Australia’s First Hackathon for Homelessness

Social innovators, creatives, business people, community workers and techs will join forces in June to tackle homelessness in Australia’s first Homelessness Hackathon.

The weekend-long hackathon, organised by Marist 180, aims to bring together like-minded people to identify and develop sustainable solutions affecting people experiencing homelessness.

Described as a world first, the hackathon will include pre-event engagement strategies with people experiencing homelessness, to ensure their experiences and voices are represented.

Marist 180 social innovation manager Steve Williams told ProBono News the hackathons were an exciting space designed to engage millennials to work collaboratively on social issues.

“Generally speaking around 75 per cent of attendees are under the age of 30 which is really exciting,” Williams said.

“I think it’s important to have a fresh set of eyes and ears to old problems.

“It’s not about not-for-profit or for profit, it’s tearing up the rule book creating a real impact.”

Williams said the coming hackathon was about understanding the real issues facing people experiencing homelessness and finding real-world solutions.

“It is about bringing equity to the innovation boom that Queensland specifically, and Australian more generally is experiencing,” Williams said.

On the Friday night, up to 80 participants will attend a pitch session, and teams will gather around certain ideas based on their skill set for the remainder of the weekend.

The hackathon, which will take place in Brisbane over the first weekend of June, is run in partnership with Orange Sky Laundry, Common Ground QLD, River City Labs, QUT Creative Industries, and The Incus Group and is funded by Department of Housing’s Dignity First Fund.