Page 3106 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 9 November 2021
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Lodge for men, MacKillop House for women and accompanying children, the Axial Housing First program, and the OneLink accommodation and support fund, to make sure that there is continued support for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.
This year we have also continued to work on expanding and providing a wide range of permanent supportive accommodation solutions for those who need it. These include the Wellbeing houses. Housing ACT continues to partner with Canberra Health Services and work with the National Disability Insurance Scheme services such as the Mental Health Foundation to provide psychosocial care and support for individuals within Wellbeing properties.
Axial Housing, in addition to providing a housing-first approach for those experiencing chronic homelessness requiring urgent assistance and unable to sustain a tenancy on their own, also provides a pathway for permanent support housing. In the 2020-21 budget a further $257,700 over two years was allocated to expand the Axial pilot. As at 30 May 2021, this program had successfully housed a total of 33 rough sleepers, including some entrenched rough sleepers who had previously been unwilling to engage. Axial Housing continues to support more people.
Work has continued to deliver Common Ground Dickson to provide stable and supportive housing for people who need it. The identified cohort for Common Ground Dickson includes single older women, women with children and single younger women. Construction is progressing well and is on track to be completed in 2022.
We have also continued to work closely with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body to deliver the third older persons complex, which should be completed by the end of 2021, as part of our continued commitment to provide culturally appropriate public and community housing accommodation options and support programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
We are continuing to prioritise young people, including young mothers and women and children escaping domestic and family violence, to provide assistance early to minimise the intergenerational impacts of experiencing homelessness. An additional $189,000 has been allocated to key service providers Doris, Beryl and Toora to facilitate their continued delivery of services to women and children impacted by domestic and family violence. Karinya House has also received $84,000 to support young pregnant women and mothers at risk of homelessness.
Housing ACT has continued to deliver the Safer Families Assistance program. In 2020 and 2021 this initiative has supported women and children experiencing domestic and family violence and was allocated $385,000 over four years, with an additional $125,000 provided from the COVID stimulus funding, totalling $510,000 over four years. The program makes sure that over the medium and long term families are being supported and early intervention for vulnerable households is being achieved, which reduces the overall costs to the homelessness and crisis sector.
In terms of our growth and renewal of public housing commitments, Housing ACT is continuing to deliver new and renewed public housing across Canberra, aiming to
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