One week. 245 events across all six states. 12,000+ people through the door. 7,310 meals shared.

​

From 11 to 17 May, Neighbourhood Community Houses and Centres across Australia opened their doors for Neighbourhood Community House and Centre Week (NCHCW) 2026, celebrating this year's theme, "Your Place to Connect."

​

Across the country, Houses and Centres brought their communities together through lunches, workshops, open days, morning teas and thousands of locally designed events. As part of our Australia's Largest Community-Led Lunch initiative, Houses and Centres served 7,310 meals, demonstrating the scale and reach of the sector in real time.

​

NCHCW 2026 was a powerful reminder that Houses and Centres are the places where people show up, feel welcome and find connection. They are Australia's largest place-based community infrastructure, and this week showed exactly why.

​

This year also marked a significant milestone for the sector. For the first time, we coordinated a national campaign around NCHCW, collected national registrations from participating Houses and Centres, and gathered national data on events and participation. These efforts have given us a much stronger picture of the collective impact of the sector and have helped elevate the profile of Houses and Centres nationally.

​

The information, stories and photos submitted by Houses and Centres have enabled us to demonstrate the scale of community participation, strengthen our advocacy efforts, and build a compelling case for future investment in the sector. This is only the beginning, and we look forward to continuing to build on this foundation in the years ahead.

​

Thank you to every House, Centre, volunteer, staff member and community member who participated in NCHCW 2026. A special thank you to everyone who took the time to submit event data, stories and photos.

​

​