Copy of CHIA Cadetship Graduation 107 scaled

Host a cadet

Grow the industry by hosting a cadet

Develop tomorrow’s housing leaders.

Each year, the CHIA NSW Cadetship Program places 25 people within community housing providers to gain hands-on training in the industry while they study a Certificate IV in Housing.

Your organisation will gain a motivated team member who is learning and contributing from day one. Cadets support your operational activities while developing valuable industry skills under your guidance.

This is an opportunity for your organisation to nurture the next generation of talent and contribute directly to building a skilled and sustainable industry workforce.

This page provides resources for community housing providers about the Cadetship Program, including curriculum information, keys dates, FAQs and application forms.

Resources for CHPs

Click on the boxes below to access resources and further information about the Cadetship Program.

Watch

what past cadets say about their experience as a cadet.

Explore

a quick summary about what the cadetship offers.

Read

the information pack to understand how the cadetship works.

Apply

to take on a cadet in your workplace.

View

a recording of the online information session held on Tuesday 4 August 2026.

Download

posters and flyers to help promote the cadetship to your tenants.

How to employ a cadet – key steps and dates

The Cadetship Program is limited to 25 CHPs in 2027.

1

Promote the cadetship to tenants

August – September 2026

CHIA NSW has materials to engage your tenants.

DOWNLOAD
2

CHPs apply online

by Friday 2 October 2026

APPLY NOW
3

CHIA NSW phone consultation with you

by Friday 9 October 2026

To discuss and add additional information to your application.

4

CHIA NSW matches cadet applicants with CHPs

by Friday 23 October 2026

CHIA NSW sends you suitable cadet applications from your region.

5

CHPs select cadets

November – December 2026

You decide who to interview, hold interviews, and select a preferred applicant.

6

CHPs review and sign Partnership Deed

December 2026

A senior executive of your CHP signs your Partnership Deed.

7

Employment starts

Monday 15 February 2027

Your cadet starts 12 months work at your CHP, and finishes in February 2028.

Frequently Asked Questions

The cadetship is a unique opportunity to help shape the future of staff entering the community housing industry. It allows students to gain hands-on experience and an industry-leading qualification that should suit your CHP’s own future employment needs.

This is with minimal financial impact on your CHP through CHIA NSW’s wage subsidy.

As the training organisation, CHIA NSW delivers the CHC42221 Certificate IV in Housing, and provides individualised, comprehensive support to each cadet for the 12 month cadetship.

As the employer, your CHP provides the work experience.

Cadets must:

  • live in NSW, and
  • be aged 20 or older, and
  • be able to study at Certificate IV level, be able to work full-time, and want to work in community housing.

We prioritise people who belong to one of these groups:

  • unemployed young people aged 20-24 years
  • people who are Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
  • people living with disability
  • refugees and migrants
  • people aged 25+ who are social housing clients (tenants, those on the waitlist, those living in crisis/supported accommodation) and those receiving rent assistance.

Not yet. The cadet cannot cover an existing role in your organisation. A cadet is like an apprentice or a trainee. Their training and skill development takes a full year. You are not hiring someone who could quickly start getting your CHP’s work done. You are hiring someone that has a good chance of being a valued employee in a year from now, and for the long term.

CHPs can promote the cadetship to people in their community, including people they know. Your promotion activities can be vital in finding a suitable cadet, especially in smaller communities.

However, all cadets must apply through CHIA NSW and progress through all the CHIA NSW recruitment stages. CHPs must consider all applicants that CHIA NSW sends them.

This depends on your policy and on who applies in your district:

  • About a third of cadets are the CHP’s tenant.
  • About a third are tenants of other social housing providers.
  • About a third are not social housing tenants.

Some CHPs have a policy of not employing their own tenants. Other CHPs prefer to employ their own tenants.

Either way, your efforts to promote the cadetship to your tenants and in your community are important to the success of the program. CHIA NSW provides resources to support your promotion work.

Cadets will receive training in legal and ethical issues in their work. CHPs should also include a clause requiring privacy and confidentiality in their employment contracts.

Some CHPs only employ cadets who are not their own tenants, to reduce this problem.

The Cadetship Program aims to provide training and pathways into employment for people experiencing barriers to secure employment.

  • People with full time or permanent work are welcome to apply, but are less likely to be selected.
  • Unemployed people and people with only casual work are more likely to be selected.

Cadets do not need a driver’s licence for the cadetship.

Cadets will shadow experienced staff or be supervised while undertaking tasks such as tenancy applications, property inspections and site visits. Cadets should not be conducting any field-related tasks on their own.

Cadets undertake a combination of paid work and study throughout the 12 months.

Cadets are employed by a participating community housing provider, and work full time Monday to Friday. Each housing provider sets their own weekly full time work hours (between 35 and 40 hours per week).

CHIA NSW delivers all the training and assessment. All training takes place in paid work time – approximately 25% of paid work time is dedicated to training and study activities.

Training uses blended delivery (a mix of face-to-face and online). Training is delivered mainly in blocks of 2-3 consecutive days throughout the 12 months.

The minimum Award wage payable to cadets is SCHADS Award Level 1 Pay Point 1. Each CHP sets the actual cadet pay according to their own policies.

Homes NSW provides a subsidy for each cadet. The subsidy for 2027 is $68,289.44 including GST, which covers most of the payroll costs of the CHP. The subsidy is transferred from CHIA NSW to CHPs each quarter.

Through this program cadets will:

  • Develop application/allocation, tenancy, and property management skills working in an office environment, visiting people at their homes, and checking their properties.  
  • Learn about the community housing industry and organisations that help people find stable housing.  
  • Obtain a nationally recognised qualification by undertaking the CHC42221 Certificate IV in Housing.  
  • Earn an income during the Cadetship. 

Paid employment in the cadetship is for 12 months. CHIA NSW and CHPs give no guarantee of ongoing employment after the cadetship is over.

As part of the training, CHIA NSW assists cadets with resume and job interview skills. Graduating cadets typically apply for ongoing work with their previous employer (the CHP), with other CHPs, and elsewhere. 

In previous years, about three-quarters of all cadets get ongoing work, mainly with housing providers.

To fulfil the requirements of a CHC42221 Certificate IV in Housing, experience is required in the operations of:

  • application/allocation services
  • tenancy management
  • property management.

CHIA NSW will discuss with you how your CHP can facilitate this if you don’t have all of these teams.

Each CHP nominates a staff member to be the mentor to the cadet throughout the 12 months. The mentor’s role is to provide support in the workplace and highlight any issues to CHIA NSW. This role is crucial to a successful cadetship and this staff member should be given adequate time away from their usual duties to support their cadet. Mentors will get our Mentors’ Resource Booklet, which includes:

  • How to be an effective mentor
  • How to approach other staff on behalf of the cadet
  • Providing effective guidance to support cadets’ career development
  • Structured approaches and information to facilitate mentoring sessions.

Another important role is the cadet’s line manager. Depending on the size and structure of your CHP, the cadet may have the same line manager for the full 12 months, or their manager may change as the cadet moves from department to department during the year.

It is important that one experienced staff member has oversight of the cadetship, and stays connected to the cadet for the full 12 months. This allows the cadet to thrive. So in CHPs where the cadet will have more than one line manager over the course of the year, appointing a separate mentor is essential.

CHIA NSW supports cadets and CHPs through the cadet’s learning and working journey, by a team of specialists, including:

  • CHIA NSW Workplace Coordinators – will assist CHPs and cadets with workplace assessments and each cadet’s progression at work and in their studies. Your Workplace Coordinator will visit your workplace up to 3 times during the 12 months, depending on need.
  • CHIA NSW Manager Cadetship Program – the first point of contact during the recruitment phase and the start of training and work for all CHPs. The Manager Cadetship Program will also hold monthly meetings with mentors to support them in their role throughout the 12 months.
  • CHIA NSW Head of Learning and Development – will have oversight of the program and overall responsibility for its implementation.

CHIA NSW and CHPs have distinct roles in recruitment.  

CHIA NSW will:  

  • Answer queries from people interested in being a cadet. 
  • Receive applications from across NSW. 
  • Interview applicants online. 
  • Shortlist applicants. 
  • Send short-listed applications in each district to CHPs. 
  • Contact shortlisted applicants to explain the face-to-face interview process.  
  • Supply sample interview questions to CHPs. 
  • Provide CHP feedback to unsuccessful applicants. 

CHPs will:

  1. Decide which shortlisted applicants in their district to interview face-to-face. 
  • Arrange and conduct the interviews. 
  • Decide which applicant, if any, to employ.  
  • Conduct background checks. 
  • Advise the successful applicant.  
  • Provide feedback to CHIA NSW on all applicants interviewed, so CHIA NSW can pass this on to applicants. 
  • Onboard the cadet using the CHP’s usual employment documents and procedures. 

CHIA NSW will send each application to multiple CHPs in the one district.

Yes. In districts with more than one CHP, a CHP that interviews later will have fewer applicants to select from.

The applicant will choose which CHP they wish to be employed by.  

Participating CHPs sign a formal Cadetship Project Partnership Deed with CHIA NSW. This covers:

  • Reporting requirements as per Homes NSW Agreement
  • Method of payment
  • Expected outcomes
  • Timeframe for delivery
  • Workplace requirements for cadets.
NSW Government official logo 2

Together with the NSW Government, Community Housing Industry Association (CHIA) NSW is providing training and jobs in the Community Housing Industry through our Cadetship Program. Cadets study the Certificate IV in Housing and have 12 months paid employment with a Community Housing Provider.

Contact our Cadetship team

Contact us