Council members

Ms Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz

Ms Susan Lloyd-Hurwitz is the Chair of the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council (the Council).

Ms Lloyd-Hurwitz was the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Mirvac from 2012 to 2023.

She is:

• a non-executive director of Macquarie Bank, Macquarie Group, Rio Tinto and Spacecube
• President of Chief Executive Women
• a member of the Sydney Opera House Trust, INSEAD Global Board
• Chair of the Australian Centre for Gender Equality and Inclusion @ Work Advisory Board.

Ms Lloyd-Hurwitz holds a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) from the University of Sydney and a MBA (Distinction) from INSEAD (France).

Dr Marcus Spiller

Dr Marcus Spiller is the Council's Deputy Chair. 

Dr Spiller is a Director, Principal and Partner of SGS Economics and Planning Pty Ltd. He is formally qualified in commerce and urban planning.

Dr Spiller is a past national president of the Planning Institute of Australia.

He's served on the Australian Government’s National Housing Supply Council, and similar advisory committees set up by the New South Wales, Queensland and Victorian governments.

Mr Michael Lennon

Mr Michael Lennon is Industry Professor of Regional Housing and Planning at the University of South Australia.

Mr Lennon was the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Housing Choices Australia.

From 2017 to 2021, Mr Lennon served as Chair of the South Australian Planning Commission. 

He oversaw a complex and nationally significant re-organisation of the state’s entire planning framework. This included digitisation and rationalisation into a single Planning and Design Code for the Government of South Australia.

Ms Gail McGowan PSM

Ms Gail McGowan is the Chancellor of Murdoch University.

Ms McGowan is:

• Chair of the Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority
• Director of:
  • Mid-West Ports Authority WA
  • Foundation Housing WA
  • Western Australian Cricket Association.

Ms McGowan held leadership positions in Western Australia, including as a member of:

• Infrastructure WA
• WA Planning Commission
• WA Infrastructure Coordinating Committee
• Pastoral Lands Board.

Professor Rachel Ong ViforJ

Professor Rachel Ong ViforJ is an Australian Research Council Future Fellow and John Curtin Distinguished Professor at Curtin University.

Her research interests include the:

• role of housing in Australia’s ageing population
• intergenerational housing concerns
• housing affordability
• links between housing and the economy
• impacts of housing on health and wellbeing.

Ms Carolyn Viney

Ms Carolyn Viney is the Chief Executive Officer at Assemble.

Ms Viney is also a:

• non-executive director at The Big Issue Pty Ltd, Homes for Homes Pty Ltd and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research.
• division councillor at the Property Council of Australia (Victorian Division).

Prior to joining Super Housing Partnerships, Ms Viney was Chief Development Officer (from 2016 to 2023) at Vicinity Centres where she oversaw the delivery of its $3 billion development pipeline and mixed-use strategy.

Ms Helen Waters Silvia

Ms Helen Waters Silvia is the General Manager, National Service Delivery at YWCA Australia.

Ms Waters Silvia is the former Chief Executive Officer of Women’s and Girls' Emergency Centre, a specialist homelessness service for women and families escaping domestic violence.

She's newly appointed to the Board of Homelessness Australia. 

Ms Waters Silvia previously served on the board of Homelessness NSW, the board of Domestic Violence NSW (from 2017 to 2022), including as chair (from 2017 to 2020).

Mr Neil Willmett

Mr Neil Willmett is an accomplished chief executive officer and company director with experience in corporate, government and not-for-profit entities.

Mr Willmett is the CEO of the Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Housing Queensland since 2021.

He is a member of the Housing Australia Expert Advisory Group on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Housing.

Mr Willmett held other chief executive officer positions including with the Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council.

He was an executive director with the Queensland Department of Housing and Public Works where he played a key role in the development of the Queensland Housing Strategy 2017 to 2027, as well as the implementation of the National Partnership Agreement on Remote Indigenous Housing.

Mr Willmett is an Aboriginal man with connections to the Waanyi people of the Gulf of Carpentaria and the Kuku Yalanji people of Far North Queensland.

Ms Victoria Anderson

Ms Anderson is the Deputy Secretary responsible for housing policy in the Department of the Treasury.

She is the ex-officio member of the Council.