Maree McKenzie

Maree McKenzie has been the CEO at Homes North Community Housing since 2007 and has overseen the transformation of the organisation from a small regional social housing provider managing approximately 150 properties to one now managing over 2,700 properties across the New England and North West of NSW. This growth has been achieved by having a strong strategic vision that enabled Homes North to take advantage of a range of opportunities from mergers to tenders for property management and title transfers.

Most recently Maree has overseen Homes North’s success contributing to the largest project to date in Australia transferring public housing to the Community Housing sector. Homes North successfully bid for the management of 1,700 public housing properties in the New England and North West of NSW and is now implementing an ambitious plan to re-image social housing services in the region.

Previously Maree worked for over 12 years in Government, in a range of areas, from leading Social Housing community renewal projects to managing housing and homelessness front line services.

Maree is committed to the growth and development of strong not-for-profit services within regional areas.

To that end Maree was one of the founding members of the Housing Alliance, a partnership of key regional mid-sized Social Housing providers committed to achieving outcomes for regional communities through joint capacity building, cost-sharing initiatives and joint procurement. Through The Housing Alliance Maree spearheaded, in partnership with a respected UK economist, the development of the Australian Social Value Bank which provides robust financial proxies for over 60 well-being indicators. The “bank” aims to put social outcomes to the fore of return on investment.

Maree has overseen recent property developments for affordable housing in the region and is leading Homes North in partnerships with developers to build innovative housing solutions for Social Housing.

To improve positive outcomes for Social Housing tenants in the region Maree is leading Homes North in developing a separate arm within the Company delivering direct support services to the most vulnerable tenants. This initiative is demonstrating how aligning support more closely to tenancy outcomes brings immediate benefits to the tenant and the organisation.

Maree initiated with our industry peak body in NSW the first independent Tenant Satisfaction Survey, now widely used by the sector.
Maree is a Director, and Deputy Chair, on the Board for the Community Housing Industry Association of NSW and sits on the housing advisory committee for Habitat for Humanity Australia.

Maree works to build the profile of Community Housing through regular local media interviews, strong stakeholder connections and a demonstrated commitment to progressing the overall positive impact of Community Housing in Australia.