Page 3679 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 21 November 2006
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management to ensure that individual needs and skills are addressed. This case management approach will maximise people’s chances of maintaining long-term tenancies and reduce the chances of a recurrence of homelessness.
The transitional housing program is a partnership between the Department of Disability, Housing and Community Services and the ACT homelessness service sector. It is based on the women and children’s domestic violence response trialled over the Christmas period of 2005-06—a collaborative project between the government and the women’s sector. The domestic violence response offered short-term supported accommodation to 27 women and 35 children in temporarily vacant public housing properties between 16 December 2005 and 24 January 2006. All were able to move through to alternative accommodation. Transitional housing programs can only remain transitional if there are no blockages to exiting them. The accommodation has to be able to be part of a pathway to more permanent long-term accommodation and this requires a systemic approach.
The successful trial contributed to the development of the women’s pathways group. This group began the mapping of the homelessness service system with a view to creating an integrated pathway from initial homelessness to independent living in the community. There are now pathways groups in the ACT looking at creating integrated service systems and pathways for homeless men, families and youth, as well as women. These groups are collaborating on prioritisation of how people are placed into the transitional housing program. The initial four properties in the transitional housing program will be used by the single men’s sector to trial a pathways project based on the women’s and children’s Christmas project. Further properties will be made available to families, women and young people as associated pathways projects are developed and implemented.
We need to break the cycle of homelessness. We need to encourage and assist people experiencing homelessness to move through crisis to independent living along a seamless pathway that addresses needs and offers support at every stage. This program is a practical and workable solution towards breaking the cycle of homelessness. Mr Speaker, I move:
That the Assembly takes note of the paper.
Question resolved in the affirmative.
Debate interrupted in accordance with standing order 74 and the resumption of the debate made an order of the day for a later hour.
Sitting suspended from 12.09 to 2.30 pm
Questions without notice
MR STEFANIAK: My question is to the Minister for Planning—
MR SPEAKER: You are in trouble; you will have to direct your question to somebody else.
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