About the Project
What is the 5-3 Community Workbook Project?
A free, expert-overseen localised housing Workbook - compiled using public data, NDIS figures and AI analysis - that maps disability housing need and supply across every segment of your Local Government Area.
The project helps communities explore the 5 key housing segments in a 3-step process. It is overseen by Joseph Connellan, a recently retired, experienced housing practitioner. It is offered pro bono to Victorian communities.
"Wow… a lot of information to digest - but very helpful."
It's Free
Pro bono - 3 pilots available now
This is pro bono work. The only cost to your community is time, commitment, and venue hire for the Feedback meeting. Three free pilots are currently available for Victorian communities.
The Victorian Context
Across Victoria, disability housing need is growing but poorly documented and poorly understood at the local level. Communities face compounding pressures: housing shortages, transport gaps, limited SDA stock and ageing carer families with no plan for the future.
2026 NDIS changes are unlikely to make things better. Communities that wait for Government to act risk being left behind.
What your community gets
- ›Key concepts and frameworks for housing people with disability
- ›A local, high-level overview of NDIS funding
- ›Data on every housing type in your Local Government Area
- ›Evidence to take to Council, developers and Government
- ›An informed, united local voice - built through the process itself
- ›Two video presentations and a digital Workbook where individuals can record their comments and questions
The Workbook
How it works - 3 steps
The project takes your community through a structured 3-step process, from building a locally-grounded picture of housing need, collection of Feedback from community group members, to a face-to-face feedback session that generates a shared voice for action.
Compile local housing Workbook
A Workbook is compiled for your Local Government Area using public data, NDIS figures and AI analysis, covering all 5 housing segments and the key barriers your community faces.
Collect feedback using the Workbook
Community members review the Workbook and provide detailed Feedback that builds the local evidence base.
Present feedback in a face-to-face session
Feedback is collated and presented at a local meeting, uniting the community behind shared findings and building the momentum needed to take evidence to Council, developers and Government.
How it works - 5 Segments
Who is this for?
Any community group - regional or metropolitan - in Victoria that can bring together local people motivated to get better housing outcomes for people with disability in their community.
Format
The project includes two video presentations - one explaining the local Workbook, one presenting Feedback. The Workbook can be completed individually or in pairs, by people at all levels of familiarity with the disability housing system.
Details
Details
Who is this for?
Any community group - regional or metropolitan - in Victoria that can bring together local people motivated to get better housing outcomes for people with disability in their community.
Format
The project includes two video presentations and a digital Workbook where individuals can record their comments and questions - one explaining the local Workbook, one presenting Feedback. The Workbook can be completed individually or in pairs, by people at all levels of familiarity with the disability housing system.
Completed Pilot
Shire of Mt Alexander - August 2026
The first pilot was successfully completed by MASARG in the Mount Alexander Shire. It surfaced in weeks what years of advocacy had not - providing the most detailed community picture of housing for people with disability in this Shire to date.
Resources
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Overview of the Mt Alexander Shire Proof of Concept Pilot – Video (YouTube)
A short overview of the pilot process, what the workbook covers, and what the Mt Alexander community found – a useful starting point before going deeper into the full report.
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Overview of the Mt Alexander Shire Proof of Concept Pilot – Video (download)
Downloadable version of the overview video – covers the pilot’s purpose, the three-part approach (people, demand, housing segments), and the five steps from presentation through to feedback session.
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Overview of the Mt Alexander Pilot – One-Page Summary (PDF)
A single-slide summary of the pilot project: its purpose, the three-part approach, the five-step process, and how to get involved. Useful for sharing with colleagues or community members.
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Overview of the Mt Alexander Pilot – Five-Slide Presentation (PDF)
A five-slide presentation deck covering why the project exists, the three-part approach, and how the Mt Alexander pilot works – from initial presentation through to the community feedback session.
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Mt Alexander Shire Proof of Concept Pilot 5-3 Community Workbook – Video (YouTube)
The full video presentation of the Mt Alexander Workbook findings, walking through community-level data on housing need, NDIS funding, SDA, and the five housing segments.
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Mt Alexander Shire Proof of Concept Pilot 5-3 Community Workbook – Video (download)
Downloadable version of the full workbook video presentation.
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Housing for People with Disability in My Community – Mt Alexander Workbook (PDF)
The full 22-slide Workbook document for the Mt Alexander pilot – Report No. 3 in the pro bono series. Provides a framework using local and broader data to map housing need, NDIS funding, and housing options across the Shire.
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Mt Alexander Shire Proof of Concept Pilot 5-3 Community Workbook – Audio (download)
Audio version of the Mt Alexander Workbook presentation – for listening on the go.
What participants said
"Wow… a lot of information to digest - but very helpful."
"Amazing - the process pulled together all this information pro bono."
"The Workbook Project is a great foundation for our work towards better housing for people with disability in our community."
"The process strengthened our Committee to unite behind important decisions."
Joseph in the Media
Interviews & Podcasts
Joseph has spoken widely on disability housing, NDIS reform, and community-level responses to housing need. The episodes below draw directly on the evidence and thinking behind the Workbook Project.
Project Documents
Housing Disability Workbook — One Pagers
Download or share with your community - September 2026.
Three Free Pilots Available — Any Victorian Local Government Area
Invitation for 3 Additional Pilots — The 53 Community Workbook Project
September 2026
Following the successful Mt Alexander pilot, three free pilots are now available to Victorian communities. This one-pager explains what the project is, what communities receive, and how to express interest — covering the 5 housing segments, the 3-step process, and the pilot findings.
Invitation to Join a PilotExpanding the Project
Bring the workbook to your community
The Mt Alexander pilot has shown how the Workbook surfaces critical housing issues that are otherwise invisible to planning systems. Three free pilots are now available for Victorian communities.
For community organisations & advocacy groups
If you work with people with disability, carers, or families in a local community and want to run the Workbook process in your area, get in touch. The workbook can be adapted for any local Government area in Victoria.
For local councils & Government
Councils can commission or support a workbook process for their Local Government Area - generating a community evidence base for housing planning, NDIS advocacy, and development policy.
For NDIS providers & planners
The workbook findings provide a community-level picture of housing gaps and NDIS underspend. If you're working in housing, planning, or support coordination, this data matters.
Visit the project website →For researchers & policy advocates
The project builds a community-level evidence base that is largely absent from disability housing policy discussions. Collaboration and co-publication opportunities are welcome.
Reach out →Related Research
Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) Reports
A companion pro bono series analysing SDA supply and demand across Victorian communities — the data that underpins much of the Workbook’s housing picture. All reports use NDIS Quarterly Data Supplement figures charted by AI and reviewed by Joseph Connellan.
Understanding SDA in Your Community
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SDA in Your Community: Some Data and Some Questions – Video
A five-minute introduction to SDA supply and demand data and where to find it. Runs through the key figures and sets out eleven questions communities should be asking to understand what is going on with SDA locally — and where the opportunities and risks may lie.
Report 1 — SDA People vs Places in 66 Victorian Communities (December 2025)
SDA supply and demand as at December 2025 for each of the 66 communities defined by ABS Statistical Area 3 (SA3), which broadly equate to Local Government Areas. Charts demand (people in SDA and those with SDA funding not using it) against supply (grouped by number of residents per dwelling).
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SDA People vs Places in 66 Victorian Communities – December 2025, Report 1 (PDF, 69 pages)
The full report with a community snapshot for each of the 66 Victorian SA3 communities, showing SDA people versus places and prompting local questions about data accuracy, participants not using SDA funding, stakeholders, dwellings, and development.
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Mildura – SDA People vs Places, Report 1 – Video with Local Commentary
A video focused on Mildura’s SDA data, with community-specific commentary to help local people — especially service providers — understand what the numbers say and what questions their community should be asking.
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Ballarat – SDA People vs Places, Report 1 – Video with Local Commentary
A video focused on Ballarat’s SDA data, with community-specific commentary following the same approach as the Mildura video.
Report 2 — SDA Growth in 66 Victorian Communities, 2023 to 2026
SDA Places across Victoria grew from 6,293 to 9,713 between 2023 and 2026 — an increase of 3,420. Yet by 31 March 2026, only 74.5% of people with SDA were using their funding, and only 56.5% of SDA Places were occupied. This report documents that growth and its make-up, community by community.
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SDA Growth in 66 Victorian Communities from 2023 to 2026 – Report 2 (PDF, 69 pages)
The full Report 2, charting SDA growth and occupancy across all 66 SA3 communities over three years. Uses AI to extract and present NDIS Quarterly Data Supplement figures, with the variation across communities highlighting where supply is outpacing demand and where gaps remain.
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SDA Growth in 66 Victorian Communities from 2023 to 2026 – Report 2 Video
Video presentation of the Report 2 findings, covering the three-year growth story, occupancy rates, and what the data means for communities planning or advocating for better disability housing.
About the Author
Joseph Connellan
Joseph Connellan has spent more than 30 years as an executive in Australia’s housing and community services sector. He led major not-for-profit organisations and drove policy and practice change across housing, disability, and aged care — before retiring from executive life to pursue work he believes in on his own terms.
The 5-3 Community Workbook Project is pro bono work — Joseph’s contribution to communities trying to understand and act on the housing crisis facing people with disability. He brings to it the same mix of analytical rigour and plain-language communication that shaped his executive career.
He is also a self-published novelist and audio drama producer, a Non-Executive Director at Alkira (a disability services not-for-profit), and lives in Abbotsford, Melbourne. His novels — Wombatgate and Jimmy’s Run — satirise Australian not-for-profit and government life.
Get in Touch
Contact
Joseph Connellan
To express interest in a pilot, get more information about the project, or to discuss collaboration: