Announcement: End Street Sleeping Collaboration (ESSC) and Australian Alliance to End Homelessness (AAEH) merger

Written By ESSC

AAEH Chair Debra Zanella and outgoing ESSC Co-Chair Dominic Sullivan signing the merger agreement.

In April 2026, the Australian Alliance to End Homelessness (AAEH) and the End Street Sleeping Collaboration (ESSC) announced a merger– bringing our expertise, networks and work together under one organisation.

Why this matters

Both the AAEH and ESSC are committed towards the same goal: making homelessness rare, brief and once-off. This merger means we can do that work together – with greater reach, stronger partnerships and more focused investment where it matters most.

ESSC's work in NSW will continue in full. The by-name list database and backbone support for Sydney Zero and Northern Rivers Zero remain key priorities, and we're working closely with the NSW Government to make sure that continuity is protected. ESSC staff will transition into the AAEH team later in 2026, bringing their expertise and relationships with them.

A NSW Steering Committee is being established to guide the work going forward, and we'll share more details on that in the coming months.

Our team

Katie Feeney will lead the NSW work, supporting communities and partners across the state and guiding the integration of ESSC's work into AAEH. David Pearson will take on CEO functions, providing strong leadership and continuity as we move into this next phase.

We're also pleased to welcome two new AAEH Board members: Dr Gregory Smith OAM (CEO, Home Address Australia) and Tony Davies (CEO, Social Futures).

We want to take a moment to sincerely thank Mark Phillips for his outstanding commitment to ESSC from the very beginning – as a founding figure, Chair of the Board and most recently as CEO. Mark's leadership has strengthened this work and positioned it well for the future. We're grateful for everything he has contributed.

We also extend our heartfelt thanks to the outgoing ESSC Board members – Kirsten Jordan, John Macmillan, Shane Jakupec, Rabbi Mendel Kastel OAM, Matthew Kearney and Anna Scott – for their exceptional leadership and commitment to ending rough sleeping in NSW.

Next steps

Together, we'll keep supporting communities to apply proven approaches to ending homelessness, building the cross-sector partnerships needed to drive lasting change, and using data, local insight and relationships to accelerate national systems change.

ESSC