Page 717 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 5 July 1989
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crisis and medium-term supported accommodation for women and their children in times of crisis.
Existing services for young people include: a crisis accommodation and support service for young people who are homeless, as well as a medium-term accommodation service, both operated by the Canberra Youth Refuge Association; the Lions and Salvation Army Youth Centre, which provides temporary and emergency accommodation, welfare counselling and personal support for young people in crisis; and Thomas Cahill Cottage, which provides a drop-in centre and counselling service to young people who have personal or social problems.
There is a third group of services funded under SAAP. Ainslie Village is the largest SAAP-funded service in the ACT and operates as a low-cost accommodation centre for unemployed people. The village accommodates approximately 250 homeless people. The ages of the residents range from 16 to 80 years, with approximately a quarter being under 25 years. Members may recall that recently there were new units opened by my colleague from the Federal Parliament at the Ainslie Village to house homeless and unemployed people. Cura Casa and Cura Casa annexe provide supported accommodation and related support services to assist single people and couples, with or without children. The Blue Door drop-in centre, which is run by the Society of St Vincent de Paul, is a meeting and activities place for residents of Ainslie Village. It also offers counselling and advice services. Finally, there is the migrant housing worker, sponsored by the Migrant Resource Centre, which was funded in 1989-90 as a pilot project. The aim of this project is to ensure that people of non-English speaking backgrounds, who are homeless as a result of crisis have access to supported accommodation and related support services.
All the services funded under SAAP are part of a broad range of services available to assist people in need in this community. In the past three years SAAP has become an efficient and effective means of tackling the needs of homeless people in crisis. I have indicated to this Assembly already that my priority is to ensure we are delivering services not only efficiently and effectively but in the best possible interests of our clients. I have also indicated my commitment to ensuring our services operate in a constructive and productive way. The new SAAP agreement is part of this process. It will form the framework for the future directions of the supported accommodation assistance program. I am confident that, with the new agreement, SAAP will enter a new phase where it will be even more responsive and attuned to the needs of homeless people in crisis in the ACT. I present the following paper:
Supported Accommodation Assistance Program -
Ministerial statement, 5 July 1989
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