Page 639 - Week 03 - Thursday, 15 March 2007
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leave their homes because of domestic violence. We are working with a model of social inclusion, where we build on the strengths of individuals, rather than ministering to their weaknesses.
One of the key strengths of the implementation of the strategy is that it has been driven by a joint governance model between government and the community sector. During the reporting period, the homelessness committee consisted of members of the Australian government, ACT government agencies and the community, through various peak bodies and frontline homelessness services. Members represented young people, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community, older people and the SAAP sector. Other member and peak organisations include ACTCOSS, ACT Shelter, the ACT Churches Council and the Youth Coalition of the ACT.
To date community organisations have contributed enormously to the development and implementation of the strategy. Their involvement in various working groups and willingness to embrace new ways of working to reform the service system has enabled many achievements. For example, the women’s pathways project, which was convened specifically to explore issues around women’s homelessness, especially in relation to escaping domestic violence, consisted of a group of expert community sector members. The work of the women’s pathways project involved exploring ways into and out of homelessness and proposing changes to the current service system in order to improve the continuity of care for clients. The success of the women’s pathways project has been so great that pathways projects are being rolled out into the men’s, youth and families homelessness sectors.
The progress identified in the report is progress borne from a shared commitment to responding to homelessness. During the second year of the strategy the government concluded negotiation of the SAAP V agreement, which sees the commitment by the Stanhope government of $27.46 million over the five years from 2005 to 2010. In addition, during the second year of the strategy this government committed an extra $3.89 million over and above its SAAP V contribution to homelessness services.
The nine new services funded through this initiative have already established themselves in the community sector. They include accommodation for 20 single men, five of whom are exiting or involved in the criminal justice system; supported accommodation for six single men and their children; supported accommodation for 18 families in the Gungahlin, west Belconnen and Tuggeranong regions; outreach services for single women, young people and men, with or without children; and recurrent funding of the Canberra Emergency Accommodation Service, which brokers emergency accommodation in a range of pre-leased sites.
The community inclusion fund has provided additional funding for support and services for homeless people. These include the Early Morning Centre, which provides free breakfast and a drop-in centre for people who are homeless; an outreach worker for Karinya House to provide support to young women with babies who are transitioning from their supported accommodation service; and a support worker to assist vendors of the Big Issue, a street magazine sold by people who are homeless or otherwise disadvantaged.
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