Another fantastic afternoon of insightful discussion, networking and sector collaboration at the Student Accommodation Association Industry Lunch in South Australia at Crowne Plaza Adelaide.

Quality student accommodation goes far beyond providing a bed. Today’s discussions reinforced the critical role accommodation plays in student wellbeing, belonging, safety, connection and overall student success, particularly as Adelaide continues to experience rapid growth and investment across the student accommodation sector.

Key themes throughout the afternoon included the importance of maintaining quality and community during rapid sector growth, the role students play in creating vibrancy and connection within our cities, and the growing need for evidence-based approaches to building genuine student communities and positive student experiences.

💡“Student accommodation is now part of the academic offer. It has to be.”
💡“Students create community, they activate the city, they generate life and vibrancy.”
💡“If we don’t get community sentiment right, in the medium and long term we’re all in trouble.”

A huge thank you to our speakers and panellists: Dominic Pangallo, Prof. Kent Anderson, Cam Bestwick, Denise von Wald, FAICD and Robert Chasse.

Thank you also to our event sponsors and supporters CONSTANT, SiLANT and StarRez, Inc.

And finally, thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to such an important discussion for the future of the sector.

The Student Accommodation Association (SAA), in partnership with Event Sponsor Study NSW, recently hosted the “Enhancing Student Safety and Experience Through Access to Quality Student Accommodation in NSW Forum” at Parliament House NSW.

The afternoon was preceded by a National Property Accreditation Scheme (NPAS) Information Session, providing attendees with an introduction to NPAS and highlighting the important role accredited student accommodation plays in supporting student safety, wellbeing, experience, and confidence in global education markets.

We heard three outstanding presentations from Nate Henderson, Associate Director, Study NSW, Iori Forsyth, Senior Associate, Study NSW, Geoff Denison and Rebecca Bendall, Student Accommodation Australia (SAA).

We also heard from a panel of sector leaders exploring how accommodation quality standards are shaping the international student experience in NSW, facilitated by Prof Kent Anderson and joined by Nate Henderson, Matt Bowerman, Housing Manager, University of Technology Sydney, Weihong Liang, President, International Students Representative Council of Australia and Rebecca Bendall, SAA.

Key takeaways from the day included the continued importance of access to quality accommodation for international students, the critical role of the NPAS in identifying quality student accommodation across NSW and Australia, and the need for education providers to actively adopt and promote NPAS accredited properties to deliver a clearer and more consistent accommodation message to students.

A sincere thank you to everyone who attended as well as our corporate sponsors StarRez, Constant, and SiLANT, for contributing to another meaningful event. All photography and video content by Onix Productions.