Land, Sharing and the Law: Innovative solutions to the housing crisis

John Seed is founder and director of the Rainforest Information Centre in Australia. 

Since 1979 he has been involved in the direct actions which have resulted in the protection of the Australian rainforests.

In 1984 he helped initiate the US Rainforest Action Network which grew out of the first  of his many US roadshows.

In 1987 he co-produced a television  documentary, "EARTH FIRST!" for Australian national television about the struggle for the rainforests. This has since  been shown in many countries. A front page story about John's work in the Christian Science Monitor at this time referred to him as "the town crier for the global village".

He has created numerous projects protecting  rainforests in Sth America, Asia and the Pacific through providing benign and sustainable development projects for their indigenous inhabitants tied to the protection of their forests. These projects have been funded by the Australian Government aid agency AusAID, The Australian Council of Churches  and various foundations. Donations to Rainforest Information Centre projects are tax-deductible in Australia and the US.

He has written and lectured extensively on deep ecology and has been conducting Councils of All Beings and other re-Earth ing workshops  around the world for 25 years. In the US, his workshops have been hosted by Esalen, Omega, Naropa and the California Institute of Integral Studies.

With Joanna Macy, Pat Fleming and Professor Arne Naess, he wrote "Thinking Like a Mountain - Towards a Council of All Beings" (New Society Publishers) which has now been translated into 12 languages.

He is an accomplished bard, songwriter and film-maker and has produced 5 albums of environmental songs and numerous films.

In 1995 he was awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) by the Australian Government for services to conservation and the environment. He is a Fellow of the Findhorn Foundation and occasional Scholar-in-Residence  at the Esalen Institute.

Carol and her partner bought 280 acres with the intention of founding Dharmananda, a rural land sharing community in 1972. After working for 2.5 years in Laos to fully pay off the debt, they returned and commenced the complex process of growing a community. Effective communication became a priority for survival of community and as a result of learning skills and sharing them with members, Carol ended up with a 35 year career in conflict management. 

She is also a Certified Hakomi Therapist and teacher of the Buddha Dharma.

Carol is now retired apart from Dharma teaching. She lives at Dharmanada, a deeply bonded community where 70% of food is grown communally and meals are shared several nights per week.

Terry was the ‘Founder’ of Tuntable Falls in 1973 as well as the Blue Springs & Billen Cliffs* communities [*on which Community Title was based].

Terry also served as an Alderman on Lismore City Council from 1977-1983 [wild years] and was a consultant to Nimbin Rocks Ngulingah L.A.L.C. 

The ‘Founder’ at Tuntable Falls involved the deal-maker of the land, registration/first secretary of the co-operative/owner and the first negotiator with local council to get the Development Approval in principle in 1973, then working with Shire Building Inspector. Tuntable is Australia’s largest ‘alternative community’ with over 250 current residents and a hundred extra applicants.

Dr Aidan Ricketts is an academic with the Faculty of Business, Law and Arts at Southern Cross University and is also an internationally recognised social change trainer and author, having published “The Activists Handbook: A Step by Step guide to Participatory Democracy” in London in 2012.  Aidan recently completed a PhD exploring the use of complexity theory in social movements and change-making.

Aidan has provided social change training and strategic organisational advice for numerous environmental and social campaigns over many decades, including working with Lock the Gate and with Gasfield Free Northern Rivers in the lead up to the historic Bentley blockade in Northern NSW. Consistent with his passion for self-organised community empowerment, Aidan participated in the spontaneous emergence of the ‘tinny army’ during the 2022 Lismore flood disaster rescuing numerous neighbours from rooftops in his boat and in subsequent community recovery activities.

Aidan has also had experience in the establishment of landsharing communites and more recently in providing advice and support for homeless communities in the wake of the 2022 Lismore floods.

Chels Hood Withey is a passionate community organiser, advocate and creative problem-solver dedicated to equity, justice, and systemic change. As the founder of House You, a housing-first campaign ensuring everyone has a home and a lead organiser in the Community Disaster Action Group, a united voice across the Northern Rivers for a fully funded community-led flood recovery and adaptation, they bring a unique perspective to the intersection of housing, climate, mental wellbeing, and community empowerment. 

Their work focuses on creating holistic solutions through grassroots democracy. They actively organise and facilitate deliberative democratic assemblies where the community is included in decision-making and empowered to be the change they want to see in the world. 

Their next People’s Assembly, hosted by House You and other organisations will be held at the Federal Parliament House on 10 Feb 2025 - bringing together diverse stakeholders to discuss the solutions needed to end poverty and homelessness in this wealthy continent of ours. Chels’s work aims to transform our society into one that prioritises people and planet over profit and power. In a world of abundance, it’s time to share our resources, it’s time to house you.

Mark is principal of Barefoot Law, a community legal practice with offices in Byron and Lismore. A lawyer for 30 years, Mark has run key cases in aged care (Feros, 2023), small business (Bluesfest 2020-21), unfair dismissal (Chait 2024), constructive trusts (Wollumbin Horizons 2019) and mental health (Robbins 2023).

Mark is also a writer and performer. Works include One Pie Wellness with artist Bec Kocass, Water Falling Down (Queensland Theatre Company) and Making Australia Slightly Better Than Average Again (Puncher & Wattmann). Mark is also MC of Dustyesky and a long-time director at Spaghetti Circus. Mark does regular spots on ABC radio. On Late Night Live Philip Adams once gave him a Koala Stamp.

Antoinette is a mother, artist, and activist living in Lismore, currently residing on the floodplain. She works with ROR and SOAR to advocate for her community at a grassroots level. Having been heavily impacted by the flood as a tenant in South Lismore, she felt compelled to speak out after witnessing the acute suffering of her neighbors and the disregard shown specifically toward tenants in the buyout scheme. Many consider the human response to this climate disaster—and its consequences—even worse than the flood itself.

Elly is the Executive Director of Resilient Lismore and was a Councillor on Lismore City Council from 2016–24. When disaster struck Lismore and the Northern Rivers in February 2022, and the biggest flood in living memory wiped out her community, Elly immediately focused all her attention and effort on the recovery. Since February 2022 she has built Resilient Lismore, a community based organisation, from the ground up to a point where it has delivered more than $5 million of aid into Lismore and surrounding communities; repaired more than 600 homes across the region; managed more than 14,000 volunteer deployments; managed a recovery social media group of 32,000 people; coordinated community service inter-agencies and delivered disaster readiness projects in the sector; and operated a community service hub in the epicenter of the disaster area.

Elly sits on various recovery committees within the formal recovery structure and regularly advocates for better recovery outcomes for impacted residents; and for improved engagement and integration of community efforts in emergency management and recovery policy in preparation for future disasters. She is deeply engaged in the complexities of building community resilience to better enable communities to withstand the shock of disasters and she is passionate about the critical need for effective partnership between governments and communities as climate change becomes increasingly prevalent in our daily lives. 

Shaneen has a unique combination of skills in architecture, community engagement, research, and project management. Shaneen is passionate about working with First Nations peoples on sustainable and Country centred development. She has dedicated her career to understanding the relationship of culture, design and architecture with First Nations peoples completing her PhD on the relationships between design and culture in Yolngu built environments in 2003.

She has over 25 years of experience as researcher and architect on a broad range of community, health, and housing projects in Australia and the Pacific, and continues to advocate for sustainable and culturally and socially inclusive outcomes for the whole community. She has co-authored eight book chapters and published over thirty journal articles.

Shaneen is co-chair of the First Nations Advisory Committee for the Australian Institute of Architects and a member of the Queensland Urban Design and Places Panel for the Queensland State Government. She is also Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Queensland and James Cook University where she continues to influence through teaching and research.

Sue is a Greens MP in the NSW Upper House. She is a public interest environmental lawyer who has worked at the forefront of environmental law, conservation, science and policy for decades. Sue was the former Principal Solicitor and CEO of the Environmental Defenders Office, Australia’s leading public interest environmental law centre. She has been responsible for some of the highest profile environmental litigation in the country, involving mining giants like Rio Tinto, BHP, Santos and Adani and holding Governments to account for the environment. 

Sue has delivered environmental legal services to rural, remote, regional and First Nations communities across NSW. She has represented hundreds of environmental protestors courts across Australia. Sue has lectured and taught environmental law in universities across NSW. She holds a Bachelor of Laws, with First Class Honours and was awarded the University Medal upon graduation.

Sue is a farmer, she grows dry land rice, and other crops with her partner on the Richmond Floodplain in the Northern Rivers. Central to her farming practice is biodiversity management and conservation. She lives and works on land with koalas, where she has planted thousands of trees to try to secure their future. 

Shane Sylvanspring is a local social activist, ecovillage educator, town planner and managing director of Planning Regenerative Communities Pty Ltd, with a specific passion for intentional communities, ecovillages and co-living solutions. Shane is the cofounder and designer of two intentional communities, Afterlee Ecovillage in Kyogle Shire and Balaya Buyul community in Byron Shire and works with many communities in their establishment phase. Shane was also part of the design and management team of two large ecovillage projects of Bruns Ecovillage and Bunjil Ecovillage in the past.

Shane has 13 years’ experience in local government as a Strategic Planner and is always seeking ways to create regenerative communities within the current planning framework.

See www.planningregenerativecommunities.com for more information.

Additional speakers to be confirmed shortly.