Page 1149 - Week 03 - Thursday, 18 March 2010
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There is a continuum of housing. At one end it starts with imminent homelessness and goes into homelessness. Mr Coe is absolutely right: sticking a set of bricks and mortar together is not the solution. You have got to go to the real cause of it all. As I was saying to the minister not long ago, homelessness is not houselessness. Homelessness is as much a state of mind as it is a state of circumstance. We need to understand that. Failure to understand it will mean a failure in public policy.
Public housing plays a vital role in supporting an efficient and effective service system where people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness can transition from crisis accommodation to public housing where this is the most appropriate exit point. Mr Coe says that people do not want to be in public housing if they can help it. Wrong. There are people who live in multi-unit complexes who might not want to be there, and I agree with that, but let me tell you that there are people in stand-alone public housing properties who absolutely adore their properties and do not want to go anywhere. So let us be correct about our assumptions on this.
Over the past few years, the community’s views on the future direction of ACT Housing’s social and housing system have been more widely canvassed than ever before.
In June 2006 the government introduced a package of reforms to sharpen the focus of the public rental housing assistance program for those in the ACT community most in need of housing assistance. These reforms included a raft of measures to target assistance more clearly to those people most in need. The priority needs system was completely overhauled and now targets people who have a range of complex needs.
Part of the reform to the priority system was to clearly position Housing ACT as the post-crisis response. The concurrent reform within homelessness services, then known as the SAAP sector, realigned it as the crisis and transitional response to homelessness. This reform ensured that homeless people can access support services at every stage of their transition to independence.
A strong feature of the new system was the introduction of a multidisciplinary panel to assess applications on a comparative needs basis. The panel draws its expertise through a diverse representation that includes representatives from across government and community sectors, including homelessness agencies; mental health, drug and alcohol services; Disability ACT; Therapy ACT; child protection; and so on.
Through its cooperative and collaborative approach, the panel allows Housing ACT to bring to bear a great depth of expert opinion to assist in the categorisation of public housing applicants with high and complex needs. To date, 87½ per cent of applicants have been housed within three months. That is incredible. Three months! That is a fantastic achievement. It clearly shows that the system we put in place is actually working.
The transitional housing program utilises vacant Housing ACT stock to provide short-term accommodation for people exiting crisis accommodation. Properties are available for periods of three to six months to encourage clients to achieve their goal
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