An overview of the Road Home white paper for the sector.
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1.
The Road Home
A National Approach to Reducing Homelessness
March 2009
2. Structure of Presentation
White Paper on Homelessness: what it says
Background on new environment in Commonwealth / State
relations
Implementing the White Paper, what states will do, what the
Commonwealth will do
Questions and Answers
3. The White Paper - The Road Home
In Australia, no one should be homeless
Reducing homelessness is everyones responsibility
Need to take action now
Once in a generation opportunity to reduce homelessness.
4. Context Census 2001 to 2006 Homelessness up to 105,000 Older
people up 23 % Children up 22% Families up 11 % Rough sleepers 16 %
Youth down 16 %
5.
Short term factors impacting on Homelessness are:
Demographic shifts
Rising unemployment
Economic outlook
Building of over 20,000 new affordable housing
Lag time in delivering national reforms.
Short term context
6. Pathways to homelessness
Financial stress, housing crisis and poverty
Family breakdown, particularly driven by domestic violence
Poorly managed life transitions, particularly from child
protection system, prison, or mental health care services
Untreated mental health and/or substance abuse issues leading
to loss of housing, education, employment, family and other
relationships.
7. Vision
An Australia where fewer people are homeless and where people
who do become homeless are helped to find permanent accommodation
and the support they need to stabilise their lives.
8. Vision
Homelessness is everyones responsibility .
Need sustained long-term effort by all levels of government,
business and not-for-profit sector
Need tailored measures for different groups children, older
people, Indigenous, etc
Significant role for mainstream services
Fewer become homeless and those who do get help quickly.
9. Overall Goals by 2020
Halve overall homelessness
provide supported accommodation to all rough sleepers who seek
it.
10. Intergovernmental Agreement
Intergovernmental Agreement
National Affordable Housing Agreement (NAHA) Education Health
Indigenous Reform
11. Intergovernmental Agreement National Partnership on Remote
Indigenous Housing $1.9b/10yrs + For further information visit:
www.coag.gov.au A Place to Call Home $300m/5yrs National Affordable
Housing Agreement $6.2b/5yrs Former SAAP services, crisis
accommodation and the Commonwealth State Housing Agreement National
Partnership on Social Housing $400m/2yrs National Partnership on
Homelessness $800m/4 yrs Nation Building and Jobs Plan Social
Housing: $6b for New Construction/3.5years $400m for Repair and
Maintenance/2yrs
12. COAG Reform Council
Transparent Reporting
Schedule C of Intergovernmental Agreement
Our independent data agencies
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)
Australian Institute of Housing and Welfare (AIHW)
Performance indicators stipulated in each National
Partnership
13. Interim Targets by 2013
Reduce homelessness by 20 per cent
Reduce primary homelessness by 25 per cent
Reduce people repeating seeking specialist homelessness
services by 25 per cent.
14. Core Outputs
Implementation of the A Place to Call Home initiative;
Street to home initiatives for chronic homeless people (rough
sleepers);
Support for private and public tenants to help sustain their
tenancies, including through tenancy support, advocacy, case
management, financial counselling and referral services; and
Assistance for people leaving child protection services,
correctional and health facilities, to access and maintain stable,
affordable housing - no exits into homelessness
15. Additional Outputs
Support services and accommodation to assist older people who
are homeless or at risk of homelessness;
Services to assist people who are homeless with substance
abuse, to secure or maintain stable accommodation;
Services to assist people who are homeless with mental health
issues to secure or maintain stable accommodation;
Support to assist young people to secure or maintain
sustainable accommodation and to re-engage with family, school and
work;
Improvements in service coordination and provision;
16. Additional Outputs
Support for women and children experiencing domestic and family
violence to stay safely in their home;
Assistance for people who are homeless, including families with
children, to stabilise their situation and achieve sustainable
housing;
Outreach programs to connect rough sleepers to long-term
housing and health services;
National, State and rural (inc. remote) homelessness action
plans to assist people who are homeless in areas identified as
having high rates of homelessness
17.
Support for children who are homeless or at risk of
homelessness including to maintain contact with the education
system;
Legal services provided to people who are homeless or at risk
of homelessness as a result of legal issues including family
violence, tenancy or debt; and
Workforce development and career progression for workers in
homelessness services
Additional Outputs
18. Key Strategies to 2020
Key strategies to focus government effort and investment:
Turning off the Tap : intervene early to stop people becoming
homeless
Improving and expanding services : to ensure quality
services
Breaking the cycle : addressing the causes and quickly moving
people from the crisis system with the support.
19. Turning off the tap
Homelessness can be prevented
Prevention and early intervention are the most effective and
efficient ways
Specific responses are required for different groups.
20. Turning off the tap first steps
Commonwealth
Over 20,000 public houses will built
Deliver additional community based mental health services
Increased Centrelink services
Automatic rent payments from Centrelink benefits
Regulate tenancy databases and review tenancy laws
Implement the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women
and their Children and the National Child Protection
Framework.
21. Improving and expanding services
Commonwealth
Improve collaboration between specialist and mainstream
services
Review relationship between Centrelink and employment
services
Develop quality standards and service charters
Commonwealth may introduce flexible funding for services
Shift service focus to outcomes: stable long-term housing, jobs
and training
Improve service integration through better IT systems
Enact new legislation building on the existing SAAP Act
1994
Develop a national homelessness research agenda and
database.
22. Breaking the cycle first steps
Commonwealth
Increase affordable housing by over 20,000 houses
Build 50,000 more homes for low, moderate income earners
(National Rental Affordability Scheme)
Provide 90 Centrelink Community Engagement Officers
Conduct pilots to co-locate housing services in Centrelink
Reform employment services to help job seekers who are
homeless
Provide more aged care places and support for older people who
are homeless
Increase legal services and voting and civic participation
23. Breaking the cycle Joint first steps
Commonwealth and state and territory need to provide long term
support - more specialist supported accommodation
Up to 2,700 more homes for homeless or supported accommodation
(APTCH and Social Housing)
Up to 4,200 new houses, upgrade 4,800 existing houses in remote
Indigenous communities.
24. White Paper Implementation
Changed Commonwealth-State financial relations through National
Agreements on Homelessness, Social Housing, Remote Indigenous
Housing
State and territory governments responsible for service
delivery and implementing the 50 identified actions in the White
Paper
States to have more flexibility to spend funds on initiatives
to suit their individual jurisdictions
Commonwealth to work in close partnership with states on their
Implementation Plans for the new Agreements and closely monitor
their performance.
25. White Paper Governance
Prime Ministers Council on Homelessness to drive reforms
Establishment of Bea Miles Foundation to partner business
Agreed Implementation Plans with States and Territories based
on outputs and performance
COAG Reform Council to analyse and report annually
Ministerial Councils responsible for implementation
State / territory regional and local plans and coordination
committees
New legislation with accreditation to ensure quality services
and support.