Home Truths – Specialist Disability Accommodation in Australia

Host:
Ryan Banting, Executive General Manager, Social Infrastructure, Australian Unity

Guests:

• Jeremy Hope – CEO, SDA Alliance

• Hannah Orban – Associate, Grattan Institute

• Jacob Edwards – Fund Manager, Australian Unity SDA Fund

Episode Overview

This episode explores the evolution, challenges, and opportunities presenting across the Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) sector in Australia.

Jeremy, Jacob, and Hannah discuss the sector’s role in improving quality of life for people living with disability, the economics behind SDA investment, and the importance of participant-led design and innovation.

The conversation also addresses misconceptions about the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and provides pathways to more sustainable and equitable housing solutions.

Finally, the episode makes it very clear that the sector requires specialist knowledge, deep experience, and strong industry partnerships. For that reason, it is a sector that retail investors are strongly encouraged to avoid.

Key Quotes

• “We’ve spent a century housing people with disability in congregate settings. SDA is about breaking that cycle and building equality into the everyday.” — Jeremy Hope

• “We’re not going to speculate on where participants want to live. We ask them.” — Jacob Edwards

• “We need to move away from institutional culture and toward shared houses with real autonomy.” — Hannah Orban

• “Don’t invest directly. Partner with trusted funds that understand the sector.” — Jacob Edwards

Show Notes

• Julia Gillard announces disability bill (May 2013): http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/media/pressrel/2489614/upload_binary/2489614.pdf

• Specialist Disability Accommodation Alliance: https://www.sdaalliance.com.au/

• Grattan Institute report: Better, Safer, More Sustainable – How to reform NDIS housing and support https://grattan.edu.au/report/better-safer-more-sustainable/

• About Australian Unity’s Specialist Disability Accommodation Fund: https://www.australianunity.com.au/investments/sda

• Quality Matters: why not all specialist disability accommodation is created equal https://www.australianunity.com.au/insights/quality-matters

Important Information

Units in the Australian Unity Specialist Disability Accommodation Fund (Fund) are issued by Australian Unity Funds Management Limited ABN 60 071 497 115, AFS Licence No. 234454.

The information contained in this podcast is general information only and contains information in summary form. It is not, and is not intended to be, an offer, invitation, promotion, advertisement, advice, or recommendation in relation to financial products or services.

It is not intended to be relied upon as financial product advice and does not take into account the objectives, financial situation, or needs of any particular investor or any other person.

No warranty is made as to accuracy, reliability, or completeness. To the maximum extent permitted by law, neither the Australian Unity group of companies, nor any of their respective employees or other persons, accept any liability for any claim in respect of anything stated in this podcast.

Before making investment decisions, obtain a copy of the relevant offering document or Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and seek professional advice.

A copy of the offering document, PDS and Target Market Determination (as applicable) of any Australian Unity fund referred to in the podcast is available at: https://www.australianunityinvestments.com.au/wealth

Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance. © 2025 Australian Unity Funds Management Limited.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Towards 2050 is a podcast series that explores the critical role of social infrastructure in Australia – as our nation grows in size and everyone’s daily needs rapidly change in line with the ageing of our population.

This podcast explores our country’s need to develop new social infrastructure over the next 25 years and will chart a roadmap for delivering it. In the first episode of the series, Alison Holloway from SGS Economics & Planning and Esther Kerr from Australian Unity, join Australian Unity’s host Ryan Banting to discuss the demographic transformation of Australia’s population and what types of social and community infrastructure we’ll need to build over the next two decades to keep up with demand.

Ryan also talks to Alison and Esther about:
– Who is responsible for the development of Australia’s community and social infrastructure
– How can local, state and federal governments better work together to deliver community benefits
– The importance of precincts and clustering community infrastructure
– Why we can’t build hospitals or aged care or childcare properties in isolation
– Why the answer to the housing crisis is not building more housing in the outer fringes without supporting infrastructure and amenity
– What successful social infrastructure projects look like and why long-term investment and involvement is the secret

Key quotes

Esther Kerr: “People need places to connect and ways to connect and ways to receive care and services not necessarily in the old school buildings that we are all used to.”

Alison Holloway: "It’s a big problem providing the services our communities need in rural and regional Australia and these are the populations we are seeing ageing faster.”

Show notes

About Australian Unity’s Herston Quarter Redevelopment (https://www.australianunity.com.au/herston-quarter)

www.australianunity.com.au


Important information
The information in this podcast is general information only, and contains information in summary form. The information contained in this podcast is not, and is not intended to be, an offer or invitation for subscription or sale, or promotion or advertisement of, financial products or services of any kind, or advice or a recommendation of any kind. It is not intended as, and is not intended to be relied upon as, financial product advice and does not take into account the objectives, financial situation, or needs of any particular investor or any other person. No warranty is made as to accuracy, reliability or completeness. To the maximum extent permitted by law, neither the Australian Unity group of companies, or any of their respective employees or any other person, accept any liability for any claim in respect of anything stated in this podcast, and of the consequences of anything done or omitted to be done by any person acting in reliance, whether wholly or partially, upon the contents of this podcast. In deciding whether to acquire, continue to hold or dispose of any units in any Australian Unity fund which may be referred to in the podcast, an investor should obtain a copy of the relevant offering document or Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) (if applicable) and consider whether these products are appropriate, based on their own independent review and should seek professional advice as deemed appropriate, considering the nature and extent of any investment, economic, legal, regulatory, tax, and/or accounting risks, and the consequences of an investment in the relevant financial. A copy of the offering document, PDS and Target Market Determination (as the case may be) of any Australian Unity fund referred to in the podcast is available at www.australianunityinvestments.com.au/wealth. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.

© 2025 Australian Unity Funds Management Limited. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, without the written permission of the publishers.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.