Twelve months ago the Australian Government released its White Paper on Homelessness: The Road Home.
Over the last twelve months, all levels of Government have been working to build more affordable homes, establish new services and achieve better results for people who are homeless.
This document outlines some of the achievements from the last year including case studies from individuals that have been helped by the new reforms.
The Road Home, the National Affordable Housing Agreement and the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness outline the process for formal reporting on our progress in reducing homelessness.
Strategies
The Australian Government is using three strategies to guide our work to reduce homelessness:
- Turning off the Tap: preventing homelessness, wherever possible, through early intervention and prevention services.
- Improving and expanding services: improving service quality and building better connections between services so clients who are vulnerable to homelessness achieve sustainable housing and improved economic and social participation.
- Breaking the cycle: ensuring that people who become homeless move quickly through the crisis system to stable housing with the support they need so that homelessness does not recur.
Every time we house a person who is homeless or at risk of homelessness, help them to find a job or reconnect them to school, we are working to end homelessness.
This document sets out the achievements over the first year of the White Paper on homelessness.
[ top ]
Reducing Homelessness - a Government Priority
December 2008:
- Release of The White Paper on Homelessness: The Road Home.
January 2009
- Allocation of $3 million aged care capital funding to Wintringham for Eunice Sneddon Aged Care Home in Dandenong in Victoria providing accommodation and care for 60 frail aged homeless people.
February 2009:
- Announcement of the Nation Building Economic Stimulus Plan - an investment of $5.6 billion to build more than 19,300 homes and repair and upgrade a further 70,000 existing social housing dwellings.
March 2009:
- First dwellings under the National Partnership Agreement on Social Housing were two moveable units that were completed and tenanted in Flowerdale, Victoria.
May 2009:
- Completion of the first house built under the Nation Building Economic Stimulus Plan.
June-August 2009:
- Allocation of $16 million aged care capital funding to Mission Australia in New South Wales for residential aged care beds for 72 frail aged homeless people.
- Australian and State and Territory Governments agree to Homelessness Implementation Plans under the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness: from 1 July 2009, funding of $1.1 billion to States and Territories for new initiatives to reduce homelessness begins.
- 65 dwellings purchased/constructed under A Place to Call Home initiative.
July 2009:
- $6 million additional funding for Community Legal Centres to assist homeless person legal clinics in ACT and Victoria and assist victims of domestic and family violence.
- Funding boost to 700 non-profit organisations to deliver emergency financial assistance to families in crisis - $12m for 50 new financial counselling services to help families in mortgage and rental stress and an 80 per cent increase or $55m increase to Emergency Relief providers who help provide very basic support to the most vulnerable people.
August 2009:
- First meeting of the Prime Minister’s Council on Homelessness.
- From 1 July 2009 the Government will be providing $41 million over three years for Innovation Fund projects.
- 1st Round Innovation Fund delivers $20.4 million for 33 projects of which four projects are targeted to assist people who are homeless or are at risk of homelessness.
- 2nd Round Innovation Fund delivers $6.1 million for 14 projects.
September 2009:
- Allocation of incentives under the National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS) reaches 10,000. NRAS properties are rented at least 20 per cent below the rental market to low to moderate income households.
- Announcement of Jobs Fund Australia projects: part of the Australian Government’s Jobs and Training Compact, Jobs Fund projects support families and communities most affected by the Global Economic Recession. Nine projects that have been funded that may assist people who are homeless or are at risk of homelessness.
- The number of National Partnership Agreement of Social Housing dwellings built/purchased and under construction was 1,181 at 30 September 2009. This includes 137 dwellings where construction has been completed and 248 spot purchases that have been finalised.
October 2009:
- Establishment of 90 Centrelink Community Engagement Officers, located across all capital cities and many regional centres, to offer active outreach to some of the most vulnerable people in our community.
November 2009:
- National Homelessness Research Agenda (2009-13) - $11.4 million in funding for homelessness research to improve the evidence base for preventing and responding to homelessness.
December 2009:
- Completion of 87 homes under the A Place to Call Home initiative.
- Completion of 275 new homes and commencement of a further 3787 homes under Nation Building Economic Stimulus Plan.
- Construction activity is underway on 300 new houses and refurbishment of 1000 existing houses to be completed by June 2010 under the National Partnership Agreement on Remote Indigenous Housing.