Veterans to receive broader support as a result of The Vasey Housing Association NSW AGM!
An important outcome for veterans and their families occurred on Tuesday 21 July at the AGM for The Vasey Housing Association NSW, operating as Vasey Communities.
Members and board voted ‘yes’ for a significant change to their Constitution which guides the purpose and manner in which benevolent support can be provided to war widows, veterans and their families by the organisation.
Going forward they will now be able to provide benevolent support to veterans in their own existing communities with housing related support services.
Why is this important? The 2024 Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide highlighted the negative impact of homelessness on the risk of suicide in veterans who are almost 3 times more likely to experience homelessness compared to the general population*. It also highlighted the importance of enabling veterans to remain connected to their own communities.
Nicki Young, CEO Vasey Communities, said, “As such our constitution needed to assess whether the requirement for a person to live inside one of our retirement communities in order to receive benevolent support was still appropriate or in fact limiting our ability to provide meaningful housing support to those in need. I am happy to say that today’s decision enables Vasey Communities to develop a much wider range of benevolent housing support for veterans and their families, and to deliver that in their current community environment where their other support networks already exist.”
*Source: Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) 2019 Report on Homelessness amongst Australian veterans.