Leading Tier 1 Australian community housing provider, Compass Housing, has lodged a submission DFAT International Development Review 2020.

The submission’s author, and Compass Housing’s research and development manager, Professor David Adamson OBE, welcomed the opportunity to contribute to the review, which he said is timely.

“At the commencement of a new decade, the review provides an opportunity for Australian Government to recognise and adapt to the rapidly changing circumstances in which international development will be delivered,” Professor Adamson said.

Prof Adamson said  the 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper sets out key parameters in which Australia will support international development in the Indo-Pacific region.  He said defining a new policy framework to guide Australia’s international development assistance will ensure that the 2017 objectives are fully realised, whilst also delivering effective support for some for the world’s most vulnerable regions, nations and communities.

“The renewal of international development policy provides an opportunity to recognise the changing patterns of global economic, political and cultural relations. Australia’s influence in the Indo Pacific region has been challenged by the rising influence of China,” he said.

“The IDP presents methods of improving ‘soft power’ and ensuring that the values of democratic nations remain strongly represented in the region.”

“Humanitarian interventions have an intrinsic value and Australia, as a wealthy nation, is able to provide shelter, support and development for some of the most disadvantaged populations that exist on our doorstep.”

In the past 5 years Compass has gained ECOSOC recognition, ACFID accreditation, and adopted a leadership role in the UN Habitat General Assembly of Partners, World Urban Campaign (lead membership) and joined the UN Global Compact. It has played active roles in the World Urban Forum 9, the Fifth Pacific Urban Forum and the Seventh Asia Pacific Urban Forum. As well as providing affordable housing in Australia and New Zealand, Compass has delivered small-scale humanitarian interventions in Vanuatu. Compass is also a part of the RMIT University Partnership to deliver a UN Climate Resilience Adaptation Program funded by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) in Honiara, Solomon Island. Other projects include providing technical assistance to Vietnam, in particular Ho Chi Minh city, to address increasing demand for new forms of housing to resolve its housing crisis.