After more than a decade with Home in Place, Professor Dave Adamson is retiring, marking an important moment to recognise his contribution and to say thank you.
Dave joined Home in Place in 2015 and has played a significant role in shaping how the organisation approaches housing, place, sustainability and social justice. His work has influenced both the organisation’s strategic direction and its standing as a respected voice in national housing debates.
One of the defining milestones was Dave’s work on Towards a National Housing Strategy. It contributed to the Everybody’s Home campaign and to the way governments at all levels are now working together to increase housing supply. This work continues to inform advocacy across housing and homelessness, particularly the need for long-term, coordinated responses to housing insecurity.
Alongside this, Dave played a central role in the Big Ideas Homelessness Network, helping to bring together government, business and community organisations to shift the conversation from managing homelessness to ending it.
Dave’s contribution at Home in Place also includes guiding the organisation through the Reconciliation Action Plan process, advancing rights-based housing through the Global Housing Charter, and supporting the Hunter SDG Taskforce. He contributed to the Hunter Region leading Australia’s first regional Voluntary Local Review, reporting on progress against the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. He also co-developed the Deep Place method, provided oversight of the Shout Out Suicide Prevention Program, and more recently helped shape the organisation’s Sustainability Framework.
Speaking about Dave’s broader influence, Home in Place Group CEO Lyndall Robertshaw said his values have shaped the organisation in lasting ways.
“Dave is socially and ethically the backbone of the culture we have at Home in Place,” Lyndall said. “The clarity of his principles and the way he approaches his work have influenced how we think, how we act and how we hold ourselves accountable as an organisation.”
Dave’s leadership, collaboration and impact across the housing sector have been widely acknowledged, including through the Australian Housing Institute Outstanding Achievement Award in 2021 and the Outstanding Achievement Award at the PowerHousing Brighter Futures Awards in 2022.
In response, Dave spoke about the importance of teamwork and the strength of the organisation he is leaving behind.
“Everything that has been achieved has been done as part of a team,” he said. “What I will take away from Home in Place is the way people come together when it matters. I have worked in many places over my life, and I have never worked anywhere where that happens in the same way.”
As Dave steps away from Home in Place, he leaves behind a legacy of principled advocacy, place-based thinking and a strong ethical foundation that will continue to shape the organisation’s work into the future.
