New Executive Officer for Wellington’s Regional Healthy Housing Group

Published 24 February 2020

New Executive Officer for Regional Healthy Housing

Wellington’s Regional Healthy Housing Group is excited to announce the appointment of its first Executive Officer.

Amanda Scothern, who is currently the Programme Manager for Timor Leste with the International Women’s Development Agency in Melbourne will take up the role in early April. “I am delighted to be returning home to New Zealand and especially to use my skills and energy to improve the housing conditions of Wellington residents. A warm, dry and safe house is a fundamental human right and I’m looking forward to working with the public, private and NGO sectors to create positive change”.

“Amanda brings with her a deep understanding and experience of social justice issues and coordinating multistakeholder groups,” said Roger Blakeley, Chair of the Group. “We were impressed with Amanda’s demonstrated ability to work collaboratively with a wide range of agencies and individuals. Our goal is to ensure that every home in the Wellington Region is warm, dry, and safe by 2025 and Amanda’s experience with strategy and on-the-ground change will be key to reaching this vision.”

The appointment of the Executive Officer coincides with Friday’s release of Cabinet papers on the Electricity Price Review focussing on measures to alleviate energy hardship. “By appointing an Executive Officer, our organisations in the Wellington region are providing leadership and stepping up to assist households to keep their homes warm and dry at an affordable cost,” added Mr. Blakeley.

Amanda will be based at Sustainability Trust’s offices in central Wellington and working with healthy housing stakeholders throughout the Wellington region.