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.

26. Questions?