annually; Tier 2: A$4,000; Tier 3: A$1,500), Ordinary membership for individuals (A$250) and organisations (A$1,000), and broader stakeholder engagement with places of worship, faith leaders, housing sector professionals, and philanthropists.

FHA is primarily funded by the NSW Department of Communities and Justice as a recognised Social Sector Peak Body for the faith housing sector, supplemented by membership fees. The organisation maintains strategic partnerships with NSW DCJ, Housing All Australians (national land activation), Macquarie University and UNSW for research, Landcom for land-development engagement, NCOSS for cross-sector advocacy, and other peak bodies. It was a founder stakeholder of WelcomeMat, Australia's first bespoke tenant-matching platform for affordable rental housing, launched in 2020. Operationally, FHA is a small team of approximately 4-5 staff led by Acting CEO Amanda Bailey (covering for CEO Rose Thomson, who is on leave until July 2026), with Dr Rob Stokes (former NSW Minister for Planning) as Chair. Member organisations have delivered over 4,000 new homes across NSW over the past decade, with FHA's national remit now extending across all Australian states and territories.

FHA's go-to-market is community-led, anchored on direct membership acquisition, formal government partnership, and cross-sector coalition building rather than commercial product sales. Distribution channels include its own website and blog, email newsletters, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, commissioned research publications, events and round tables, and earned media through media releases. The organisation does not sell software products; its principal sub-brand, WelcomeMat, is operated as a separate tenant-matching platform serving CHPs.

Name

Faith Housing Australia

Legal name

Faith Housing Australia

Website

https://fha.org.au

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Affordable Housing Advocacy

NAICS

Community Housing Services (62422), Religious Organizations (8131), Civic and Social Organizations (8134)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Affordable Housing & Community Development (Housing, Community Land Trusts) (BPAGALAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Faith-Based Social Services & Community Outreach (Food Pantries, Shelters, Counseling) (BPAGAJAG)

Keywords

• Affordable housing advocacy
• Social housing peak body
• Faith-based housing sector
• Community housing providers
• Housing policy research

Headquarters

HQ city

Bella Vista, New South Wales

HQ country

Australia

HQ region

Oceania

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Government Funding: Faith Housing Australia is funded by the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) as a NSW Social Sector Peak Body representing housing and homelessness for the faith sector.
2. Membership Fees: Annual membership fees from Community Housing Providers (Tier 1: $5,000 + GST, Tier 2: $4,000 + GST, Tier 3: $1,500 + GST) and Ordinary members (Individual: $250 + GST, Organisation: $1,000 + GST).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Faith Housing Australia is a peak body (membership association) for faith-based community housing providers in Australia. It offers tiered membership programs (Community Housing Provider and Ordinary memberships), advocacy representation to state and federal governments, research and policy publications, and partnership brokering across the faith housing sector. The organisation also co-founded WelcomeMat, an affordable rental housing tenant-matching platform, though it is not a direct housing provider itself.

Product overview

Faith Housing Australia is a non-profit peak body for the faith housing sector, offering membership services, advocacy, research publications, and policy work rather than a unified software product. It was formerly Churches Housing Inc. and rebranded to Faith Housing Australia in 2022. The organization co-founded WelcomeMat, an affordable housing tenant-matching platform launched in 2020. Core offerings include membership programs for community housing providers, government submissions, research reports (such as Aftershock reports and Vertical Villages research), and advocacy campaigns on housing policy.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Faith Housing Australia Membership Services
• Research and Policy Publications
• WelcomeMat Tenant-Matching Platform

Quantifiable outcome

• Members have delivered over 4,000 new homes across NSW in the past decade
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered major, minor and supporting.

• Housing All AustraliansmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 June 2026National partnership to accelerate housing delivery by unlocking underutilised faith-owned land and assets across Australia. Both organisations working together to address the housing crisis through faith-owned land activation.
• WelcomeMatmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020WelcomeMat is Australia's first bespoke tenant-matching platform for affordable rental housing. FHA was a founder stakeholder in this start-up, incorporated in 2018 and launched in 2020. The platform supports community housing providers to connect eligible applicants with available homes.
• Macquarie UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partnership in the Vertical Villages project - exploring placemaking and community development in multicultural high-rise and high-density urban environments. Funded through an Enterprise Partnership Scheme.
• Together for Ryde Ministers' NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborating partner in the Vertical Villages research project, representing faith community perspectives on housing and community development.
• NCOSS (NSW Council of Social Services)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCross-sector peak body partnership for collaborative advocacy. Joanna Quilty, Former CEO of NCOSS, noted the value of working with peak bodies like FHA for cross-sector advocacy and problem solving.
• LandcomsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment land development agency engaged through round table discussions with FHA members on housing partnerships and development opportunities.
• Sydney AlliancesupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration supporting grassroots advocacy for housing, with FHA's Magnus Linder playing an active role in developing the partnership since 2015.
• UNSW Social Policy Research CentresupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partnership conducting longitudinal study of wellbeing of Amelie Housing Social and Affordable Housing Fund tenants.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Mission Australia: Mission Australia is one of Australia's largest faith-inspired community housing and homelessness service providers. It is comparable as a large-scale faith-based housing operator that FHA's members (e.g., Salvos Housing, BaptistCare) compete with and partner alongside.
• Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI): AHURI is Australia's primary housing research body, producing evidence used by FHA and peer peak bodies. It operates at a broader, more established institutional scale, supplying research that smaller peak bodies consume and amplify.

Direct peers

• Housing All Australians: Housing All Australians is a national advocacy body focused on unlocking institutional and faith-owned land for housing. It is a recent strategic partner of FHA, with overlapping mandate around faith land activation.
• Shelter NSW: Shelter NSW is the state's housing advocacy peak body, focused on housing affordability and homelessness. It is directly comparable as a NSW-based housing advocacy organisation competing for the same government and funder attention.
• National Shelter (Australia): National Shelter is the federated national peak body for housing advocacy, working through state shelters. FHA now occupies adjacent national advocacy space, making National Shelter a structural peer as both compete for federal influence.
• Community Housing Industry Association (CHIA): CHIA is Australia's national peak body for community housing providers. It is the closest direct peer to Faith Housing Australia — both advocate to government and represent CHPs, but CHIA covers the sector as a whole while FHA represents the faith-based subset.
• NCOSS (NSW Council of Social Services): NCOSS is the NSW Social Sector Peak Body for the broader community services sector and an explicit partner of FHA. It is comparable as a cross-sector peak body competing for similar DCJ and philanthropic funding pools.

Emerging players

• Salvos Housing Australia: Salvos Housing is a faith-based community housing provider and Salvation Army social enterprise that is both a member of FHA and a direct provider of homelessness and affordable housing services in NSW, QLD and ACT — bridging peer-provider and peak-body categories.
• Anglicare Australia: Anglicare Australia is a faith-based welfare and housing provider network and an FHA member organisation. Comparable as a faith-affiliated housing operator whose federal advocacy overlaps with FHA's national remit.
• BaptistCare Australia: BaptistCare is a major faith-based community housing and aged care provider and an FHA member. It is comparable as a faith-affiliated provider delivering affordable housing developments that FHA advocates for at the policy level.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC_IQxOOhYh8KZgxXB1_OQsg
• Facebookfacebook.com/faithhousingaustralia
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/faithhousingaustralia

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Faith Housing Australia