Mary Sullivan, from PIAC’s Streetcare Consumer Advisory Committee, has been appointed to the NSW Premier’s Council on Homelessness as a consumer representative with experience of homelessness.
The Council, which is chaired by the Premier, is the peak body advising the NSW Government on homelessness in NSW. Mary will join homelessness experts, including StreetCare member Ken Hamilton, academics and representatives from the homelessness service sector at regular meetings throughout the year.
Mary has a strong history of advocacy in the homelessness sector. She has been a member of StreetCare since 2010 and has represented homeless consumers at high-level policy meetings with Housing NSW and as part of the Going Home Staying Home Panel of Experts.
‘StreetCare will once again have two members on the Premier’s Council, which will ensure that homeless consumers will continue to have a strong voice at the highest levels of government,’ said Lou Schetzer, Senior Policy Officer in PIAC’s Homeless Persons’ Legal Service.
‘Mary’s appointment is a recognition of her skills and commitment to using her own experiences of homelessness to advocate for better services for homeless women in regional areas. We have every confidence that she will bring to the Premier’s Council the same abilities and knowledge that she has brought to StreetCare and the other committees on which she has represented homeless consumers.’
Click here to hear Mary tell her story as part of the ‘In Their Words’ video project.