Ammended FWP
- 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 everyone’s 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 1. Financial stress, housing crisis and poverty 2. Family breakdown, particularly driven by domestic violence 3. Poorly managed life transitions, particularly from child protection system, prison, or mental health care services 4. 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 everyone’s 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 Economic Stimulus Package 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 Health 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 a) Implementation of the A Place to Call Home initiative; b) Street to home initiatives for chronic homeless people (rough sleepers); c) Support for private and public tenants to help sustain their tenancies, including through tenancy support, advocacy, case management, financial counselling and referral services; and d) 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 a) Support services and accommodation to assist older people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness; b) Services to assist people who are homeless with substance abuse, to secure or maintain stable accommodation; c) Services to assist people who are homeless with mental health issues to secure or maintain stable accommodation; d) Support to assist young people to secure or maintain sustainable accommodation and to re-engage with family, school and work; e) Improvements in service coordination and provision;
- 16. Additional Outputs f) Support for women and children experiencing domestic and family violence to stay safely in their home; g) Assistance for people who are homeless, including families with children, to stabilise their situation and achieve sustainable housing; h) Outreach programs to connect rough sleepers to long-term housing and health services; i) 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. j) Support for children who are homeless or at risk of homelessness including to maintain contact with the education system; k) 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 l) 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. Turning off the tap – first steps States • Tenancy support including advocacy and financial counselling • Compulsory rent payments from Centrelink benefits • Regulate tenancy databases to review the impact of tenancy laws • No exits into homelessness • Prevention and early intervention services • Additional services for young people to remain connected with family where safe
- 22. Turning off the tap – first steps States • Brokerage funds and long term support to assist people with Mental Health and/or substance abuse issues • Additional support for women and their children who have experienced domestic violence to remain safely in their home
- 23. 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.
- 24. Improving and expanding services States • Improve collaboration between mainstream and specialist homelessness services • No wrong doors • Improve service integration through improved IT systems • Advanced practitioners in specialist homelessness services • Develop regional and local action plans
- 25. 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
- 26. Breaking the cycle – first steps States • Build more homes – National Rental Affordability Scheme – National Partnerships on Indigenous Housing and Social Housing – Nation Building and Economic Stimulus Package – A Place to Call Home
- 27. Breaking the cycle – first steps States • Brokerage funds to assist children to return home and school • Co-location of state and territory housing services in Centrelink Customer Service Centres • Improve legal services for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness
- 28. 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. • Develop a national homelessness research strategy • Pilot a data linkage study
- 29. Breaking the cycle – Joint first steps • Reform the National Data Collection process • An integrated information technology system • Develop an agreed national accreditation for funded specialist homelessness services • New legislation to ensure that people who are homeless receive quality services and adequate support • Case management and case planning to prevent people falling between the gaps
- 30. 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. • 50 identified actions in the White Paper to implement • 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.
- 31. White Paper – Governance • Prime Minister’s Council on Homelessness to drive reforms • Establishment of Bea Miles Foundation to partner business • Agreed Implementation Plans with States and Territories based on outcomes, 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.
- 32. Questions?
Editor's Notes
- #5: These figures show the increases in homelessness from Census 2001 to Census 2006. Homelessness has increased by 5 per cent, from 100,000 in 2001 to 105,000 in 2006. Older people aged 65 years and older has increased from 5,995 to 7,400. Children 12 years and under has increased from 9,941 to 7,483. The number of families who are homeless has risen from 6,750 to 7,483. The number of rough sleepers rose to 16,375 – making up 16 per cent of all people who were homeless on Census night 2006. The only homeless population group to experience a drop in homelessness was youth. Homeless youth aged 12 to 18 years dropped from 26,060 in 2001 to 21,940 in 2006.
- #9: Homelessness is everyone’s responsibility. To end homelessness, it will require sustained long-term effort from all levels of government, business, the not-for profit sector and the community. The Road Home tailors its response to the needs of particular groups within the homeless population, such as children, older people, young people and Indigenous Australians. Clear principles will guide the response to homelessness to ensure it is client-centred, respectful and effective.
- #10: The Australian Government, with the agreement of state and territory governments, has set two headline goals to guide our long term response to homelessness.
- #14: Interim targets will measure progress towards The Road Home goals. By 2013, the government aims to have less then 97,350 homeless Australians. The second target aims to have less then 12,300 people sleeping rough by 2013 The last target aims to have a 25 per cent reduction in service uses to 13,700 by 2013.
- #16: e) e.g. Testing new case-mix funding models to reflect the costs of delivering services to clients with complex needs.
- #17: g) This includes early intervention services and financial counselling for families at risk
- #19: Under the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness and The Road Home, the response to homelessness will be implemented through three strategies: Turning off the tap: we need effective prevention and early intervention strategies to address both individual and structural causes of homelessness. 2. Improving and expanding services to ensure services become more connected, integrated and responsive to achieve sustainable housing, improve economic and social participation and end homelessness for their clients 3. Breaking the cycle of homelessness to help people get back on their feet by moving people who do become homeless quickly through the crisis system to stable housing with support they need so homelessness does not re-occur
- #20: Prevention best focussed on key transition points and life events Over the next 10 years, effort should be focused on delivering evidence-based prevention at scale across the country
- #21: First steps to be undertaken by the Commonwealth are: First steps for the states and territories are:
- #24: The Commonwealth will lead the effort of improved collaboration in the mainstream areas it funds or operates. For example, the Commonwealth will review the way Centrelink interacts with employment service providers and how they share information about people who are homeless or at risk. The Commonwealth and states and territories will also develop state and regional homelessness action plans to improve collaboration between mainstream and homelessness services. We will use homelessness action plans that have already been implemented in some states as good practice examples. Introduce cross-agency case assessments, case planning, service protocols between homelessness services and mainstream services. Commonwealth will consider flexible funding to regional services to bring the homelessness sector stakeholders together to deliver integrated service responses. The states and territories have agreed to a no exits into homelessness and no wrong door where any service will assist people to get the support they need to not be exited into homelessness. The Commonwealth will test whether outcome-based performance payments can improve housing outcomes for people who are homeless. States and territories will fund services that focus on outcomes such as long-term housing, employment, training, and social participation as this an effective method of reducing the risk of homelessness recurring. Both the Commonwealth and States and Territories need to address the issues within the homelessness service sector workforce. Issues such as high staff turnover, low remuneration, lack of career progression and casualisation of the workforce must be addressed to improve and expand services.
- #26: NRAS The Commonwealth will work with Centrelink to ensure that disadvantaged clients and clients who are homeless have enhanced access to Centrelink services. The Commonwealth will trial the placing of Housing department shopfronts in Centrelink centres. This will ensure that clients who require Centrelink and crisis assistance are also able to seek more stable and longer-term accommodation at the same time.
- #29: Under the NAHA, the Commonwealth and States and Territories will work to deliver specialist accommodation.
- #33: Does anyone have any Questions regarding the presentation on The Road Home?