LUNCHEON - 11TH JUNE 2014

Speaker:  Tony Keenan, CEO Hanover

Topic:  ‘Hanover - 50 years of Working with the Changing Faces of Homelessness in Melbourne’

Chairman:  James Pullar

Tony Keenan has been CEO of Hanover Welfare Services since 2006 and also serves as Chairperson of the Australian Foyer Foundation. Prior to this he was General Secretary of the Victorian Independent Education Union. 

He has served in many community and policy advisory roles including as a member of the Australian National Council on AIDS and the Australian Social Inclusion Board. He been President of the Victorian AIDS Council and national president of the Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations.

He is a graduate of the Executive Masters in Public Administration from the Australian New Zealand School of Government (ANZOG) and was awarded a Harkness Fellowship in Public Policy to the University of California, San Francisco.

Synopsis Of The Lunch:

Tony Keenan, CEO of Hanover addressed the club on 'Hanover - 50 years of Working with the Changing Faces of Homelessness in Melbourne'. Ending homelessness is one of the strategic objectives of the club and Tony gave some insights into how homelessness in Victoria has changed over the last 50 years.

In the 1960’ the homeless were largely older males, in the 70’s with the closure of the mental asylums more people with mental issues entered homelessness and now a greater number of women and children and younger people are entering homelessness due to family breakdown as a result of financial difficulties, domestic violence and the lack of affordable accommodation.

Tony also mentioned the recent successful launch of youth foyers in Victoria and complimented the club for its support of this important program which is providing an opportunity for young people at risk of homelessness. Tony emphasised the important role organisations like Rotary will have to play in the future as governments reform the way they deliver and fund services and service providers struggle to meet the ever increasing demand from the less fortunate members of the community.