Page 2367 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 5 August 2015
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I thank Ms Lawder for bringing this motion forward today. This week I was pleased to launch Homelessness Australia’s Homelessness Prevention Week here in the Assembly. Homelessness Prevention Week is an annual nationwide campaign to encourage people to step up, take action and prevent and end homelessness in Australia. Ms Lawder and I participated in a forum, step up to end youth homelessness, where we heard from a number of remarkable speakers who talked about their experiences in coping with homelessness or helping others in that situation. We also heard from a couple of the many community organisations stepping up to help end homelessness in our city. All of these speakers reminded us of not only the huge personal cost of homelessness to the individuals experiencing it but also the wider social and economic costs to society from people who are unable to live their lives to the fullest and contribute to their full potential.
Homelessness is not just about not having a roof over your head; a person is defined as experiencing homelessness by the Australian Bureau of Statistics if their housing does not meet a minimum community standard. Specifically, a person is defined as homeless if they do not have suitable accommodation alternatives and their current living arrangement (a) is in a dwelling that is inadequate, (b) has no tenure or initial tenure is short and not extendable or (c) does not allow them to have control of and access to space for social relations.
On census night every five years, the number of homeless people is estimated by counting the numbers of people in six different forms of temporary or inadequate housing. On census night in 2011, 1,758 people in the ACT were counted as being homeless. The majority of these people were in homeless accommodation—1,105 people—but 280 were living in severely crowded dwellings, 316 were staying temporarily with other households, 55 were staying in boarding houses or other temporary lodgings and 29 were sleeping rough in cars, in tents or on the streets.
As you would note from these figures, Madam Deputy Speaker, the largest group of homeless people in the ACT are being supported by specialist homelessness services. The ACT government, with commonwealth contributions, is providing $20 million each year to 29 services to run 47 specialist programs. These services are doing a great job in supporting people who are presenting with complex needs and are in unstable housing situations.
The ACT is a caring community. We provide the highest level of funding per person to homelessness services of any jurisdiction in the country. The ACT spends an average of $57.63 per person on homelessness services. This is the highest level of funding in the country. The national average is $26.55 per person. The specialist homelessness programs provide a range of assistance, from free food services to crisis accommodation as well as support for people to maintain their tenancies so they do not become homeless in the first place. All groups are assisted, with programs for young people, women, men, families, people exiting correction services and those sleeping rough.
Access to services is managed by First Point, the ACT’s centralised intake service. Importantly, those with the highest needs get priority access. Those who cannot be helped immediately remain on the list to allow First Point to follow up with them until their specific need has been fully addressed.
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