A new approach to homelessness
Increasing homelessness is a source of national shame.
Every night 100,000 Australians, including 10,000 children under the age of 12, are homeless. Around half rely on the hospitality of friends, nearly a quarter bed down in boarding houses and caravan parks, and the rest rely on emergency accommodation or sleep rough under bridges, in cars or in parks.
It is difficult to believe that over the past decade, when national prosperity has soared, homelessness has increased. This should be a source of national shame—and a spur to action. Reductions in the rates of homelessness can be achieved, but not overnight.
The causes and consequences of homelessness are complex. Economic factors such as unemployment, limited housing supply and neighbourhood disadvantage sit alongside individual triggers such as family breakdown, drug addiction, domestic violence and mental illness.
For older people, homelessness often involves mental illness and poor health, for men, family breakdown, unemployment, and gambling. For women, homelessness often follows domestic violence, child abuse or sexual assault. For children, homelessness brings trauma, and affects school routines and friendships. Worse still, experiencing homelessness as a child makes adult homelessness more likely.
As a nation we have failed to address these issues. Our response to homelessness is not nationally coordinated or strategically focused. While there are excellent programs, many lack sufficient scale or coordination to adequately address the multiple causes and effects of homelessness.
The cost of homelessness to individuals and their families is large. The cost to society of our failure to reduce homelessness is even greater. While tackling homelessness involves additional investment, not tackling homelessness will only cost more.
The task of reducing homelessness will take some time. We have, however, a good understanding of homelessness and a unique opportunity to act. This means we are now better placed than ever before to succeed.
In January 2008 the Prime Minister, the Hon Kevin Rudd MP, and the Minister for Housing, the Hon Tanya Plibersek MP, announced the development of a comprehensive long-term plan to tackle homelessness as a matter of national priority.
The Prime Minister appointed a steering group to oversee this process:
- Tony Nicholson, Executive Director of the Brotherhood of St Laurence (Chair)
- Anna Buduls, company director and philanthropist
- Heather Nancarrow, Director of the Queensland Centre for Domestic and Family Violence Research.
A Green Paper and a White Paper
This Green Paper is the first step in developing a new approach to homelessness. It will be followed by a White Paper.
The Green Paper seeks to promote public discussion of homelessness, highlight the challenges faced by people who are homeless, and suggest ways forward. There will be public consultations to provide feedback on the issues raised in the paper and identify other important issues and possible strategies. People will be able to contribute at public meetings and provide written submissions.
A White Paper will then set out the Australian Government’s response to the Green Paper, including feedback from the consultation process. Expected to be released in September 2008 the White Paper will provide a national plan of action for the years leading up to 2020.
What should a new approach achieve?
The new approach will form an essential part of the Australian Government’s social inclusion agenda. It must demonstrate a practical commitment to social inclusion by bringing people who are homeless and people at risk of homelessness from the margins into the mainstream, and maximising their opportunities to participate in the work and life of the broader Australian community.
The new approach should be truly national. We need to focus more on prevention and early intervention strategies. Stable housing is essential and we need to improve outcomes in areas that protect against homelessness - like jobs, health, financial management and family safety.
For the best results, we need all levels of government and service providers to commit to a joint effort and integrate their policy and program approaches. Without a joint effort, which combines responses to homelessness with wider social support services, individuals will continue to fall through the cracks. As well, we must harness the contributions and efforts of the business sector. We can only solve this problem if the whole community is involved.
Goals and targets to drive our efforts
Other countries that have made a real impact on homelessness have signed up to clear ‘headline’ goals. A goal should be ambitious but achievable: a goal should drive a focus on what must be achieved.
To achieve an ambitious goal, we will need to collectively rethink how current homelessness-specific and mainstream policies and programs operate, how they can work together more effectively, and what new initiatives are needed.
It would be useful to agree on a number of targets that focus on prevention and improving outcomes. We must also measure our success and be accountable.
It is clear that our targets must focus on both stable housing and better results in areas that protect - like jobs, health, financial management and safety.
This paper suggests some targets as well as a range of possible reform initiatives that go beyond providing shelter. It recognises the complex factors that impact on homelessness and the range of services that need to collaborate to reduce it.
Green Paper overview
The development of this Green Paper was overseen by the Steering Group who held preliminary consultations with leaders and experts from the not-for-profit, academic and business sectors. The paper aims to lay the groundwork for public debate, propose several options for reform, and encourage further thinking.
Section One summarises what we know about the experience and common causes of homelessness. It identifies structural drivers and critical life events that can tip people from enjoying a social or economic attachment to their communities into the crisis and instability of homelessness.
Section Two provides an overview of current responses to homelessness, including their strengths and limitations. It outlines the way in which governments work with the not-for-profit and business sectors to deliver services to those at risk of or experiencing homelessness. It also analyses the efforts of homeless-specific services and mainstream services to deliver long-term outcomes for homeless people.
Section Three focuses on some of the more innovative programs that are working well to prevent and address homelessness, either in a locality or with a particular group. It also set out the lessons that can be drawn on to guide our new approach.
Section Four presents proposals for future directions. These include 10 core principles that should underpin a new national approach and action plan, and ideas for change that could help us meet the challenge. Along with specific reform proposals, this section aims to begin the dialogue about goals and targets we should set in order to drive our efforts. It also discusses how we should measure our progress over the life of the action plan.
Section Five outlines the public consultation process that is designed to collect responses to ideas presented in this Green Paper. It extends an invitation to interested organisations and individuals—people who have experienced homelessness, service providers, the business sector, academics, and the broad community—to share their views on specific reforms, goals and targets proposed in this paper, as well as suggest other ideas that could be effective.