ESG360 · Xstitch Health · QUT Roundtable · Brisbane · 27 May 2026
Exploring another pathway to housing capacity
How could privately delivered, socially aligned accommodation help expand the response to homelessness?
ESG360, Xstitch Health and QUT convened Rethinking Homelessness in the River City to explore this question, bringing together perspectives from academia, business, health, housing, planning and economics.
The discussion examined how financially sustainable accommodation models could complement government-delivered and grant-funded responses, while protecting residents and respecting neighbourhood amenity.
Grounded in practical experience
The first roundtable drew on ESG360’s experience operating 38KPR, a 15-room accredited residential service for older men experiencing or at risk of homelessness, alongside practice-based research by Xstitch Health.
The session connected frontline observations with questions about investment, governance, planning and the wider housing, health and justice systems.
What the discussion explored
- Additional capacity: adapting existing properties and developing accommodation that can respond to urgent need.
- Governance and accountability: aligning commercial incentives with resident protections and lasting social outcomes.
- Partnerships and community: connecting residents with services and understanding the value of informal peer support.
- Finance, planning and policy: identifying the conditions that could enable responsible investment and replication.
These themes are opportunities and questions for further investigation, rather than agreed findings or recommendations.
The discussion paper
Rethinking Homelessness in the River City brings together the context, themes and future directions arising from the initial roundtable. It examines how accommodation models might create value for residents, communities, investors and the public.
Read the discussion paper (PDF)
From discussion to evidence
The next phase is to strengthen the evidence base, explore an independent social and economic impact evaluation of 38KPR, and test the governance, finance and planning conditions needed for responsible replication. Continued collaboration will help examine where these models may contribute to a more diverse and resilient homelessness response.
project milestones
brief description
An ESG360, Xstitch Health and QUT roundtable exploring how privately delivered, socially aligned accommodation could expand housing capacity.
client
A collaboration between ESG360, Xstitch Health and QUT
project budget
date started
27 May 2026
