Kent Maddock Memorial Award

About the Award

The Kent Maddock memorial award was launched at Q Shelter’s AGM in November 2022 and acknowledges place-based alliances taking action to end homelessness and housing need.

Beginning in 2023, this will be an annual award announced each year as part of our CEO and Leaders’ Forum, which will next be held on 14 November 2025.

The award selection process will examine the diversity of participation and the range of stakeholders from the community sector, for-profit sector, government, and other sectors such as the arts. It will consider:

• Initiatives that actively worked to overcome competition and achieve respectful partnerships in which leadership is shared and encouraged; and
• The impact that the alliance is having, or is on a trajectory to have, to help end homelessness and housing need.

Kent Maddock made an outstanding contribution to the lives of countless Queenslanders, both in his professional consultancy career and as Deputy Director-General of the Department of Justice and Attorney General. He also made an incredible impact through his volunteer appointments, including Co-chair of Under 1 Roof, President of the New Farm Neighbourhood Centre, Board Director of Epilepsy Queensland, Chair of La Boite Theatre, and the Attorney-General’s representative at the Queensland Legal Aid Commission.

Kent understood that the sum of us is far more powerful than the individual, and that together we can truly make a difference for others.

Award Winners

Congratulations to the joint winners of the 2025 Kent Maddock Memorial Award:

Toowoomba Together Priority Housing

Partner organisations: Blackbird and Finch Estate Agents, Remax Success Toowoomba, Hot Property, McAdam and Turnbull Realty, 54 Reasons Toowoomba, DVAC Toowoomba, St Vincent de Paul Toowoomba.

The Toowoomba Together Priority Housing Project aims to create a streamlined partnership between domestic and family violence (DFV) support services and private market housing providers (Real Estate Agents) to facilitate safer and more stable housing for DFV clients.
By leveraging a network of compassionate property managers and agencies, the project will provide qualified DFV clients access to affordable housing options, typically under $400 per week, while guiding them through the rental application and budgeting process. The initiative has expanded to have Property Managers create a presentation to frontline workers in DFV to assist their clients on how to apply for properties and understanding the application process.

Jinndii Waijung

Partner organisations: The Lady Musgrave Trust, Property Industry Foundation

Jinndii Waijung (“Mothers Nest” in Yugembeh) is a landmark community housing project providing safe, healing-centred homes for vulnerable young mothers and their children in Logan.
Delivered by The Lady Musgrave Trust in partnership with the Property Industry Foundation, this purpose-built complex includes four self-contained units and communal gathering spaces. Uniquely, the project was co-designed with women with lived experience, ensuring every element is trauma-informed, culturally safe, and environmentally responsible.

What truly sets Jinndii Waijung apart is the scale of collaboration: over 20 partners joined forces alongside the lead agencies; including architects, engineers, builders, legal, landscaping, and First Nations leaders. The project weaves together a joint venture with YFS for wraparound support, generous philanthropic and industry funding, and deep engagement from Traditional Owners and local artists.
More than a building, Jinndii Waijung is a living testament to what visionary leadership, radical inclusion, and collective action can achieve for families experiencing homelessness.

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Previous winners of the Kent Maddock Memorial Award are:

• Protea Place: A Toowoomba-based charity setup to assist vulnerable women in the region.
• Western Queensland Alliance of Councils: Representing 24 member councils, this alliance focused on collective self-help and political advocacy on solutions to the major challenges common across Western Queensland.
• City of Moreton Bay: For leadership in addressing housing and homelessness challenges at the local government level and in conjunction with the sector.
• Greater Whitsunday Communities: for the Greater Whitsunday Housing Playbook, and the Housing Summit Action Plan.

Honourable Mention

These nominations received honourable mentions from the judging panel.

• Whitsunday Housing Company: Tiny Homes Project, 2023
• Townsville Housing and Homelessness Network (HAHN)
• The Gold Coast Youth Service