Homelessness must be brief, rare, and non-recurring – where everyone can access the support they need for a safe and long-term home, Rebecca Vassarotti, ACT Minister for Homelessness and Housing Services believes.
She intends to achieve just that in the ACT, and is developing policies to target systemic issues and social determinants to end homelessness for good.
“In one of the most affluent cities in one of the most affluent countries of the world, we all have a responsibility to do all we can to eliminate homelessness in this city,” she said recently, at an event marking 21 years of the Vinnies Night Patrol.
In 2020–21, more than 4,000 people accessed homelessness services in the ACT, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (This year’s figures are not yet available.)
As of July, there were 79 confirmed rough sleepers in the ACT: living on the streets, sleeping in parks, squatting, staying in cars or railway carriages or living in improvised dwellings. (This does not include those couch surfing, or living in temporary accommodation or overcrowded dwellings.)
Support for homeless people, Ms Vassarotti argues, must be “more than just a roof over their head, but a connection to service and community to overcome the challenges people face which drive them into homelessness”.
“The root causes of homelessness are incredibly varied, from a relationship breakdown to mental health challenges, alcohol and other drug dependencies, and fleeing domestic violence,” she said. “It is a complex field, and in the face of lockdowns and increasing cost of living, we are seeing demand on community services fluctuate with these additional pressures on people’s lives.”
The ACT Government is working with the homelessness sector (including ACT Shelter, ACTCOSS, and the Joint Pathways group) and people with lived experience of homelessness to target service gaps in the sector, Ms Vassarotti said.
The homelessness sector receives approximately $33 million per year, from both the Commonwealth and ACT Governments, to deliver crisis and frontline support. This consists of funding from both the Commonwealth Government (under the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement) and the ACT’s $18 million over this four-year term of government. The homelessness sector now receives an additional $13 million per year; in 2018, the ACT’s homelessness sector received $20 million per year.
This year’s ACT Budget provided an additional $1.879 million for specialist homelessness services, including continued support for programs that began during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as Argyle Housing’s Ainslie Lodge, Marymead CatholicCare’s Axial Housing program, and Woden Community Services’ OneLink.
- ACT Government funds community services (22 July)
- More funding for homelessness services (3 March)
“These services continue to provide accommodation and crisis support for Canberrans at the most acute end of homelessness,” Ms Vassarotti said. “They provide a safe place for people to sleep as they are supported into permanent housing.”
Argyle Housing provides year-round accommodation at its 18-bed facility, Ainslie Lodge (formerly Winter Lodge), to homeless or at-risk people. Residents can stay for seven days, and extend if there is no available exit point. As of 30 June, 224 men had been accommodated at the Ainslie Lodge since it began in May 2021.
Marymead CatholicCare delivers the Axial Housing program, a long-term accommodation service for rough sleepers. The program provides ongoing support and referral services, and moves people off the streets into permanent homes. As of 30 June, the program had accommodated 38 people. MacKillop House, CatholicCare’s accommodation service for homeless women, has supported and accommodated 99 women (some with children) since it began in June 2020.
Woden Community Services delivers OneLink, a central intake service for homelessness services and child, youth, and family services in the ACT. OneLink provides information and connections for support and accommodation services for homeless or at-risk Canberrans. It accommodated 256 people during 2021–22.
The government will also collect data on Canberra’s homeless people. Housing ACT, OneLink, and rough sleeper services (including Street to Home, Early Morning Centre, Ainslie Lodge, and CatholicCare’s Axial program) will pilot a co-ordinated data collection mechanism that identifies, records, and collects data about Canberrans sleeping rough. The number of rough sleepers in the ACT will be estimated at the end of each month so the government can better understand and respond to changes in demand.
“The ACT’s homelessness sector does an incredible job providing care and support for people facing homelessness,” Ms Vassarotti said. “I’d like to thank the whole sector for their dedication to create a better Canberra, where everyone has a home.”
The lack of affordable housing is one of the biggest causes of homelessness. The ACT Government has committed to develop 30,000 new dwellings over the next five years, including 600 affordable rental homes by 2025–26, growing the housing supply from 180,000 to 210,000 dwellings by 2027.
But Ms Vassarotti insists the Commonwealth must help.
“It’s not something we can solve alone, and we do need the Federal Government to pull their policy levers to create a market that recognises housing as a right, rather than a commodified asset. Negative gearing and low capital gains taxes encourage speculation and overinflate prices which locks out a significant portion of Canberrans from the housing market altogether. With rising cost of living, many Canberrans continue to be blocked out of the market, and face housing insecurity and stress for a place to call home.”
Housing is a central priority of the new Labor government, Alicia Payne MP recently wrote.
- Multi-pronged policy response to homelessness (27 August)
The $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund will build 20,000 social housing properties – 4,000 for women and children fleeing domestic and family violence and older women on low incomes at risk of homelessness. A further 10,000 affordable homes will be built for frontline workers. The government will establish a National Housing Supply and Affordability Council, to increase housing supply and improve housing affordability. The Help to Buy scheme will cut the cost of buying a home by up to 40 per cent, meaning 10,000 Australians can buy their own homes sooner. A National Housing and Homelessness Plan will set out the short-, medium-, and longer-term reforms needed to make it easier for all Australians to have a home, Ms Payne said.
