Community support services will be funded with long-term agreements that take an outcomes-focused approach to end homelessness, under the ACT Government’s Strategic Investment Plan for the Homelessness Sector released this week. It marks, the responsible ministers say, a milestone in a new approach to designing and funding homelessness services.
Rebecca Vassarotti, ACT Minister for Homelessness, said the Government will trust and support the sector to create a response system that is more flexible, responsive, and culturally appropriate to new and emerging needs.
“This plan places trust back into the sector and community to tell us what needs to happen to make homelessness in Canberra rare, brief, and non-recurring,” Ms Vassarotti said. “It builds on our learnings and successes that came out of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Homelessness can be solved. It will take time, but through genuine commitment and co-design with those on the frontline of support and those who have lived experience, we will fund initiatives that will truly address the complexity of homelessness.”
The plan sets out how and where the government will invest in homelessness service delivery, to “ensure that the right services are available for those who need them, when they need them”.
Its publication follows a six-month commissioning process: 19 workshops, five deep dive discussions, and conversations with homelessness service users from January to June. It also includes the recent evaluation report of the Central Intake Service (OneLink) for those facing homelessness.
“The process to date has provided key insights around the whole system design, as well as how to best deliver central planks such as the central intake service,” Ms Vassarotti said. “However, it is also clear that there is more co-design work to be done. The OneLink report highlights key areas for further expansion of the service, which will be explored through the commissioning process through the sector, to further develop and deliver the best possible service in our homelessness landscape.”
Dr Emma Campbell, CEO of the ACT Council of Social Service (ACTCOSS), said: “The community sector has been working cooperatively with the ACT Government through this reform process to make sure that it achieves the desired outcomes – i.e., sufficient and appropriate homelessness services to meet demand and to ensure that no Canberran is left without a safe roof over their head.”
She noted that there are gaps in services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people experiencing homelessness who have children, young people, people with disability, and members of the LGBTIQA+ community.
“If we are serious about ending homelessness, we need to fix the source of the problem – the ACT’s housing crisis,” Dr Campbell said. “This requires significant investment in social and affordable housing including empowering our community housing sector to deliver more homes. We also need to see the rate of income support increased so that people can afford to keep a roof over their heads.”
Yvette Berry, ACT Minister for Housing and Suburban Development, said that the plan is an important tool in delivering Goal 2 of the ACT Housing Strategy to reduce homelessness.
“Reducing homelessness is more than about putting a roof over someone’s head,” Ms Berry said. “This investment plan will provide the opportunity to work closely with the sector and develop solutions that support the most vulnerable in our community to transition into stable, permanent accommodation.”
- Common Ground Dickson opens, Berry pleads for acceptance (7 October)
- Multi-pronged policy response to homelessness (27 August)
- ACT urged to recognise link between homelessness, mental health (7 August)
- More funding for homelessness services (3 March)
Under the Parliamentary and Governing Agreement, the Government will invest a further $18 million over four years to expand the capacity of specialist homelessness services. This funding enables these initiatives to continue or be expanded to 30 June 2023. This approach will provide time to undertake the co-design process so the government can fund services that will better address homelessness in the ACT.
Announcing the plan last year, the government stated that Canberra’s homelessness support services had adapted and responded to emerging needs and growing demand in recent times with bushfires, the COVID-19 pandemic, and a rise in domestic violence awareness. “We have done well under existing arrangements, yet we appreciate the gaps in service delivery as 1500 to 2000 Canberrans seek homelessness support services each month.”
