Trish Burden

Community Inclusion Manager
Unity Housing Company

With over 25 years’ experience in the Social Housing and Community Service sectors in South Australia, Trish is a passionate advocate for tenant engagement, community inclusion, and internal capacity building resulting in enduring and sustainable tenancies. As the Community Inclusion Manager at Unity Housing, she has cultivated long-lasting partnerships that promote tenant stability, strengthen neighbourhood connections, and enables robust service delivery across diverse communities.

Trish's unwavering commitment to amplifying the tenant voice has driven systemic and operational improvements, directly contributing to safer and better life outcomes for tenants. Under her leadership, Unity Housing’s Community Connect team and broader staff group implements the Tenant Engagement Delivery Plan designed to meet tenant and community needs with creativity, compassion, and inclusivity.

A pioneer in her field, Trish continues to lead the award-winning Street Speak project, focusing on upskilling staff and empowering Aboriginal tenants through innovative engagement practices. A strong advocate for internal capacity building, she has been instrumental in fostering professional development across Unity Housing, ensuring staff are skilled to provide services that support sustainable tenancies.

As the inaugural and current Chair of the PowerHousing Tenant Engagement Working Group, and a former Chair of the PowerHousing Operations Roundtable, Trish has contributed her expertise to shaping operational strategies across the sector at a national level.