Catholic Social Services Australia (CSSA) CEO Dr Jerry Nockles has met with Mr Ben
Rimmer, Director-General of the Housing Group in the Federal Department of
Treasury, to advance critical discussions on addressing Australia’s housing and
homelessness crisis.
Mr Rimmer’s appointment to this role on 2 September 2025 signals government’s
serious commitment to this portfolio. His transition from Deputy Secretary with the
Department of Education coupled with prior roles in the Victorian Department of
Families, Fairness and Housing, brings extensive experience and genuine
commitment to this critical challenge. Dr Nockles presented the Australian Catholic
Bishops Conference 2025–26 Social Justice Statement, Signs of Hope on the Edge:
Serving those living in homelessness and with mental ill-health to Mr Rimmer.
“I am genuinely excited and ambitious about future opportunities to support Ben and
the Treasury team,” Dr Nockles said. “This meeting represents a real opportunity to
advance meaningful change on one of Australia’s most pressing social challenges.
We share a common understanding that housing and homelessness is a crisis that
demands urgent action.”
“There is genuine alignment between CSSA and Treasury on the scale and urgency of
Australia’s housing and homelessness challenge,” Dr Nockles said. “Ben and his team
recognise that current approaches must be strengthened and that collaborative
solutions are essential. That shared understanding is what gives me confidence we
can drive meaningful progress together.”
CSSA brings a network of forty-one member agencies delivering sixty-eight different
housing and homelessness services across the country, supporting people
experiencing family and domestic violence, young people leaving care, people exiting
correctional institutions, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, and older
Australians facing housing insecurity. This extensive reach positions CSSA as a critical
partner in scaling solutions.
“Our member agencies go where others don’t or will not,” Dr Nockles said. “They
work with people with complex needs. This is the reality on the ground, and it
demands that government understands and responds to it.”
A key focus of the meeting was government land assets as a significant untapped
opportunity for housing development. The conversation revealed that asset
management practices – including the tendency to hold land at inflated valuations
rather than releasing it at realistic market rates – create barriers to development.
“Just as the Church has demonstrated through projects like Yes, In Faith’s Backyard
that we can repurpose our own land for housing, government has the opportunity to
do the same,” Dr Nockles said. “We need to see government land released at realistic
valuations so that developers and community housing providers can build the homes
Australians desperately need.”
Both parties recognised that creative solutions are needed to unlock housing supply
and affordability.
A critical priority emerged around preventing people from becoming homeless when
they exit institutions – hospitals, mental health facilities, and correctional settings.
“We need a national strategy that ensures no one exits a hospital, a mental health
facility, or a prison into homelessness,” Dr Nockles said. “We have the expertise and
the networks to help design and deliver such a strategy. What we need is government
commitment and resources.”
A key outcome was Treasury’s commitment to ongoing engagement with CSSA. Mr
Rimmer expressed openness to site visits and involvement in Treasury roundtables to
deepen understanding of the work being done by Catholic social service providers.
“It is critical that government officials see firsthand the work being done by our
member agencies,” Dr Nockles said. “We have extended a standing invitation for
Treasury officials to visit Catholic social service providers across the country.
Government needs to see this reality and understand the potential for partnership in
addressing these challenges.”
“This meeting is the beginning of a genuine dialogue,” Dr Nockles said. “We are
committed to working with Ben, Treasury, and across government to drive real
solutions to housing and homelessness. We will continue to advocate for policies
that protect the dignity and rights of people experiencing homelessness and housing
insecurity, and we will offer our expertise, our networks, and our on-the-ground
knowledge in service of addressing these challenges.”
About CSSA
Catholic Social Services Australia is the national peak body for Catholic social service
providers. CSSA’s network of forty-one member agencies operates across all
Australian States and Territories with a combined total of over seven hundred sites,
delivering essential services to vulnerable and disadvantaged Australians.
Supporting Information
The Scale of the Challenge
In 2024–25, almost 289,000 clients were assisted by specialist homelessness
services—up from 236,000 in 2011–12. Over 40 per cent of all clients were people
impacted by family and domestic violence, which remains a leading cause of
homelessness. Around 31 per cent of all clients supported had a current mental
health issue, with this cohort growing faster than the overall client population.
Despite government commitments, the need for accommodation remains unmet.
Approximately one in three specialist homelessness service clients had unmet needs
for short-term or emergency accommodation.
About the Meeting
The meeting brought together Dr Jerry Nockles, CEO of CSSA, Ms Carmel Sefian,
Director of Policy and Advocacy at CSSA, and Mr James Kemp, Director of the
Homelessness and Rental Policy Unit at Treasury, with Ben Rimmer, Director General
of the Housing Group. The discussion focused on CSSA’s advocacy priorities outlined
in the Bishops’ Social Justice Statement and opportunities for collaborative
engagement between CSSA’s member agencies and Treasury on housing and
homelessness policy.