Charitable Reuse Conference – Sydney 2025
The 2025 Charitable Reuse Conference will be held at the award-winning UTS Aerial Function Centre in Sydney on 13-14 October 2025. Located a 5-minute walk from Central Station, with stunning city skyline and Darling Harbour views, the venue is the perfect setting for a very special and celebratory ‘Once in a Century’ event.
Our conference theme for 2025 is ‘100 Years of Op Shops’ where we will bring the entire reuse sector together to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the uniquely Australian term ‘Op Shop’ that was first coined in 1925 by Melbourne show girl, Lady Millie Tallis (friend of Charlie Chaplin). Millie wanted to give charity stores or thrift shops a more dignified name, so she coined the term ‘opportunity shop’.
The celebrations will be inclusive and expansive as we bring everyone together with this opportunity to acknowledge, scale and accelerate the power of reuse and the charitable second-hand economy. Some of our members have already been operating for well over 100 years, while others don’t identify as op shops but as non-profit social enterprises. Our partners include commercial suppliers, and our stakeholders include governments and councils and academia and more.
We invite All of You to convene together at the Charitable Reuse Conference in Sydney on 13-14 October 2025 for this Once in a Century event.
This really is a wonderful opportunity for all of us to be at the same place at the same time, discussing the future of our sector – and what it holds for all of us.
In addition to the main conference plenary, we’re bringing back last year’s successful launch of the Shop Manager Breakout Session, which was so popular, delegates began renaming it the Shop Manager Break-in Session! The two will run concurrently.
In addition to the main conference plenary, we’re bringing back last year’s successful launch of the Shop Manager Breakout Session, which was so popular, delegates began renaming it the Shop Manager Break-in Session! The two will run concurrently.
- Conference Plenary: All the future strategies around charitable retail, reuse and resource management packed into 2-days of inspiring, elevating thought-provoking strategies delivered by a highly curated group of the very best speakers and panelists. The Pre-Registration rates are available now, so book all your leaders into the Conference Plenary now at the best discount rates before they expire. The Conference tickets include access to ‘break-in’ to the Shop Manager sessions anytime.
- Shop Manager Break-In: A separate 1-day bespoke session offering specific, practical, operational and learning content for Shop Managers only, designed by members and delivered for members. Check out the attractive sliding scale rates that make it super-affordable to bring five, 10 or 20 of your shop managers for this Monday-only session. On Tuesday, they can all be back at their shops armed with new insights to drive sales and impact.
Make sure you also book the Conference Dinner on the Monday night for leaders and shop managers alike. And given the 100 Years of Op Shops theme, its going to be a celebratory dinner like you have not seen before. We’ll bring back the glitz and glamour that was 1925 – but don’t worry, we won’t make you dress up. Unless you want to. Either way, you’ll want to be at this dinner.
Registration is now open, so make sure you join your peers and all the leaders of the charitable reuse sector in Sydney on 13-14 October 2025 … this Once in a Century event.
