Page 2659 - Week 09 - Wednesday, 7 August 2013
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Gungahlin Community Council, has commenced on the Common Ground project and will continue until its completion. Indeed, as the motion notes, support from the local community is an integral part of the success of the model.
Common Ground has been successful in other states and territories and overseas. Common Ground Canberra and this project have been informed by the lessons learnt from Common Ground developments in Sydney, Hobart, Melbourne and Brisbane. For members who are unaware, Common Ground in Australia is an idea borrowed from the United States. It was started by Rosanne Haggerty in 1990 after building an alliance between government, businesses and philanthropists to convert the rundown drug den of New York’s Times Square Hotel into an attractive and affordable housing project.
From its inception the idea was to provide secure accommodation to people on low incomes as well as to the homeless and to provide support services to increase the chances that residents would be able to make a success of their tenancies. Since then, Common Ground has created 3,200 units of housing in the north-east of the United States, assisting more than 5,000 people to find a secure place to live.
The Common Ground philosophy is an example of housing first or home first, and that is the approach to homelessness that aims to facilitate immediate entry into permanent accommodation. This means the first aim is to get stable housing for people experiencing homelessness. Homeless people often present with a multiple and complex problem scenario. A more conventional view is to treat addiction or mental health issues before trying to move people into secure tenancies. A housing-first approach is based on a belief that a homeless person’s mental illness or addiction can only be successfully dealt with after his or her housing has been stabilised. Evidence from around the world and Australia is that this approach works well for most residents.
It is exciting that the ACT government has committed to and supplied the funding for such an innovative model here in Canberra. As I stated, this is not just a government initiative but one that has support from business and community groups. Common Ground has strong support from members of the Common Ground Canberra group, comprised of businesses and community sector leaders in the ACT. The group has been very successful in gathering wide support from the Canberra community and has secured a number of pledges and donations. I salute its outstanding efforts in getting Common Ground onto the radar of Canberrans.
I would also like to draw the Assembly’s attention to another new housing model here in the ACT, which, like Common Ground, has also operated successfully overseas. The Getting a Life Intentional Community Cooperative supports young people with a disability and provides additional public housing in the ACT. It has been established to provide an innovative and supportive environment comprising an intentional community, or neighbourhood of friends, made up of specially selected ACT Housing tenants.
It was a fantastic privilege for me to attend the opening of the intentional community program. I was at the launch, and just before the official proceedings began with Her
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