About AHA
Built by someone who needed it. Driven by the people who deserve it.
Accessible Homes Australia was founded on a simple belief that every Australian with a disability deserves a home of their own. Not a facility. Not a compromise. A real home, in a real community, on their own terms.
28,000+
Australians who need SDA housing
10,000
Still waiting to find the right home
100%
Committed to tenant independence and choice
24 / 7
On-call support at every AHA precint
Our Founder
Perry Cross AM knows what it means to need a home
At 19 years old, Perry Cross broke his neck in a football tackle. He became a C2 ventilated quadriplegic, one of the highest levels of spinal cord injury a person can survive. For the next 25 years, Perry lived with his family. First his parents. Then his sister. Then his brother. Not because he chose to. But because, for Australians with high support needs, unless Perry was willing to give up his independence and move into an institutionalised state run disability group home, there was simply no other option.
Despite everything, Perry refused to accept that this was how it had to be. He went on to found the Perry Cross Spinal Research Foundation, raising over $40 million for research into paralysis and spinal cord injury. He became one of Australia’s most recognised disability advocates. And eventually, when the NDIS introduced Specialist Disability Accommodation, Perry finally had his own home for the first time in his adult life.
“For 25 years I lived in other people’s homes. I know what it means — and what it costs — to not have a place you can truly call your own.” — Perry Cross AM, Founder & CEO, Accessible Homes Australia
That experience is the foundation of everything AHA does.
“When I first entered the SDA pathway, I was focused — like many others — on simply securing a roof over my head. Over time I came to understand the deeper importance of what we’re building: thoughtful, lasting national infrastructure that will support future generations of Australians living with disability.
Perry and the AHA team take that responsibility seriously. Every home AHA built is both a solution for someone who needs it today, and a piece of enduring national infrastructure for the people who will need it tomorrow. That dual lens, what this means for the person living in the home right now, and what it means for those who will come after, guides every decision AHA makes.
“We remain very conscious of how every dollar is used, from both a provider’s and a participant’s perspective, to ensure this legacy is delivered responsibly and effectively.”
Perry doesn’t just understand the problem intellectually. He has lived it, navigated the system as a participant, and now leads as a provider. That perspective shapes every home we build, every support model we design, and every decision we make on behalf of our tenants.
Vision and Mission
These aren’t just words on a wall. They shape the way we work every day, the way every AHA home is designed, and the way every decision is made, with the people who live in our homes always at the centre.
Our Vision
An Australia where every person with disability has the genuine freedom to choose where and how they live, in a home that enables independence, provides safety and dignity, and opens the door to a life lived fully.
Our Mission
To design, build and manage exceptional accessible homes within everyday communities, while walking alongside every tenant from their first question about SDA through to moving in and beyond, empowering them to take real ownership of where they live and the life they want to lead.
What We Stand For
Six things we will never compromise on.
Home, not housing
A home is personal. It reflects you, it belongs to you, and it’s somewhere you genuinely want to be. That’s what we create, not just accessible boxes.
Choice and control
Our tenants choose their own primary support provider, as well as their shared onsite support provider. Together with others in their building or villa community, they help shape how shared supports operate and review them annually. Real choice means real power, and we take that seriously.
Community inclusion
Every AHA property is in an everyday neighbourhood, close to the people and places that matter. We build homes that belong in their community, and we make sure that community is accessible for our tenants to access and enjoy. .
Safety without intrusion
Our 24/7 OSS model means help is always close by, without someone being in your home when you don’t want them there. Safety and independence should never have to compete.
Quality that shows
Contemporary design, high standards, and thoughtfully considered spaces. Our homes are beautiful and functional because the people who live in them deserve nothing less.
Lived experience leadership
Perry’s story is the foundation on which AHA was built. Every decision is tested against the question: would this genuinely work for the person who needs it most?
Our Story
Before AHA was an organisation, it was a question born from Perry’s own lived experience: why were so many people with disability expected to settle for housing that didn’t truly support the life they wanted to live?
1994 Perry's injury
At 19, Perry Cross sustains a C2 spinal injury — one of the most severe spinal injuries a person can survive. For the next 25 years, he lived in the homes of family members — his parents, sister, and brother — because there were no accessible housing options that truly allowed him to live independently.
2000s Advocacy and fundraising
Perry founded the Perry Cross Spinal Research Foundation, lobbying for and raising over $40 million for spinal cord research and becoming a nationally recognised voice for Australians with disability. He advocates for systemic change. Including in housing. His contributions to people living with disability are recognised as he’s awarded an Order of Australia for his services.
2013 The NDIS changes everything
The National Disability Insurance Scheme launches, and with it comes the promise of Specialist Disability Accommodation — purpose-built, funded housing for Australians with the highest support needs. For the first time, a real pathway exists.
But despite the NDIS launching in 2013, SDA options still aren’t available in Perry’s hometown of the Gold Coast until 2019.
2019 AHA is founded
Perry establishes Accessible Homes Australia alongside Tom Ray of Ray Group and Jason Doerr and Tim Douglas of Australasian Homes — long-time school friends who came together through decades of friendship and collective experience across property development and residential construction. Their shared goal was simple: to build the kind of homes Perry himself would want to live in, and to help other Australians access them too.
Today Pioneering a new model
AHA is now a recognised leader in SDA, pioneering the Onsite Shared Support (OSS) model — a new approach to 24/7 care that puts tenant independence and choice at the centre.
The team
The people behind every AHA home
AHA brings together a team with rare depth, combining lived experience of disability, decades of property development expertise, award-winning construction, and deep knowledge of the NDIS and disability care sector.
It’s not a team that views accessible housing as a niche market. It’s a team that understands, from the inside, what’s at stake.
Ready to take the next step?
Thousands of Australians who are eligible for SDA are still living in housing that doesn’t properly support their needs, independence, or quality of life. Our team can provide an honest, no-obligation assessment and guide you through every step if you decide to move forward.
