Birribee Housing chief executive Paul Coe was among the many Indigenous experts and leaders at the recent National First Nations Housing & Homelessness Forum.

Mr Coe gave a keynote speech, 'Mainstream Partnerships and Supply for Sustainable Indigenous Housing', with a focus on the importance of distributed support in housing supply and maintenance; processes and documentation; and mainstream housing provider partnerships.

He also spoke on the work of Birribee serving communities in New South Wales.

"For us the focus is on delivering good Aboriginal housing outcomes across the state as best we can," he told National Indigenous Times.

"We do that by supporting the houses we have at the moment, supporting the tenants we have across tenancies and asset maintenance as best we can, delivering our services such as our homelessness service.

"Today it's also about delivering the partnerships we have, delivering outcomes for today but also into the future."

Established in February 2019 as a subsidiary of the NSW Aboriginal Land Council, Birribee Housing is a not-for-profit company.

Birribee, a Tier 2 Community Housing Provider, manages properties in Western Sydney, Wagga Wagga, Bathurst, Orange, Moree and Forster.

Their mission is to provide safe and affordable housing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait people in New South Wales, and to engage Aboriginal staff, contractors, and suppliers to the fullest extent possible.

Mr Coe said that for Birribee a key part of the work is about finding "values-aligned partners to help us deliver increased Aboriginal housing outcomes".

"That is about stock. We don't have enough Aboriginal housing across the country. Critically, there is a need for us all to be partnering, and we have a range of partners, many who are Tier 1 housing providers, as well as a development partner in Stockland," he said.

"That shows us that it cannot be just the Aboriginal community housing providers, and also not just government, we need to have other stakeholders to help us deliver increased Aboriginal housing stock, but then supporting those people who are in those homes thereafter."

Mr Coe also touched on the importance of Aboriginal employment outcomes in Birribee's work.

"One of the levers we have is the maintenance spend and also the development spend, there are opportunities to make sure there's and Aboriginal spend within that – to help us make sure people have an opportunity for employment," he said.

The Forum, held on Kaurna Country in Adelaide, brought together Indigenous leaders from a range of fields, including sustainable construction, community housing, economic development, finance, and frontline services.