About us

Shelter NSW is a nongovernment, nonprofit, social change agency.

Purpose

Shelter’s mission is to work for a fair and just housing system. We promote the housing interests of low-income and disadvantaged people in New South Wales.

Shelter’s role is to:

advocate for systemic change
provide community education

In undertaking these roles, we use a number of strategies:

research
policy development
providing educational products on key housing issues
networking and partnering with other nonprofit nongovernment organizations and consumer organizations
promoting a coordinated response from within the nongovernment sector where appropriate

In working towards a fair and just housing system, we are committed to:

building the capacity of nonprofit housing and housing-related services
working with housing consumer organizations and activists

You can download our strategic plan for 2011-2014 (pdf, 32 kb).

Membership

Shelter has 98 organisational members and 50 individual members (as at December 2011). The organisational members currently include specific-interest peak nonprofit nongovernment bodies, nonprofit housing providers, nongovernment welfare agencies, and public housing tenant associations.

There are three categories of membership:

Individual membership is open to individuals of any age.
Organisational membership is open to organizations such as associations, cooperatives and institutions.
Life memberships to individuals are awarded at the discretion of the Board.

Become a member of Shelter NSW – benefits of membership include:

contribute to the development of Shelter NSW as an independent voice advocating to make our housing system fairer for low and moderate-income households
receive our quarterly newsletter, Around the House, in print format and our Member eBulletin
keep informed about important housing issues, events and resources
receive discounted prices on Shelter events
access opportunities to network with others who are active on housing issues at our conferences, seminars, training courses and workshops
participate in the governance of the association.

To become a member or renew your membership, or to become a subscriber or renew your subscription:

download membership/subscription form here or download a membership/subscription leaflet here (pdf, 531 kb)
print the form or leaflet and fill in your details
send in your form or leaflet with payment, by post to Shelter NSW, Suite 2, Level 4, 377-383 Sussex Street, Sydney NSW 2000, or by fax to (02) 9267 5001.

Results

The Shelter executive formally reports on activities and outputs to the members through an annual report distributed before the association's annual general meeting.

annual report 2010-11 – download (pdf, 2520 kb).

Governance

Shelter NSW is a democratic organization operating within a constitution determined by its members. You can download (pdf, 600 kb) a copy of the constitution.

The members of the board of directors are directly elected by the membership every two years: more… Meetings of the board are open to members.

Partnerships

Shelter NSW is part of a national network of state/territory Shelter organizations.

Shelter works in partnership with universities, government agencies, unions, and other nongovernment organizations on specific projects. We are affiliated with the NSW Council of Social Service. We also participate in informal, action-oriented coalitions on specific issues.

History

Shelter NSW was established in 1975.

Legal status

Shelter is registered as an incorporated association in New South Wales (RBN Y2820918). It is recognized as an income-tax exempt charity by the Australian Taxation Office and is registered under the Australian government's GST system (ABN 95942688134).

Privacy policy

Shelter's privacy policy is online. more…

Website

The site uses a standard size font. You can increase visibility by changing your browser settings, e.g. Firefox: View > Zoom; SeaMonkey: View > Text zoom; Navigator: View > Text size; Opera: View > Zoom; Internet Explorer: View > Text size.

This website is maintained by Shelter staff. If you have any problems with the site, please contact the website manager.

If you would like to join our campaigns or be informed about our educational work, please send us your name, organisation and email address: admin[at]shelternsw.org.au.

Updated 17-Jan-2012