Quality Frameworks for Homelessness and Related Services – Literature Review and Environmental Scan

3 Homelessness service provision - an overview

3.1 Introduction

In order to set the context for the potential development of a national service charter for mainstream and specialist homelessness services, this section provides a broad overview of the current scope of the homelessness service provision sector within Australia, across the states and territories. This overview encompasses services currently operating within what has until recently been the overarching government service provision and funding framework - the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) - and also outside of this, including charities, private sector services, and non-government organisations not currently funded through SAAP. It encompasses mainstream or non-accommodation-related support services, along with secondary and tertiary accommodation providers, including operators of boarding houses, hostels and caravan parks.

The social housing and community housing sectors - comprising a range of government and non-government organisations and private sector businesses - also play important roles in providing accommodation for homeless people who may have progressed through a continuum of service provision to longer-term accommodation, or for those at risk of homelessness who may be assisted through affordable housing provision.

The expansion of affordable and community housing provision is a key tenet of the government's present response to the growing problem of homelessness, since the lack of provision of affordable housing is recognised as a key cause of homelessness. One element of the strategy set out in the White Paper on Homelessness, for example, is the construction of up to 2,700 additional public and community housing dwellings for low-income households.¹³⁷ However these sectors are not considered in detail within this overview, since they are governed by a legislative and regulatory system and policy framework largely distinct from that applied to the service providers who are the primary focus of this report. The community housing sector is the subject of a separate case study which has been prepared as part of this report.

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3.2 The national policy framework for service provision

Recent announcements by the Commonwealth Government, coupled with recent economic events, have strengthened the focus on housing and homelessness as a key policy priority. This is evidenced by the suite of new policy developments introduced in the past 18 months.

In January 2008, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced the government's intention to make reducing homelessness a national priority and to include it in the government's long term plans for implementing its social inclusion agenda.

Shortly thereafter the government released a Green Paper on Homelessness, Which Way Home?¹³⁸ This stimulated discussion and debate on homelessness, resulting in more than 600 written submissions, 13 public consultations involving 1,200 people, as well as separate input from state and territory governments, people experiencing homelessness, service providers, peak bodies and academics.

The government's subsequent White Paper on Homelessness, The Road Home, and the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness are the most significant recent policy developments. These are discussed in greater detail in the section below. Other important initiatives include:

The National Affordable Housing Agreement (NAHA): Introduced on January 1^st 2009, this includes measures at the Commonwealth, state and local government levels that contribute to housing affordability.
The National Partnership Agreement on Social Housing: Commenced January 1^st 2009 this entails a commitment by Commonwealth and state and territory governments to a National Partnership (NP) on Social Housing. Under this NP the Commonwealth is providing $400 million over two years for capital investment for social housing. The states will increase the supply of social housing through the new construction of 1,600 to 2,100 additional dwellings by 2009-10.
A Place to Call Home: Commenced in July 2008, this provides $150 million over five years to states and territories to create 600 new homes for those who are homeless.
The National Rental Affordability Scheme: NRAS aims to stimulate the supply of up to 50,000 new affordable rental dwellings.
The Housing Affordability Fund: the HAF will invest up to $512 million over five years to lower the cost of building new homes.

In February 2009 the Commonwealth Government announced a $42 billion Nation Building and Jobs Plan designed to respond to the impacts of the global financial crisis. The economic stimulus package has taken steps to prevent an increase in homelessness by supporting employment and economic growth. Initiatives relate to household energy efficiency, school building construction, the creation of new social and defence homes, cash payments, business investment tax breaks, and community infrastructure projects. It is anticipated that stimulus initiatives will provide a boost of around 0.5% of GDP in 2008-09 and around 0.75-1% of GDP in 2009-10.

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3.2.1 White Paper on Homelessness: The Road Home

The White Paper on Homelessness, The Road Home, was launched in December 2008 and commits the Commonwealth Government to an additional $1.2 billion in funding to address homelessness, over four years. The White Paper outlines a plan for reducing homelessness in Australia by 2020, with specific goals to halve overall homelessness and to provide accommodation to all rough sleepers who seek it. One of the specific goals of the White Paper is 'implementing new legislation to ensure people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness receive quality services'.¹³⁹

The proposed response to homelessness will be implemented through three strategies: Turning off the tap (better prevention of homelessness), Improving and expanding services (to assist a greater number of homeless people), and Breaking the cycle of homelessness (by providing long-term housing and support).

The key interim targets for 2013 are:

Overall homelessness reduced by 20%.
Primary homelessness reduced by 25%.
The proportion of people seeking specialist homelessness services more than three times in 12 months reduced by 25%.

To track progress, the White Paper proposes that a number of interim targets for 2013 be developed with the states and territories, relating to:

engaging with employment, education and training;
people exiting care and custodial settings into homelessness;
families maintaining sustainable housing following domestic violence;
people exiting social housing and private rental accommodation into homelessness;
young people having improved housing stability and engagement with family, school and work;
children being provided with additional support and being engaged in education;
families receiving financial advice, counselling and/or case management; and
the provision of legal services.

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3.2.2 National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness

The National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness outlines how the Commonwealth and the states and territories will work together to reduce homelessness by 2013. The Agreement aims to contribute to the following outcomes:

Fewer people will become homeless and fewer of these will sleep rough.
Fewer people will become homeless more than once.
People at risk of or experiencing homelessness will maintain or improve connections with their families and communities, and maintain or improve their education, training or employment participation.
People at risk of or experiencing homelessness will be supported by quality services, with improved access to sustainable housing.

The Agreement proposes to improve service provision and coordination, engagement with education, legal services and workforce development and to connect outreach programs with long-term housing and health services. Action plans will focus on assistance in areas identified as having high rates of homelessness. Priorities are given to the demographic cohorts of older people, substance users, those with mental illness, young people, and women and children experiencing domestic violence.

The Agreement sets out national performance indicators and benchmarks for 2013, relating to:

reducing the overall number of homeless people;
reducing the number of Indigenous homeless people;
reducing the number of Australians sleeping rough;
reducing the number of people released from institutions into homelessness;
reducing the number of people moving from social and private rental housing to homelessness; and
reducing the number of presentations at emergency services.

The Homelessness National Partnership (NP) payment provides recurrent funding of $800 million over four years - $400 million of that being Commonwealth funding which will be matched by the states and territories. A breakdown of funding is outlined in Table 9 below.

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Table Description

Table 8 - National Partnership funding
Year	Commonwealth contributions	State and territory contributions
2009-10	$71.1 million	$ 75.0 million
2010-11	$ 102.5 million	$ 105.0 million
2011-12	$ 107.5 million	$ 110.0 million
2012-13	$ 107.5 million	$ 110.0 million
Commonwealth's own expenditure	$11.4 million

3.2.3 The Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP)

Prior to the introduction of the National Affordable Housing Agreement (NAHA) in January 2009 and the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness in July 2009, the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) was Australia's primary policy response to homelessness (established in 1985).¹⁴⁰ SAAP aimed to assist people who were homeless or at risk of becoming homeless to achieve the maximum possible degree of self-reliance and independence by providing transitional supported accommodation and a range of related support services.

An estimated 1,562 non-government, community and local government organisations were funded nationally under SAAP in 2007-08 to provide support and/or accommodation to people who were homeless or at risk of homelessness.¹⁴¹ SAAP-funded organisations ranged from small standalone agencies with single outlets, to larger bodies with multiple outlets. Each agency has been focused mainly on supporting a particular client group or combination of client groups.

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SAAP agencies operate through a case management approach to clients, in which either an individual worker or a team provides services and support for an individual client or service user. This approach is defined as follows:

'Case management within SAAP Services is a collaborative, client-focused approach. It is aimed at empowering and working with clients to effectively meet individual needs. It is a two pronged approach incorporating direct client service, based on sound assessment and support planning, and coordination of access to and delivery of, a range of other appropriate support services. The SAAP Worker operates within an agreed framework of principles, standards and ethics which enhance client choice and responsibility.'¹⁴²

SAAP was administered under five-year multi-lateral and bi-lateral agreements with the Australian Government, which provided recurrent funding for salaries and operating costs. The agreement which preceded the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness (NPAH), in operation from 2005 - 2010, was known as SAAP V. Its national priorities for dealing with homelessness were:

maintenance and enhancement of involvement in early intervention and prevention strategies;
provision of better assistance to people who have a number of support needs; and
provision of ongoing assistance to ensure stability for clients after they have experienced a crisis.

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), about half of the potential clients of SAAP were not able to be accommodated on any given night.¹⁴³ Despite innovative models for the delivery of SAAP resources, 'turn-away rates' had not declined in recent years.¹⁴⁴ On an average day SAAP providers around the country have been turning away up to 350 people seeking immediate accommodation - around a third of them children. In the majority of cases this has been due to a lack of availability.

In its 2007 assessment of demand for SAAP services the AIHW reported that 'SAAP agencies appear to be operating to capacity, with demand for SAAP accommodation unable to be completely met. IT also reported that 'some groups experience more difficulty than others in obtaining SAAP accommodation'¹⁴⁵ and that demand for supported accommodation was high, with less than 15% of the total population of homeless people able to be accommodated by SAAP resources on any given night.

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3.2.4 The Crisis Accommodation Program (CAP)

Also rendered obsolete by the new National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness was the Crisis Accommodation Program (CAP), which was introduced under the Commonwealth State Housing Agreement in 1985.¹⁴⁶ It aimed to provide appropriate, affordable and secure housing assistance for those who need it most, for the duration of their need.

The program primarily provided capital funding and grants to complement the recurrent funding for salaries and operating costs provided by SAAP (described above). CAP funding was allocated where an organisation had demonstrable capacity to manage additional clients, and funds were primarily directed towards tenancy management.

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3.3 Service provision for homeless people

The homelessness service provision sector is a complex and dynamic system which caters for the needs of a diverse client group of all ages, nationalities and levels of physical and mental health. Over their lifetime, this clientele may 'cycle through' different services - from crisis or transitional accommodation through to boarding houses and other secondary services, and back again. The system rarely operates as a neat continuum of service provision due to the nature of its clientele and of the service provision sector, as is discussed in Section 1 of this report, Homelessness in Australia.

As is pointed out in the government's White Paper on Homelessness:

'For some people, homelessness is an isolated event - it happens once and for a short time. For others, a small minority, homelessness is part of a chaotic and uncertain life of poverty and disadvantage. These people tend to cycle in and out of homelessness and when they do find housing, it tends to be short term.'¹⁴⁷

In recognising the complex structure of the accommodation and support services sector for homeless people and for those at risk, it is useful to apply the Australian Bureau of Statistics' (ABS) cultural definition of homelessness, which establishes a primary, secondary and tertiary classification of homelessness, based on research conducted by Chamberlain and MacKenzie¹⁴⁸ These definitions, along with their limitations, are outlined in Section 1 of this report.

Taking into account the difficulty of obtaining an accurate picture of the number of homeless people in Australia, it is estimated that on any given night there are approximately 104,700 people who fall into one of the abovementioned homeless classifications. A detailed profile of the homeless population within Australia is also provided in Section 1.

Figure 2 on page 57 illustrates the broad range or continuum of accommodation providers and support services relevant to the homelessness sector - from early intervention and crisis accommodation classified as secondary homeless services, through to longer-term forms of accommodation offered within the tertiary sector, through to more secure forms of accommodation offered within the social and community housing sectors.

These sectors are discussed below, noting that people or 'clients' may access one or a number of these services and accommodation sectors over any given time period.

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Early intervention

Government policy recognises the importance of early intervention for those at risk of homelessness, noting that homelessness can often be prevented. The White Paper on Homelessness explicitly states that 'prevention and early intervention are the most effective and efficient ways to reduce homelessness'.¹⁴⁹ Strategies may focus on people in life transition points, such as the period following family breakdown or an exit from statutory care or prison into the community, and on those in housing stress.

Providers of early intervention services, such as advice, information, brokerage, advocacy and referrals include state housing authorities and other agencies, such as those responsible for mental health, child protection and criminal justice; peak sector bodies - both national and state/territory-specific; community service organisations; and charities and the private sector, such as landlords and real estate agents.

A number of government programs currently operate with a focus on early intervention. For example, under the National Partnership on Homelessness, which operates through a Coalition of Australian Governments (COAG) agreement, state and territory governments are encouraged to prevent evictions from all types and tenures of accommodation through providing tenancy support programs for people in social housing and the private rental market. These support services include forms of financial assistance such as bond and rental payments, along with non-financial assistance such as guidance, support and referrals to appropriate support services.¹⁵⁰

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Other government early intervention initiatives include:

The Job Placement Employment and Training Program (JPETP), which provides assistance to 15-21-year-olds who are homeless or at risk. An estimated 14,000 are people helped annually by the network of JPETP service providers who are contracted by the Commonwealth Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR).
Reconnect, which supports 12-18-year-olds who are homeless or at risk. Ninety-eight Reconnect services existed in 2002, including 14 Indigenous-specific services.
The Household Organisational Management Expenses (HOME) Program, which involves service partnerships between community organisations and government agencies plus local Centrelink offices and social workers, which are funded to provide early intervention for families at risk of homelessness. The initiative is focused on financial stability, family health, wellbeing, and participation in employment and training, and it had assisted an estimated 2,190 families by 2007.¹⁵¹

The Government is currently recommending a 'no discharge into homelessness' policy for vulnerable people leaving prison or statutory care, including psychiatric facilities. The proposed model incorporates accommodation and related support services, including education and training, and assistance with finding both employment and housing.¹⁵² A number of large, national faith-based charities, including the Salvation Army and the St Vincent de Paul Society, already operate early intervention programs based on this model.

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Specialist homelessness services

Services previously funded under SAAP were targeted at 'the chronically homeless or those who were temporarily homeless as a result of crisis.'¹⁵³

As is discussed in detail in Section 3.2.3 above, they provide a range of assistance, from early intervention and support strategies that prevent homelessness, through to crisis and emergency support and accommodation, to transitional and post-crisis support. All services are provided using a common case management approach which works with the individual to develop options to resolve crises and to move from support to independence.¹⁵⁴

Crisis accommodation

A broad range of accommodation may be classified as 'crisis accommodation' which is accommodation accessed by people who may be chronically homeless or in a temporary crisis. These include refuges, hostels, motels, caravan parks, boarding houses and the homes of a person's friends or relatives.

A range of providers operate within this sphere, including large, national faith-based charities; small, localised charities; local governments; private sector providers; and non-government organisations. Providers of emergency or transitional accommodation under the previous SAAP system may also be classified as crisis accommodation providers.

On the basis of the definition of secondary homelessness provided by Chamberlain and MacKenzie,¹⁵⁵ crisis accommodation in relation to boarding houses would include situations where the person is staying for 12 weeks or less.

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Social and community housing

The social and community housing sector includes state housing agencies which provide social or public housing, and a range of non-government and private sector providers of community housing.

As is discussed in the community housing sectoral case study, which is provided at Appendix A of this report, the sector is generally highly fragmented: of the 1,069 community housing providers at June 30^th 2008,¹⁵⁶ three-quarters managed less than 20 dwellings each while 15% of community housing providers managed between 20 and 49 dwellings, and only 11% of providers managed 50 or more dwellings.

Community housing providers include a range of organisations. A survey of 613 out of 1,735 community housing providers in Australia in 2006 found that 31% are welfare or not-for-profit organisations, 25% are specific community housing organisations, 21% are community housing cooperatives, 14% are local government organisations, and 7% are church-based organisations.¹⁵⁷

There were approximately 35,667 households living in community housing in Australia at June 30^th 2008 occupying more than 99% of tenantable community housing stock.¹⁵⁸ Of these, 6% were identified as Indigenous households, 28% contained households with a disability, and 14% were from a non-English-speaking background. A total of 7% of principal tenants were aged 24 years or younger and 8% of principal tenants were 75 years or older.

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Private sector

Private sector organisations play a significant role in providing accommodation for people who are chronically homeless or in a temporary crisis. These organisations may include operators of boarding houses, hostels, hotels and motels, and caravan parks - all of which may be accessed by homeless people at any given time.

On Census night in 2006 an estimated 21,596 people - 20% of the population counted as 'homeless' on that night - were residing in boarding houses. This sector accounted for the second highest proportion of the homeless population after those staying with friends and relatives (45%).

Private sector providers account for both secondary and tertiary accommodation under the definitions provided by Chamberlain and MacKenzie,¹⁵⁹ in that they may house a homeless person for short periods of time (up to and including 12 weeks) or in the medium to long-term (defined as more than 13 weeks).

An illustrative summary of homeless people's pathways into and between various forms of accommodation and related support services is illustrated at Figure 2 on page 58. As has been previously stated, it is important to note that it is not possible to depict a neat continuum of service provision and accommodation/tenure types in the homelessness sector, due to the sector's complex nature. People at risk of homelessness and those who are in crisis and temporarily homeless or chronically homeless may access one or a number of these accommodation types and services at any given time.

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Figure 2 - Access to accommodation and support services for the homeless and those at risk
Figure Description

Figure 2 - Access to accommodation and support services for the homeless and those at risk

3.4 Overview of the homelessness service sector

The following section provides an overview of the current structure of the homelessness service sector. The current legislative and regulatory components of the system are described in detail in Section 2 of this report and an overview of the existing funding and delivery framework for homelessness services is provided at Figure 3 on page 83.

It is important to note that this overview does not provide a fully accurate, comprehensive picture of the sector: it is a preliminary overview of the sector's basic structure and the key providers located across metropolitan and rural or remote areas.¹⁶⁰ It should be noted that rates of homelessness are currently higher in rural and remote areas, which accounted for 62% of rough sleepers counted on 2006 Census night.¹⁶¹

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3.4.1 Secondary provision - accommodation and mainstream support services

An analysis of the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) data¹⁶² indicates that access to early intervention and crisis accommodation and support services available for people experiencing homelessness has increased in recent years. Table 10 below outlines the number of people receiving support through the SAAP over a five-year period. The table indicates that the number of people receiving support from SAAP services has steadily increased since 2003, with the most significant increase occurring from 2005-06 to 2006-07.

Table Description

Table 9 - Number of people receiving SAAP assistance (Australia)
Year	Number of people receiving assistance
2007-08	202,500
2006-07	187,900
2005-06	161,200
2004-05	157,200
2003-04	152,900

Source: SAAP National Data Collection 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08, and Thompson, D., 2007¹⁶³

These figures correlate with 2006 Census data¹⁶⁴ which reveals that, since 2001, persons living in accommodation managed by SAAP-funded services have increased most significantly when compared with other types of accommodation. This is illustrated in Table 11 over page.

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Table Description

Table 10 - Increase in SAAP funding and agencies 2005-06 to 2007-08
Year	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08	Increase (2005-06 to 2007-08)
Total funding allocation	$348.8m	$383.0 m	$400.4 m	4.5%
Funding directly to the SAAP agencies	$333.4m	$367.3 m	$383.9 m	4.5%
Number of SAAP agencies	1,300	1,539	1,562	4,401 (total)

In 2007-08 it was estimated that one in every 104 Australians received substantial SAAP support at some time, an increase on2006-07 when it was estimated that one in every 110 Australians received support.

In 2005-06, 106,500 clients and 54,700 accompanying children were assisted. In 2006-07, 118,800 clients and 69,100 accompanying children were assisted. In 2007-08, of the total clients receiving assistance, 125,600 were adults or unaccompanied children (clients) and 76,900 were accompanying children. These figures highlight the rise in accompanying children being assisted through the program: the 2007-08 figure equates to one in every 64 children in the general Australian population aged 17 years and under (or 156 children per 10,000).¹⁶⁵

The table indicates that the considerable rise in the number of people receiving support from SAAP in recent years is partly related to funding alterations. In 2006-07, the total recurrent allocation to SAAP was $383.0 million. In 2007-08, the total funding allocation to SAAP was $400.4 million, a 14.8% increase from 2005-06. In 2006-07, funding given directly to the SAAP agencies was $367.3 million; in 2007-08 funding given directly to the SAAP agencies was $383.9 million - an increase of 15.1% from 2005-06. Increases in funding have enabled a greater number of agencies to become involved in SAAP - in 2005-06 there were 1,300 SAAP agencies, while in 2007-08 there were 1,562 SAAP agencies, an increase of 262 agencies.

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Table 12 provides a snapshot of SAAP services required by clients across Australia in 2007-08.

Table Description

Table 11 - SAAP services required by clients across states and territories during 2007-08
Service type	NSW	VIC	QLD	WA	SA	TAS	ACT	NT	AUS (total)
Service type	(% of total)								Total
Housing/accommodation	66.0	45.6	72.2	69.3	71.5	67.9	83.2	78.0	111,100
Financial/employment	31.6	46.1	44.5	33.8	28.4	34.6	53.2	53.7	70,500
Personal support	59.9	47.9	48.3	50.0	70.9	63.4	74.7	64.5	99,100
General support/advocacy	84.0	82.4	69.5	59.3	87.3	74.5	85.9	68.6	143,000
Specialist services	27.8	21.0	25.8	36.9	32.2	15.3	44.2	27.4	47,400
Basic support/other services	59.4	27.5	57.2	69.8	40.7	46.8	62.9	68.6	85,800

Source: SAAP Annual National Performance Report 2007-08, p.59¹⁶⁶

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Of the total of 111,100 housing/accommodation services provided during 2007-08, 74,500 of these services were specifically providers of SAAP/CAP (Crisis Accommodation Program) accommodation while the remainder were services which provide assistance in obtaining or maintaining accommodation.

It is important to note that these accommodation figures exclude the range of organisations which operate outside SAAP networks and are largely independent of government funding. This is particularly important to note in states such as Queensland where SAAP networks account for a lower proportion of the service provision sector. On Census night in 2006, for example, 19% of the homeless across Australia were in SAAP accommodation compared to 12% in Queensland.¹⁶⁷

In considering SAAP networks specifically, in 2007-08, National Collection Data shows that SAAP or CAP accommodation was able to be provided directly to clients and their accompanying children in the majority of cases (87% and 85% respectively). When it could not be provided directly, it was referred on in 8% of cases to other organisations and remained unmet in 5% of cases for clients and in 7% of cases for accompanying children.

In relation to SAAP services more broadly, data indicates that clients' needs were able to be met directly by SAAP service providers in 90% of cases; agencies were able to refer clients to other organisations for a further 6% of required services.¹⁶⁸ Specialist services (including psychiatric services, drug or alcohol support and physical disability services) were the least likely group of services to be directly provided when required (67%).¹⁶⁹

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In 2007-08, the most common unmet needs were for specialist services (10%), for housing and accommodation services (7%), and for financial or employment services (6%). When considered as a proportion of all unmet needs (as opposed to as a proportion of all required services) the most common service types for which client's needs were not met nor referred were housing or accommodation services (accounting for 31% of unmet needs), followed by specialist services (19%), and financial or employment services (15%).

The figures for unmet housing and accommodation service needs have remained relatively stable since 2006-07, when this represented the second most common service sector for unmet needs (7%), after specialist services (9%) and on par with financial and employment services (7%).

In 2005-06, on par with 2007-08, housing and accommodation services accounted for a total of 31% of all unmet needs, followed by specialist services (20%).

Across the jurisdictions, the providers of primary homelessness services - both accommodation and mainstream services and within and without the SAAP system - share a number of basic similarities in their structure and models of service provision. All primary service types are generally available in all jurisdictions, however the geographical spread and local accessibility of these services varies significantly, particularly among more specialised services.

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One of the most significant groups of service providers in the homelessness sector are large faith-based charities such as the St Vincent de Paul Society, Mission Australia, the Salvation Army, Anglicare, and the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA). These charities operate across all jurisdictions, and depending on the jurisdiction, may provide basic support services such as meals, transport, and cleansing, as well as housing and accommodation support services, general support services (including advocacy, living skills, and information), specialist services, such as immigration, medical, and psychological services, and personal services, such as support with emotional issues, family violence, and problem gambling issues.

The large, often national nature of these faith-based charities enables them to provide integrated services which target sequential points along the homelessness pathway, as well as holistic services which provide for whole-of-life factors that contribute to a person's experiences of homelessness. They may also provide singular services, such as accommodation support. Examples of these services include Mission Australia in NSW and the YWCA in Darwin.

Structured, integrated and holistic services may also be delivered by larger secular organisations, such as Colony 47 in Tasmania and Hanover in Victoria.

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In a number of larger states and territories, a series of coordinating mechanisms and bodies oversee the development and coordination of service provision and improvements to service delivery. These include:

Organisations which act as a central point of contact for persons experiencing homelessness. Examples of these include the Homeless Persons Information Centre (HPIC), which is operated by City of Sydney Council but is active throughout NSW, and the Homeless Persons Information Queensland (HPIQ), which is operated by the Queensland Government. Other jurisdictions also have hotlines which specifically coordinate crisis accommodation, such as the Crisis Accommodation Information Line in Victoria.
Organisations which advocate for and seek to coordinate services operating within the sector, including Homelessness SA, a South Australia-based non-government organisation, and the Council to Homeless Persons in Victoria.
SAAP provider networks, such as that overseen by the Queensland Council of Social Services (QCOSS), which operates a SAAP provider network in that state, along with other networks operating in specific geographic locations, such as the Central Coast SAAP Network Inc in NSW and ROCKSAAP in Queensland.
Programs run by state and territory governments which coordinate services in certain areas or in relation to certain groups, such as the Pathways programs in Victoria; the Queensland government's 'hotspot' planning and implementation approach under the Queensland Responding to Homelessness Strategy; and the Inner City Homelessness Outreach and Support Service (I-CHOSS), which is operated by the NSW Department of Housing as the lead agency. These approaches often include a range of different service delivery organisation types including larger faith-based charities, smaller non-government organisations and other community-based organisations.

Across all jurisdictions, a significant number of smaller non-government organisations provide specific services or support for particular groups. These smaller services span the breadth of the sector and may be group-based (providing for women, recent arrivals, refugees, people with legal issues), community-based organisations (local/regional organisations, including local authorities), and culturally-based (providing for Indigenous people, for example). While these services encompass the full diversity of service types the most widespread type of service provider is those targeted at women and families.

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3.4.2 Secondary and tertiary provisions - the homeless in the private sector

As is discussed in Section 1.3 of this report, the private sector plays a significant role in service provision to homeless people or to those at risk, primarily through the provision of accommodation. This ranges from short-term or crisis accommodation, which may include boarding houses motels, hotels and hostels to medium to longer-term options, including caravan parks.

Private sector providers are a highly diverse group, which may include operators of large boarding houses and hostels in a range of locations, to operators of small independent facilities such as caravan parks and hotels specific to a locality.

Clientele of these organisations may vary from those in temporary crisis to low income earners who may rent within this sector for long periods of time. This is particularly the case given the current shortage of suitable public and affordable not-for-profit community housing available to low-to- moderate income earners due to a current supply/demand imbalance.

The important point to note about homeless people or those at risk residing in private sector accommodation is their lack of secure tenancies and lack of protection under current legislation - a key issue to consider in the development of a regulatory or legislative framework which provides support and security to vulnerable people.

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3.4.3 Emerging approaches to service provisions

While studies are not numerous, the recent evidence base suggests emerging themes for service provision to people at risk of homelessness. These include:

Providing people with early initial assistance can promote a move to more stable accommodation.
Coordination of accommodation provision and support services can improve client outcomes.
Constrained housing supply and lack of accommodation options limits outcomes.
Integration across agencies and services supports coordinated service responses.
Integration across agencies and services requires ongoing processes around strategic focus, decision-making, implementation and service delivery.
Importance of aligned and systematic data collection.

The White Paper on Homelessness proposes a continuing drive towards a more integrated, holistic approach to service provision for homeless people, which 'addresses the causes of homelessness and provides a framework for preventing homelessness from occurring in the first place'.¹⁷⁰ This is discussed further in Section 3.6 below.

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3.5 Service frameworks and providers - state-by-state profiles

The following section provides a state-by-state overview of the service provision sector at present, including the broad policy framework, key service providers, service and organisation types, and needs groups at which these services are targeted. This overview is focused on providers of secondary accommodation and mainstream support services, including early intervention services, supported transitional accommodation and crisis accommodation.

3.5.1 Victoria¹⁷¹

The Victorian Homelessness Strategy (VHS) was launched the Minister for Community Services and Housing in February 2002 as a blueprint for a new government response to homelessness based on an integrated system of assistance.

The State Office for Housing currently funds a number of programs to meet the needs of Victoria's homeless, which provide the framework for the government's approach to directly and indirectly assisting the homeless, along with providers and support services within the sector. The Office works in conjunction with a number of program partners, including the Department of Justice, Court Services, Disability Services, and the Transitional Housing Management Program (THM) to ensure a comprehensive and holistic network operates in Victoria.

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The THM program provides medium-term housing linked to support for households in crisis as a result of homelessness or impending homelessness. The program is community managed and houses clients for an average of six months in approximately 3,600 properties across Victoria. Access to the program and associated Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) and other support services is achieved through a statewide network of access points.

Victoria has developed Homelessness Assistance Service Standards in consultation with stakeholders, which are now recognised as relevant industry standards for case-managed housing support services. A self-assessment system was piloted throughout 2007 with an accreditation provider contracted to assess organisation quality and to work with organisations to promote continuous quality improvement.¹⁷²

Programs funded by the Office for Housing, a number of which are targeted at people who have been involved in the justice and correctional systems, include:

Better Pathways: provides linked transitional housing and support services for women in the criminal justice system, primarily those assisted by the Bail Support Program who are homeless, including Indigenous women in rural Victoria.
Corrections Housing Pathways: provides a coordinated response to address the needs of people exiting men's and women's Victorian prisons who require housing and integrated support. It was extended in 2008 to cover all Victorian prisons, with tailored responses for men through Link Out and for women through the Women's Integrated Support Program (WISP).
Drug Courts Housing Pathways: provides transitional housing and homelessness support to people on drug treatment orders who are at risk of homelessness, referred through the designated Drug Court in Dandenong.
Mental Health Housing Pathways: provides pathways out of homelessness for people with a serious mental illness and with complex needs through provision of transitional housing and specialist support packages. This program provides housing support workers to people in residential mental health care to assist with housing support following discharge from institutions. Evaluated in 2006, this initiative was found to improve mental health and housing outcomes, as well as enhancing collaborative responses to the client group.
Forensicare Housing Pathways: assists people who are at high risk of homelessness, and specifically targets residents of Thomas Embling Hospital and the Acute Assessment Unit at the Melbourne Assessment Prison.
Youth Justice Housing Pathways: provides coordinated transitional housing and support for young people older than 17 who are exiting youth justice facilities and who are at risk of homelessness. Evaluated in 2005, it was found to be successful in achieving the aims of decreasing the number of young people whose parole is delayed due to lack of accommodation and of reducing the chances that young people re-offend.
Young People Leaving Care: a VHS initiative to address the social marginalisation experienced by young people leaving care, through the provision of or linkages to stable accommodation and appropriate support to facilitate social participation. The Children, Youth and Families division of the state Department of Human Services provides a range of funding packages for young people including brokerage funds and other types of funding not covered by SAAP, which may be accessed by young people participating in the Young People Leaving Care initiative.
The CREDIT/Bail support program: provides people with transitional housing and support while waiting for their hearing. Brokerage is made available to provide a supportive and therapeutic client focused approach, rather than a punitive approach.
Refuge Minors Housing Pathways: a joint program with the state Children, Youth and Families' Child Protection Unit providing transitional housing and support to refugee minors who are at risk of homelessness upon leaving Commonwealth-funded arrival facilities.
Disability Housing Pathways: assists people with Acquired Brain Injury who have experienced or are experiencing homelessness to access linked transitional housing and support.

A number of organisations function within the Pathways framework, including government institutions, non-government organisations, faith-based charities and community organisations. A diverse range of organisations delivers services operating under this program, for example Women's Housing Ltd, which administers loans under the Housing Establishment Fund, a component of the Corrections Housing Pathway.

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The Mental Health Housing Pathways program includes providers such as Barron South West, the Mental Illness Fellowship of Victoria and MIND. The Youth Justice Housing Pathways system includes Jesuit Social Services, Mission Australia and the Salvation Army's East Care.

Providers previously funded under SAAP are the major provider of primary accommodation within Victoria and include faith-based charities, community organisations, government run organisations and smaller Non-Government Organisations. Examples of ex-SAAP-funded providers who provide support to a broad range of needs groups include Castlemaine and District Emergency Accommodation and Resource Group, and Hanover South East Crisis and Support Services.

There are also a large number of ex-SAAP-funded services which target certain needs groups such as women and families facing domestic violence, single men, children and young people, people with AIDS/HIV, Indigenous people, and people with a disability. These include organisations such as the Elizabeth Hoffman House, which provides short-term crisis accommodation for Aboriginal women and children facing domestic violence, and the Bert Williams Youth Centre, a SAAP-funded service that provides short term accommodation for young Indigenous males aged 15-to-25.

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Large faith-based organisations such as Anglicare, the Wesley Mission, the Salvation Army and the St Vincent de Paul Society are commonly involved in partnerships with the Victorian Government and often operated without direct SAAP funding, or with SAAP funding as a supplementary funding stream. While these organisations provide a broad range of support services to a wide range of needs groups, they also provide services which focus upon particular needs, for example Salvation Army East Care provides accommodation support for young people experiencing substance abuse issues, and Wesley Homelessness Services assists vulnerable children.

There are also a number of non-government organisations which provide accommodation and associated support for people experiencing homelessness. These tend to function outside the Pathways system and focus upon providing services for a particular needs group, such as young people, women facing domestic violence, refugees, and people with mental health and/or substance abuse issues. Frontyard Youth Services and Kids Under Cover are two large Victorian community organisations which provide safe accommodation for young people.

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3.5.2 New South Wales¹⁷³

A Way Home: Reducing Homelessness in NSW, NSW Homelessness Action Plan 2009-14 sets the direction for state-wide reform of the homelessness service system in NSW, to achieve better outcomes for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Through the NSW Homelessness Action Plan, the NSW Government will realign existing effort, increasing the focus of the service system on prevention and long-term accommodation and support.

The NSW Homelessness Action Plan will change the way homelessness is understood, its impact on the community, and the way services are designed and delivered to homeless people and people at risk of becoming homeless. The NSW Homelessness Action Plan will also change the way NSW work's across government, the non-government sector and with the broader community to improve responses to homelessness. The Plan includes actions funded through the National Partnership on Homelessness NSW Implementation Plan.

The NSW Homelessness Action Plan includes three strategic directions, which are aligned with the Australian Government's priority areas on homelessness. These are summarised in Table 13 over page.

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Table Description

Table 12 - *NSW Homelessness Action Plan* strategic directions
Strategic Direction	Goal	Priorities
Preventing homelessness	People never become homeless	Prevent eviction from all kinds of tenure Transition and maintain people exiting statutory care/correctional and health facilities into appropriate long-term accommodation Provide safe, appropriate long-term accommodation and/or support to people experiencing domestic and family violence, relationship and family breakdown and at key transition points
Responding effectively to homelessness	People who are homeless receive effective responses so that they do not become entrenched	Improve identification of and responses to homelessness by mainstream and specialist support services Deliver integrated service responses Streamline access to crisis accommodation and specialist homelessness services Transition people who are homeless to appropriate long-term accommodation and support
Breaking the cycle	People who have been homeless don't become homeless again	Provide models of accommodation with support that are suitable for different target groups Increase and upgrade supply of affordable and social housing Promote partnerships between all levels of government, business, consumers and the not-for-profit sector Improve and better utilise of homelessness data and evidence-based responses to homelessness

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Regional homelessness action plans are a key component of the NSW Homelessness Action Plan and will help achieve better coordination and collaboration across the service system and enable services and community organisations to provide input into the implementation of the NSW Homelessness Action Plan on a local level.

For each strategic direction, key performance indicators and measures have been developed. Reviewing these indicators and measures will help determine the impact of actions on homelessness in NSW. The following targets have been set in the NSW Homelessness Action Plan and reflect targets in the National Partnership on Homelessness:

a reduction of 7% in the overall level of homelessness in NSW by 2013;
a reduction of 25% in the number of people sleeping rough in NSW by 2013, and
a reduction of one third in the number of Aboriginal people that are homeless in NSW by 2013.

Progress against the strategies and actions identified in the Plan will be monitored, with annual reports produced on activities undertaken under the NSW Homelessness Action Plan. The Plan also has a program of evaluation and research to determine the effectiveness of activities and help make decisions about where future efforts need to be placed.

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SAAP was administered by NSW Community Services and is the key safety net program that responds to homelessness in NSW. SAAP provided a continuum of services comprising 17% prevention/early intervention, 40% crisis response, 25% transitional accommodation, and 16% post-crisis support. In 2008/09, 392 SAAP projects in New South Wales, with total funding of $127.2 million, provided a range of assistance including:

crisis and transitional accommodation;
assistance to access income support and longer term housing options;
specialist family, domestic violence and sexual assault counselling and support;
drug, alcohol and problem gambling support and intervention;
financial and employment counselling; and
skills development and living skills and personal development.

In 2008/09 over one third of New South Wales' SAAP resources (35%) were dedicated to young people under 25 years of age and almost 30% to services for women and children affected by domestic violence. Remaining resources targeted single men, single women and families, with approximately 13% dedicated to services that have multiple target groups. More than 25% of SAAP resources were dedicated to rural and remote services, and over 15% to services in regional areas. Remaining resources (almost 60%) are allocated to services in the Sydney Metropolitan area, although over 15% of these resources are used to provide services that support clients across the whole of New South Wales.

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As a result of SAAP reform and the focus on prevention, early intervention and post-crisis supports, SAAP services had a much wider impact on homeless people than is reflected in the Counting the Homeless 2006 Census report, which only includes people who were accommodated in SAAP services. The Census report indicates that 19% of the estimated 27,500 people who were homeless on census night in New South Wales were in SAAP accommodation. However, in 2006/07 48% of New South Wales SAAP clients were receiving accommodation. This indicates that SAAP services were also assisting other groups of homeless people identified through the Census including the 40% of homeless people staying with friends/relatives, rough sleepers (13%), and people living in boarding houses (28%).

The Housing and Accommodation Support Initiative (HASI) is a partnership between NSW Health, Housing NSW and community sector organisations. It assists people with mental illness who need help with accommodation to participate in community life, maintain tenancies and improve their quality of life, and it does so by providing integrated, broad-ranging and individually-tailored services.

The Staying Home Leaving Violence Program is a domestic violence intervention program that aims to increase victims' safety and prevent homelessness by providing tailored strategies to enable women who have experienced domestic violence to remain safely in their own homes with the violent partner excluded. A Bega Staying Home Leaving Violence Pilot, funded by NSW Community Services and auspiced and managed by the Bega Women's Refuge, commenced in October 2004. A pilot in Eastern Sydney in May 2005. The project receives referrals from Police, Women's Domestic Violence Court Assistance Schemes and other women's, children's and health services. The service includes risk assessment, safety planning, court support and casework, and advocacy to address barriers to staying in the home.

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An evaluation of the Eastern Sydney pilot project has shown that two thirds of clients accessing the program were able to remain in their own home with the violent perpetrator excluded. A majority of clients accessing the program demonstrated stability in employment and in their children's schooling and childcare. There was a reduction in breaches of Apprehended Violence Orders during the support period and, where breaches did occur, women were able to use the safety plans developed through the program. The NSW Government has funded the roll out of the Staying Home Leaving Violence program, to be coordinated by the Department of Community Services, to a total of 18 sites.

The NSW Government has introduced a variety of innovative homelessness service delivery models which place homeless people directly into longer-term supported housing arrangements, based on the Housing First approach which originated in New York. Since the key principle of the Housing First model is the provision of long term stable housing as a first step to addressing homelessness, access to long term housing is made as simple as possible, with minimal barriers. The following are some NSW Government projects based on the Housing First model:

My Place targets homeless people in inner city Sydney who alternate between sleeping in public places, and short stays in temporary accommodation. Through the provision of support services, the initiative assists homeless people to transition from street or crisis accommodation into independent living. Housing NSW has allocated 60 units of accommodation to three community housing providers for the program. An evaluation of the program found that 90% of clients have succeeded in sustaining a tenancy.
The Homelessness Intervention Project targets chronically homeless people by linking them to housing and support. The project is a partnership between Housing NSW, the Department of Community Services, and NSW Health and comprises two initiatives. The Homelessness Intervention Team in inner Sydney is a six month project aimed at urgently housing and supporting 20 chronically homeless people. The Nepean Youth Homelessness Project is a 12 month project which aims to house and support 10 homeless young people and prevent young people with high needs from rough sleeping and chronic homelessness.
The Inner Sydney Chronic Homelessness and Complex Needs Coordination Project is an initiative of the Inner City Homelessness Action Plan Phase 2. The project targets chronically homeless people with complex needs who have used a range of services over a number of years without being able to gain any real change in their circumstances. This is a collaborative project between the City of Sydney and the Department of Community Services. The project has two streams to assist the chronically homeless to exit homelessness. The Housing First component (30 properties); and the Care Coordination stream brings together support agencies in a collaborative approach to assist clients to sustain their tenancies.
The Allawah Housing and Support Pilot provides culturally appropriate housing and support for Aboriginal people with co-existing mental health and substance dependency issues (dual diagnosis) in the inner city of Sydney. The project provides secure, affordable long term community housing along with the support services needed to successfully sustain a tenancy. The pilot has been developed and implemented by Housing NSW in partnership with the Sydney South West Area Health Service, including the Aboriginal Mental Health Unit and Drug Health Services, the Inner City Homelessness Outreach and Support Service, St George Community Housing and the Aboriginal Medical Service (AMS) Redfern

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NSW Community Services and Housing NSW are trialling an innovative project in the Orana Far West region of New South Wales that aims to improve service provision to Aboriginal women and children in isolated communities affected by domestic and family violence. The Orana Far West Safe Houses Project links intensive supports for Aboriginal women and children with access to safe and affordable accommodation. The project has been developed around five existing Women's Safe Houses operating in the five Orana Far West communities. The project includes the following:

The establishment of child and family linkages worker positions in each of the Safe Houses, and resources to enable each Safe House to implement improvements in organisational governance, service delivery and service integration.
New crisis accommodation to support the operations of the Safe Houses with short term housing for clients until they are able to access a safe, long term housing option.
The transition of families from the Safe Houses into longer term affordable housing, including social housing where eligible. Five formal operating agreements will be developed under the Housing and Human Services Accord to assist eligible clients to sustain a social housing tenancy when they exit a safe house.

The City of Sydney Council (CoS) is a primary provider of referral and brokerage for accommodation and support services for homeless people living in NSW, though particularly in inner Sydney via the Homeless Persons Information Centre (HPIC) and the Homelessness Brokerage Program. The CoS is also a funding and operational partner in the Inner-City Homelessness Outreach Services and Support Service (I-CHOSS).

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3.5.3 Queensland

The housing and homelessness sector in Queensland has undergone significant change in the past 18 months, with the introduction of a single social housing system - a significant systemic reform that seeks to enhance access, streamline assessment and prioritise housing allocation to those in priority and complex need.

Until recently, accommodation services were characterised by SAAP-funded services offering crisis accommodation. There were well established SAAP networks in each region, and a state-wide SAAP Network officer based at the Queensland Council of Social Service Inc (QCOSS). Those participating in the networks included larger providers, such as OzCare and Anglicare, which operate across the state, as well as smaller locally focused providers.

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In June 2005, the Queensland Government introduced the Responding to Homelessness (R2H) Strategy, a whole-of-government program committing $235.5 million in funding over four years. The aim of the initiative was 'to create an integrated homeless service system and to reduce, over time, the number of people who are completely without shelter by enhancing existing and implementing new initiatives, responding to homelessness and public intoxication'.¹⁷⁴ It is a significant cross-government exercise, involving seven state government departments (now reduced to five) including the Department of Communities (including the former Department of Housing); Queensland Health; Queensland Corrective Services; the Department of Justice and Attorney-General; and the Queensland Police Service.

In practice, R2H comprises a suite of around 32 initiatives based within the above departments who work in conjunction with community agencies, and is targeted at five 'hotspot' locations: Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Townsville, Cairns and Mt Isa. The initiatives are grouped under six themes:

Providing more accommodation and support options.
Connecting people with services.
Responding to homelessness and public space issues.
Meeting the health needs of people experiencing homelessness.
Meeting the needs of people experiencing homelessness in the legal system.
Helping residential services stay open (through accreditation).

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An evaluation is currently underway to assess the overall strategic impacts and outcomes achieved by R2H,¹⁷⁵ the results of which are not yet publicly available. However, an earlier review was undertaken to assess emerging impacts and outcomes.¹⁷⁶ The review found that the Strategy had successfully implemented mechanisms and processes to introduce new services, to improve coordination and to increase access and service quality. It also found that the number, range and quality of services available in target locations appeared to have significantly expanded.

The following investigates the profile of the homelessness service sector in three locations which represent quite different urban regions: Brisbane, Cairns and Rockhampton, two of which are identified Responding to Homelessness (R2H) 'hotspots'.

Brisbane is the core metropolitan centre in Queensland for homelessness accommodation and other supporting services. There are a wide variety, ranging from neighbourhood centres, through to specialist hub services for people who are homelessness, to crisis and supported accommodation and transitional housing options. Additional new services funded under R2H include Roma House Crisis Accommodation, the Homeless Persons Information Queensland (HPIQ), and the Information and Referral Service Hubs - HART 4000 and the Brisbane Homelessness Service Centre (BHSC). Service system relationships and networks are still emerging: the Inner City Housing and Affordability Network (ICCHN), for example, meets regularly, but stakeholders report the sector is highly fragmented and there is limited sharing of information across services.

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Cairns is a regional base for an extensive network of homelessness and accommodation services, in part due to funding under the R2H Strategy. This network comprises a combination of government, non-government, major charity and privately owned organisations, which offer support and services to people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness.

There is a strong focus on accommodation and support for Indigenous people and for transitional populations in the region. In general, services are aimed at the following client groups: youth (12 to 20 years of age); single women and men; single women with children; single men with children; families and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The regional service network is particularly concerned with ensuring that service models are locally planned and relevant, rather than adopting a 'one-size-fits-all' approach from other locations.

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A range of homelessness service providers, including Anglicare, OzCare and the smaller Quigley Street Night Shelter, receive funding through SAAP and Crisis Accommodation Program (CAP) programs administered by the Queensland Department of Communities. Services targeted specifically at youth are funded through the Department of Child Safety. A specialist service centre (or Hub) for people who are homeless was recently established in Cairns, designed as a one-stop-shop offering advice, information, and access to a range of housing and support services.

Rockhampton is a regional community that has experienced significant economic growth for the last several years due to the mining and resources boom. Housing costs are high and while income levels have been high, the effects of the economic downturn have hit the community hard, resulting in a significant rise in unemployment and housing hardship.

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A range of services in the region provides: general housing assistance; long-term community housing; supported housing; transitional housing; youth housing; housing support for people with a disability to live independently; crisis accommodation for women and children; boarding houses; and supported accommodation for families. Some of these organisations provide a combination of services, such as accommodation and integrated support.

In the current financial context, there are concerns that Rockhampton is witnessing a changing profile of people in accommodation need (particularly regarding older people, clients with complex needs, and those seeking assistance due to lack of affordable housing), growing accommodation needs, and a requirement for integrated support.

Rockhampton has not received specific funding under R2H. Existing service networks include regular inter-agency meetings - ROCKSAAP Network Meetings and Housing Area Network Meetings. Networking arrangements in Rockhampton include government agencies as well as the non-government sector.

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3.5.4 Western Australia¹⁷⁷

A range of homelessness programs operate within Western Australia, providing both accommodation and mainstream services:

The private Rental Support and Advocacy Program works with people having difficulty maintaining tenancies and provides assistance structured around the needs of each person or family. Success is defined as maintaining or moving to sustainable accommodation and avoiding eviction.
The Supported Housing Assistance Program (SHAP), managed by the state Department of Housing and Works, provides support to public tenants at risk of being evicted as a result of rent arrears or anti-social behaviour. Success is defined as sustaining a tenancy or avoiding eviction.
The Strong Families Program works across government and non-government service providers to provide a coordinated response to families with complex needs. Success is measured by outcomes including increased access to services, family and agency participation, improved stability in clients' lives, achieving stable housing, and improved school attendance.
Home Connect assists families and individuals who need accommodation to access private housing, and success is measured by the number of clients and how long it takes for them to acquire a tenancy.

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The Government of Western Australia implemented a State Homelessness Strategy in May 2002. This was evaluated in 2006 and was found to have significant benefits for service users, who praised the ongoing interagency collaboration and the relationship between government and non-government partners. A total of 72% of clients surveyed said that their needs had been well met, and requests for housing and accommodation were significantly reduced in the period following the implementation of the Strategy's initiatives, from 15,000 in 2001-02, to 13,000 in 2003-04.¹⁷⁸ All of the services funded through the State Homelessness Strategy have now been incorporated into mainstream Department for Child Protection funding programs, the majority into the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP).

According to the Western Australian Department for Child Protection (WA DCP), 136 services currently provide support and/or temporary (transitional) accommodation funded under the SAAP, relatively evenly spread between metropolitan and country areas (a ratio of 50:46). These include:

crisis, temporary accommodation for young people and support and counselling for young people at risk;
refuges and outreach support services for women who are single or have children and who are victims of domestic violence; and
crisis and temporary accommodation and support for homeless single adults and families.

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The largest proportion of services provides for women and children who are victims of domestic violence, and this includes a significant number of Indigenous corporations. Faith-based charities Anglicare and the Salvation Army operate 13 services between them, which cater for young people, adults and families. The most common service is emergency accommodation, followed by transitional accommodation, and most also provide support for homeless people or those at risk to obtain and maintain accommodation.

In terms of specific client groups, there are 32 services classified as meeting the needs of young people, around a third of which are located in rural and remote areas. All of these services were SAAP-funded, with one exception which was funded by corporate sponsorship. The majority are provided by non-government or community organisations and faith-based charities, including Anglicare, the Salvation Army and Mercy, while local authorities operate a small number. The majority of service providers offer transitional accommodation (59%), and 47% offer emergency short-term accommodation, along with support to obtain and maintain accommodation. Other services provide meals as well as medium to long-term accommodation.

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A total of 39 services operating in WA are described as catering for women, many of which also provide for children. Approximately 80% of these cater exclusively for women and children escaping domestic violence.¹⁷⁹ A number of services (approximately 10%) also offer services specifically for Indigenous people, and a small number of services provide specifically for families, single women and people from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. In addition all WA homelessness services are required to be accessible to ATSI and CALD client groups. Almost all of these services were SAAP-funded (now incorporated into the National Affordable Housing Agreement, NAHA), and around half of them are co-funded under the State Homelessness Strategy (support for children). Almost all services provide emergency short-term accommodation, while just under a third provide assistance with food/meals and two or three services offer additional support including long-term accommodation and/or 'sobering-up shelters'.

A scan of these services indicates that around 20% are operated by faith-based charities including, Anglicare and the Salvation Army, a further 20-25% are operated by Indigenous organisations, and around 10% are operated by local councils. The largest group of 17 providers (44%) appears to be non-government or community organisations.¹⁸⁰

There are 25 services operating in WA which provide 'general homelessness services', 88% of which were SAAP-funded. All cater for families and more than half also cater specifically for young people. Around a quarter describe providing services for people from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds and three cater specifically for Indigenous people. The majority of these services are provided by non-government or community organisations (41%) such as Swan Emergency Accommodation Inc, and 31% by faith-based charities, including the Salvation Army and Anglicare. The majority of services provide emergency short-term accommodation and support to obtain and maintain accommodation, while some provide transitional accommodation, assistance with food/meals and long-term accommodation.

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3.5.5 South Australia

The Government of South Australia has implemented a number of initiatives aimed at improving service homelessness provision during the last decade. In 2003 it funded a 14-point action plan response to the Social Inclusion Board's (SIB) recommendations contained in the report, Everyone's Responsibility: Reducing Homelessness in South Australia. The Action Plan involves 22 government departments and community organisations working collaboratively to improve homelessness service provision.¹⁸¹

In addition, the government has introduced a number of key elements endorsed by the SIB,¹⁸² including providing stable housing, recognising the importance of social inclusion when assisting the most vulnerable, creating targeted responses across the service system, developing an integrated, multi-dimensional, multi-agency approach, and developing evidence-based and outcome-focused initiatives.

Following the implementation of this plan in 2004, the government commissioned Rosanne Haggerty, founder of the Common Ground Community not-for-profit housing provider in New York City,¹⁸³ to explore further solutions to homelessness within the state.¹⁸⁴ It subsequently introduced the Common Ground model, which differs from traditional approaches to homelessness service provision in that it is based on the premise that access to stable high quality housing is 'a vital first step towards a satisfying and balanced life'.¹⁸⁵ It focused on capacity-building among previously homeless people to enable them to become independent productive members of society, and to this end it provides permanent homes rather than temporary shelter, has a mix of diverse tenants, and includes on-site support services.

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In partnership with the government and local business leaders, three Common Ground sites have subsequently being established since 2008, backed by $5 million in start-up government funding coupled with additional funding from corporate donations.

In addition, the state government has implemented the SA Foyer Plus project, based on a supportive housing model developed in England which is designed to break the cycle of homelessness by intervening early with young people aged 16 to 21 and encouraging them to become engaged in education, training and life coaching. The Federal Government will contribute $5.5 million to the initiative, in addition to $4 million in state funding to provide an initial 40 apartments with associated support services and contributions from the AFL Players Association and AFL Foundation in the form of funding for players to work with the project team.

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Another key program operating within Adelaide is the Street to Home program, which targets rough sleepers residing in the inner city, through an assertive outreach approach. Established in 2005 as a joint initiative of the Department of Health, Department for Families and Communities and Social Inclusion Unit, by 2006-07 the program had assisted 112 rough sleepers into short-term and transitional accommodation with a further 71 assisted into long-term housing. During 2007 the program expanded to metropolitan areas known to be rough sleeper haunts.

In addition to these initiatives the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) which has operated in South Australia since 2006 is administered through the Department for Families and Communities' Homelessness Strategy Division. There are 85 programs currently operating - 52 in the metropolitan area and 33 in rural and remote areas, based on SAAP V priorities which are: increased involvement in early intervention and prevention strategies; providing better assistance to people who have a number of support needs; and providing ongoing assistance to ensure stability for clients post-crisis.

There has been some substantial reform to the SAAP model in South Australia, involving three main elements:

The development of a model for a single gateway into SAAP services.
The application of a model that separates the tenancy management function from the support function.
The development of a new service model that better integrates services at the regional level.

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Key charities such as Anglicare, the Wesley Mission, the Salvation Army and the St Vincent de Paul Society are the primary providers of services to the homeless within South Australia. Most of these major organisations provide assistance to the general homeless population - including transitional and short-term accommodation along with other support and meals services - along with services for specific client groups, including women with families, single men and Indigenous people.

A number of non-government organisations also provide both material assistance - accommodation and basic support - and referral advice to the general homelessness population, including Homelessness SA, Shelter SA, Housing SA, the Community Housing Council of SA Inc, and Centacare. The number of organisations that provide services for specific groups of homeless people is significantly smaller; they function in a similar manner and provide similar services.

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Issue- or client-specific providers include the Services to Youth Council (SYC), which has developed Trace-A-Place (TAP) program to direct youths towards appropriate services such as the Foyer Foundation and the Unity Housing Company. Also, the Kahlyn Day Centre provides drug and alcohol counselling for homeless people.

3.5.6 Tasmania

In March 2008, the Tasmanian Government committed to halving the number of people sleeping rough by 2010. It has also committed to developing a whole-of-government social inclusion strategy with a strong initial focus on addressing homelessness through a social inclusion unit established within the Department of Premier and Cabinet.¹⁸⁶

Tasmania has also established a Housing Innovations Unit (HIU) within the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). The HIU was tasked with developing initiatives that particularly focus on opportunities for increasing investment into the affordable housing sector. Future work of the HIU involves the implementation of new affordable housing and homeless initiatives under the National Affordable Homeless Agreement (NAHA) and associated National Partnership Agreements.

Significant reform is also taking place on the way in which government services are delivered to children, young people and families. An extensive review undertaken by KPMG in 2007-08 found that Tasmanian Child Protection, Family Services, Out-of-Home Care, and Disability Services needed restructuring.

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This involved the specification and tender of an Integrated Family Support Service (IFSS) within each region of the state, with access via a separate front-end Gateway service. These gateways provide a single access point and referral pathway for children, young people, families, and people with a disability, and will provide information, identify needs, and refer families to appropriate services.

Community sector organisations in Tasmania are valued highly for their expertise and capacity to provide services to people in need. In 2008 the Department established an Office for the Community Sector responsible for providing strategic leadership in the development of the non-government community sector as well as the development of policy, systems and processes to enhance the delivery of community sector services.

Community sector organisations involved in the provision of housing and homelessness support services are a diverse group ranging from small, singular organisations to large organisations.

The Tasmanian Specialist Homelessness Services ((SHS) system is based on the Integrated Continuum of Support (ICOS) model and is delivered by around 20 organisations. The homelessness service system comprises:

an integrated service system within each of the three regions of the state;
a clearly defined set of service types detailing service specifications and functions;
an equitable funding rationale based on input unit-costs; and
proportional regional funding based on regional populations.

The integration of services within each region has been crucial in providing increased flexibility and better services to clients. Rather than each service trying to provide the full range of services itself, the modular nature of the service system requires services to work collaboratively in providing joint support for clients. Different agencies focus on different aspects of the client's needs.

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For example, accommodation needs are handled differently from a client's support needs, and involve different agencies. This means that the support is independent of where the accommodation is provided and hence the support can follow the client wherever they are located. In practice this means that the same worker who initially assessed the client can continue to support them until they are eventually established in independent accommodation.

In order to achieve this seamless support, each region has a range of services that focus on the provision of Immediate Emergency Accommodation for specific target groups. Each region also has front-end services that provide case planning and support functions that assess clients and then maintain the support until those clients are established in independent accommodation. To best meet clients' needs the transitional support services provide support to clients who present directly to the shelters and therefore may have bypassed the front-end case planning and support services.

The service system is supported by the provision of brokerage funds to provide flexible assistance to clients. Brokerage support is extremely important in preventing homelessness by assisting people to maintain their existing accommodation, to purchase emergency accommodation, and to assist people to move into independent accommodation.

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Anglicare Tasmania manages three supported residential facilities that play a pivotal role as an early intervention and prevention mechanism in reducing the likelihood of homelessness, particularly for people with low to moderate support needs. The prominent advantage of the supported residential facilities model is the capacity to provide affordable housing linked to support which is provided onsite by staff or through referral to other providers.

Supported residential facilities generally accommodate around 30 residents (singles or couples). Residents enter into a tenancy and receive a furnished bedroom (some with en-suites), three meals daily in the communal dining room, and a weekly linen service. Board is based on income (85% excluding Commonwealth Rent Assistance) and includes all meals, rent and electricity costs.

Tasmania also funds two complementary state-wide programs to assist low income earners in the private rental market, in part as a homelessness prevention strategy. They are:

The Private Rental Support Scheme, administered by Colony 47, which provides bond, rent and removal assistance payments and non-financial assistance including budgeting, referral, information and advocacy.
The Private Rental Tenancy Support Scheme (PRTSS), administered by Centacare Tasmania, which provides non-financial support to people usually with tenure-related support needs. This includes support for clients in maintaining tenancies, assistance to resolve tenancy-related problems, and development of clients' knowledge and skills in tenancy and budgetary matters.

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The Tasmanian Government has also invested significantly in affordable housing in order to increase exit points from the homelessness sector. This includes the establishment of an affordable housing organisation - Tasmanian Affordable Housing Limited (TAHL) -, an allocation of $60 million to the Housing Innovation Unit and expansion of community managed housing, particularly for older people in rural areas.

Other primary homelessness services in Tasmania are offered by a range of funded organisations including non-government organisations, national faith-based charities, along with local church-based, independent not-for-profit, and private organisations. Along with Colony 47, the primary providers are Anglicare, City Mission and the Salvation Army.

These organisations provide generic forms of assistance including emergency accommodation, referral facilities and basic support for all client groups. A number of programs also offer assistance in addressing underlying causes of homelessness, such as substance abuse, mental illness and relationship breakdown.

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City Mission provides a range of support services including age- and gender-specific services and accommodation facilities such as Star House for young people aged 12 to 17, and Mountain View for men older than 55. Both of these services offer longer term accommodation and Star House offers extensive supervision and support through full-time, trained 'house parents.' The charity also runs a Crisis Unit and Sobering-Up Facility, which provides 24-hour crisis accommodation for homeless men and sobering-up beds for men and women. Counselling is provided through case management along with other support services.

A number of programs, services and accommodation facilities operating in Tasmania are targeted at young people experiencing homelessness, including Karinya Womyn's Service for women; Reconnect,; the Corner Health Service; Youth Futures Inc Accommodation Service (YFIA); PASS; and the Community Connections Inc LINX Youth Transitional Support Service.

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3.5.7 Australian Capital Territory

Since 2004 the ACT has sought to create an integrated service system spanning crisis support to safe and secure long-term accommodation. The final evaluation of the ACT homelessness strategy, Breaking the Cycle - the ACT Homelessness Strategy 2004-2008, undertaken by KPMG in late 2007 found that 'stakeholders report that this has been achieved and that SAAP [Supported Accommodation Assistance Program] providers and DHCS [Department of Disability, Housing and Community Services], including Housing ACT now view themselves as part of a whole system that is responsible for providing different but integrated programs of support to clients to achieve common objectives'.

Other key achievements in establishing a service system include:

development of Pathways groups;
development of the 'any door is the right door' policy through the Joint Pathways group;
additional outreach services;
additional families and men's services;
establishment of the multi-disciplinary priority panel within Housing ACT and the involvement of a range of stakeholders on the panel; and
development of protocols between the Office for Children Youth and Family Support (OCYFS) and the youth SAAP sector and between Mental Health ACT and the SAAP sector.

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New services established under Breaking the Cycle included a shift from congregate living responses to accommodate individuals and families within their own dwellings, and an expansion of flexible outreach support services. Models were also introduced to facilitate property transfers to clients allowing them to be housed in place, whilst ensuring ongoing support is provided as required.

In 2008-09 a total of 46 homelessness programs were funded in the ACT from funding provided by the Australian and ACT governments. These services include 13 congregate accommodation refuges; 14 services where clients live in individual dwellings; and 19 support services and one sector capacity building service. There are 95 supported accommodation places available per night for young people in the ACT and 60 places specifically for single people. Since early 2008, the ACT has had the capacity to provide a total of 300 supported accommodation places per night to young people, singles and families which equated to an average of 486 individuals accommodated concurrently.

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General homelessness support services in the ACT are provided by a combination of government, non-government, church-based, major charity and private organisations. Primary providers include Anglicare, the St Vincent de Paul Society, and the Salvation Army. As in other states and territories, these organisations offer a range of forms of assistance including emergency accommodation, referral facilities and basic needs assistance for men, women and children.

While primarily funded under homelessness programs, some organisations also receive funding under other programs such as mental health or drug and alcohol and are able to add to the range of supports to offer holistic forms of assistance, including addressing the underlying causes of homelessness. A number of services also target specific clientele, for example the St Vincent de Paul Society's Samaritan House is a shelter for men older than 18 and also operates as a central services hub for single homeless men in the ACT.

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Other services include:

Inanna Inc. which provides: crisis accommodation for women with or without children who are homeless and have special and/or complex needs; outreach workers who work with women experiencing mental health issues; a transitional housing service for families; an Indigenous Boarding House Program and an Indigenous Supported Accommodation Service for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals and families; and headleasing for specific individuals and families with complex needs.
Families Experiencing Accommodation Transitions in Tuggeranong (FEATT) and the Family Housing Outreach Service (FHOS), which are operated by the Canberra YWCA and provide low-cost supported accommodation in individual homes and outreach support for homeless families.
Toora Women Inc. which operates services for women not accompanied by children throughout the ACT including outreach services and short-term and transitional accommodation; and Marzenna - a drug and alcohol halfway house for women and women with children, which offers medium-term accommodation.
Barnardos ACT, which has been operating for nearly 50 years and provides family support, foster care and supported accommodation services to disadvantaged children, adolescents and their families. The Parenting Outreach Program is specifically focused on addressing the needs of young people experiencing both parenthood and homelessness, while the Youth Stairwell supports young people in their transition to independent living.
Karinya House, a service for pregnant women and women and their babies.
Canberra Fathers and Children Service Inc. (CANFaCS), which provides crisis accommodation and outreach support services, including skills training, to at-risk or homeless fathers with children.
The Transitional Housing Program, which utilises housing stock that is for sale, redevelopment or hard to let, making these properties available to homelessness services for homeless clients not requiring crisis support, but awaiting a longer-term housing option.

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Homeless asylum seekers in the ACT can access services and accommodation through the Refugee Transitional Housing Program (RTHP), which is a government initiative offering six-month temporary housing in properties scheduled for redevelopment. The RTHP also includes an initiative which involves the preparation of exit plans which assist in clients making the transition into more permanent accommodation.

There are a number of free or low-cost food providers located in the ACT, many of which are affiliated with church groups and other charity organisations such as Hare Krishna, Stasia's Soup Kitchen, and the Salvation Army.

Other mainstream responses to supporting people who are at risk of homelessness include services which adopt a community development approach to sustainable tenancies, supporting people who are at risk of eviction for rental arrears and or for disruptive or anti-social behaviours.

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The ACT Government also provides a range of financial support and emergency relief services which can assist tenants to manage their finances, particularly when they are at risk of eviction, and which can alleviate the impact and burden of poverty.

Significant reforms to the provision of public housing assistance have assisted in the creation of an integrated service system by refocusing the role of Housing ACT as a post-crisis service. These reforms have been critical in driving and implementing systemic change, and Housing ACT has been instrumental in achieving an integrated service response.

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3.5.8 Northern Territory¹⁸⁷

The overarching policy framework for the provision of homelessness services in the NT was, until recently, the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP), which was administered by the Northern Territory (NT) Department of Health and Families. There are 41 previously SAAP-funded homelessness services operating throughout the Territory. Outside that network, there are at least two services providing emergency accommodation and referral services for women and children.

The majority of former SAAP services are located in the main population centres of Darwin/Palmerston (20 services), the Katherine region (six) and Alice Springs (five), and the remainder are located in remote and very remote areas. Most services are targeted at youth (10), followed by women and children (nine) and families (eight); four are dedicated to single men and two to single women.

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The majority of services provide accommodation (75%) with 53% providing emergency accommodation and 22% providing medium term accommodation. Services which do not provide accommodation provide services such as counselling, information and referral, day support and/or outreach.

A large number of services provide multiple, often integrated services: 47% provide information and referral, 39% provide counselling, 36% outreach, 33% advocacy, and 31% support to obtain or maintain accommodation. Other ancillary services which are provided by a smaller number of services include day support; education and recreational activities, and assistance with food/meals. Most services offer two or more services and around half offer a wider range of associated services.

Services in the sector are predominantly operated by faith-based charities. The YWCA is the primary provider (six services), followed by the Salvation Army (five services), Anglicare (four services), and the St Vincent de Paul Society (three services).

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There is one identified Indigenous organisation operating a service, however there is likely to be some level of Indigenous involvement or management in a number of services, particularly in remote locations.

A notable program operated by the YWCA in Darwin and Palmerston includes a three-stage program of crisis accommodation, medium-term accommodation and transition to independent living. Anglicare also runs an integrated program providing services from crisis situations to transitional solutions and beyond. Anglicare also offers a service for persons from remote areas who are receiving medical treatment.

Stuart Lodge in Alice Springs is supported and managed for short to medium-term clients who are visiting from remote communities seeking access to health and other services in Alice Springs. The facility is managed by Territory Housing and provides 35 rentable rooms and up to 70 beds.

The Larrakia Nation Information and Referrals Office provides services to Indigenous people living in or visiting Darwin from remote and interstate areas. It provides assistance with 'proof of identification' documentation, and a user pays return-to-country service for clients and/or referral to accommodation.

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3.6 Effective service models - a best practice analysis

3.6.1 Characteristics of effective service provision

There are a number of common features of effective programs and services:

Services need to be 'wrapped' around individuals and case management should allow regular review of progress.
Good programs are underpinned by a commitment to 'joined-up' service delivery at all levels, involving diverse areas of government and the service delivery sector jointly addressing the needs of common clients.¹⁸⁸
Early intervention and prevention of homelessness gets better results. These terms need to be clearly defined and distinguished from one another.
Addressing and preventing homelessness requires flexibility and creativity among the service sector as well as a clear focus on client outcomes.
Homelessness is a collective responsibility and good services find a role for the entire community in addressing and preventing homelessness. In particular, diverse partnerships can help bring different skills together to tackle homelessness.

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Integration across agencies/services is needed to support coordinated responses

A recently-completed review of the program management arrangements of SAAP and the Crisis Accommodation Program (CAP) in Queensland¹⁸⁹ focused on broader management and administrative aspects of homeless services. The strengths of the current program management arrangements were identified as:

The Queensland Department of Housing and Department of Communities (now all part of Department of Communities) each has considerable and clearly distinct expertise in its core business.
The current matching of support for people who are homeless with infrastructure, in the form of housing and maintenance, is important.
There are effective working relationships between service providers and the Departments in a number of regions in Queensland.
SAAP and CAP services were seen to be delivering positive outcomes to clients.
Links with specialist areas such as disability and domestic violence services are important to support clients who have multiple or complex needs.
Reporting through the National Data Collection Agency provides a single source of data collection and reporting which contributes towards accountability.

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The review also raised issues and challenges¹⁹⁰ with the current arrangements, including:

the need for improved coordination of programs, in recognition of the importance of the alignment and integration of the two programs at all levels of operation;
the need for policies and procedures, funding and contracting arrangements, performance management, and data collection and reporting which could contribute to streamlined and integrated processes; and
the use of mechanisms such as consultation and information sharing, regional networks, regional advisory groups and 'feedback loops' to lead to improved communication and feedback.

In the Victorian experience, Lake concludes that the success of joined up initiatives depends on the capacity of government- and community-managed agencies to effectively participate and work holistically with individuals across the housing, support, health, justice, education and employment sectors, and to identify service as a continuum of tailored assistance. This view challenges policymakers to rethink service models, platforms and tools to build in greater integration, and challenges service providers to develop strengthened relationships that better link service provision for people requiring assistance.

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Integration across agencies and services requires ongoing processes around strategic focus, decision-making, implementation and service delivery

In reviewing literature relevant to the integration of services within the social housing sector in Australia, Jones, Phillips and Milligan¹⁹¹ identified three main sets of challenges:

Integration challenges internal to social housing, i.e. relations among the three core sectors of public housing, community housing and Indigenous housing.
The challenges of effectively linking social housing with human services, including support services and homelessness services.
The challengers of effectively linking social housing with the wider set of policies, programs and services concerned with housing assistance and housing affordability.

Each of these sets of challenges involves integration at both the policy and the service delivery level. Integration projects are inherently difficult to implement, to sustain, and to replicate. They are also are typically seen to involve some degree of loss of autonomy, so require countervailing incentives or advantages to ensure active engagement. Achieving a more integrated service delivery arrangement is not an end in itself, and human services participants should question the evidence of likely improvements in outcomes for consumers - evidence that is often not available.¹⁹²

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3.6.2 Examples of effective service provision models

The Queensl and Health Homeless Initiative

This Queensland Health Homeless Initiative is based on the principle that providing people with early initial assistance may promote a move to more stable accommodation. The initiative seeks to enhance the delivery of mental health, drug and alcohol and other health services to people already homeless or at some risk of homelessness.

Two innovative service models were pioneered: Health Homeless Outreach Teams (HHOT), which uses an assertive outreach service model, and the Transitional Housing program, which has brought together housing providers, case managers and support workers to assist people to exit acute hospital-based mental health care into community-based transitional accommodation.

The Initiative was evaluated for Queensland Health by the Housing Policy Research Program within the University of Queensland Social Research Centre. Key findings of this evaluation¹⁹³ include:

The HHOT and Transitional Housing programs have successfully operationalised innovative models of service delivery, secured a net increase in access to services and support, and expanded the range of assistance for people experiencing homelessness, or those at risk of homelessness.
The Initiative had successfully targeted highly marginalised people with varying experiences of mental health services.
The service models applied, i.e. assertive outreach assistance in the case of HHOT and coordinated housing and health services in the case of Transitional Housing, have facilitated more streamlined access to services. The assertive outreach approach in particular was seen as having overcome barriers people have continually faced in accessing mainstream mental health services.
There are clear indications of improvements in the longer-term housing options for clients. People moving through Transitional Housing are achieving improved housing stability, and homeless clients of the outreach services have acted to improve their housing situation.
The assertive outreach model appears to be a positive step in reaching Indigenous people who may be less likely to come into services for assistance.
HHOT intervention often occurs prior to the point of crisis, significantly reducing the onset of an acute episode, or preventing presentation and/or hospitalisation.

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Housing First

Housing First is an approach to addressing long-term homelessness that encompasses a range of sustainable responses. The key principle of the Housing First model is the provision of long term stable housing as a first step to addressing homelessness. As part of this model, homeless clients are moved directly from the streets into stable, long term accommodation and provided with structured multi-agency support to promote their capacity to live independently.

The Housing First approach is different to other homelessness responses that utilise a 'pathways' approach, starting with a crisis response through to transitional responses and then long-term housing. With a Housing First approach, access to long-term housing is made as simple as possible, with minimal barriers. While the upfront costs of providing access to permanent housing may be greater, the Housing First approach has been shown to reduce the personal and financial costs associated with long term homelessness and repeat episodes of homelessness.

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This model is most appropriate for people who have been homeless for a long time; it is generally not be suitable for people who have recently become homeless. Therefore, while it is very different from early intervention or prevention approaches but just as crucial to ending homelessness.

A central principle of the Housing First approach is that social services to enhance individual and family wellbeing can be more effective when people are in their own home. Services should also be effectively coordinated and access to housing should not be dependent on the person's state of being - for example, drug free.

Until recently, the Housing First approach had not been implemented in Australia. Typically, a 'pathways' approach is taken which responds to a crisis situation and then follows this through to transitional accommodation and then to longer term accommodation. The NSW Government, however, has introduced a number of initiatives based on the Housing First model, which are discussed in Section 3.5.2.

My Place, for example, targets homeless people in inner city Sydney who alternate between sleeping in public places, and short stays in temporary accommodation. Housing NSW has allocated 60 units of accommodation to three community housing providers for the program. Through the provision of support services, the initiative assists homeless people to transition from street or crisis accommodation into independent living. An evaluation of the program found that 90% of clients have succeeded in sustaining a tenancy.

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Supportive housing model

Supportive housing is a form of service delivery that provides stable and affordable housing along with access to flexible and individualised support services. There are a number of different supportive housing models and these vary according to the client group and location. Some supportive housing models may be dependent on acceptance of support service providers or on certain conditions such as drug- and alcohol-free housing or psychiatric disability housing. Supports may be provided through on-site services, outreach to support housing, or traditional support service models. This model is well developed and tested in the United States, and has proven to be a good option for responding to those who have experienced long term homelessness.

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Common Ground

In New York State, there are approximately 34,000 units of supportive housing and of these, Common Ground operates nearly 1,700 units of supportive housing in seven different sites across New York. Common Ground began in 1990 following a plight to save a derelict building in Times Square, and the model today provides tenancy and building management services, partnering with non-government and community organisations to provide social support services.

Common Ground's vision is to provide clean, safe, well-designed housing and services to help people rebuild their lives and become self-sufficient.¹⁹⁴ The principles are intended to reflect the characteristics of a healthy community: a diverse mix of residents, high quality property management services, high quality supportive services, good design, connections to the wider community, and committed staff with shared values.

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This model has inspired many governments and service providers in Australia. In 2005, the Government of South Australia invited the founder, Roseanne Haggerty to be a 'thinker-in-residence' and this lead to an introduction of the housing first policy in South Australia. The model also now operates in Victoria through a partnership between the Victorian Government; Grocon, a large Melbourne-based development company; Yarra Bay Community Housing; and HomeGround, a service provider. The partnership is building a housing facility for homeless people on the edge of the CBD at cost price through the groundbreaking initiative, which has leveraged $15 million in corporate funding.

What has been acknowledged as particularly significant about Common Ground's approach, beyond being a leader in supported accommodation, is the well-designed and attractive nature of the buildings. Residents take pride in their accommodation and feel empowered because of where they live.

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Mission Australia Centre, Sydney

The Mission Australia Centre has reduced its number of accommodation places from 100 to 40 in order to provide a more high quality and supported service. Now, there are approximately 32 different professional, training and education services delivered on-site, as well as health services that provide a range of medical, dentistry, optometry and chiropractic services. This is an intensive case management approach where the accommodation comes with clear service coordination, review and transition processes for the clients.

Rooming Housing Plus, Melbourne

Rooming House Plus in Melbourne was opened in 2006 and is a rooming house offering 64 units of long-term accommodation as well as on-site services. It was established in a renovated motor inn located in the inner city with good access to transport and other supports. Many of the units have also been adapted for accessibility by disabled people.

The scheme provides 24-hour on-site support services and tenants are provided with meals, laundry and room cleaning. Tenants are also given practical assistance such as behaviour management, counselling, help with medications and connection with the local community.

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3.7 The vision of the White Paper - towards an integrated service provision model

The Government's 2008 White Paper on Homelessness, The Road Home, represents a concerted effort to improve service delivery for homelessness people and for those at risk. The key tenet of the White Paper is the provision of an holistic, joined-up service provision model operating throughout the states and territories. This model places service users squarely at the centre of the system and recognises that these clients 'typically interact with multiple service systems at any one time and over time'.¹⁹⁵

The White Paper's vision for integrated service provision incorporates both accommodation and mainstream services and encompasses a wide range of providers in sectors including mental health; drug and alcohol abuse support; domestic violence assistance; juvenile justice and the wider criminal justice system; along with supported accommodation and other housing providers operating outside the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) system. The vision has arisen out of a recognition that 'people who are homeless often experience considerable frustration with the broader social service system', describing it as 'having wasted their time because of misinformation' or 'getting the run-around'.¹⁹⁶

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This is an ambitious vision, in the context of the diverse nature of the homelessness service provision sector. As is illustrated in this section, accommodation service providers are spread across a range of sectors and include government and non-government organisations, national and localised or specialist charities, and private sector organisations. These are additional to the range of mainstream support services which operate throughout these sectors.

An integrated service provision model may be defined as one which encompasses all providers of services to homeless people or those at risk. It is a model which requires all services providers within the system to recognise their roles and responsibilities in providing for vulnerable people and ensuring they are adequately supported and held within the system.

Ideally, the model will operate to support people to transition from crisis into secure forms of long-term accommodation, providing them with the necessary support in the form of mainstream services along the way, which will concurrently enable them to move into employment and training or other forms of community participation.

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The SAAP model has to date provided a framework for service provision which recognised the importance of integrating mainstream support services with accommodation provision. Yes this model has been recognised as inadequate, and as failing some service users who have been unable to gain sufficient access to SAAP services. The vision of the White Paper is effectively an extension and expansion of this model, to encompass all service providers and to achieve the stated goal: 'Services should operate so that there are 'no wrong doors' for people who are homeless and seeking help'.¹⁹⁷

Achieving this vision will require the coordination of a number of interrelated policy initiatives, including:

improving the capacity of the service provision sector, including workforce training and up-skilling;
the development of an accreditation or regulatory system to underpin quality improvements to service provision; and
improving the degree of integration between accommodation and mainstream service providers.

Ultimately, realising the government's vision will require all organisations within the sector to reach for a quality improvement goal which is focused on the needs of the vulnerable clients within the sector. As the White Paper states: 'All services that work with people who are homeless should focus on getting people into stable long-term housing, employment and training, or other community participation'.¹⁹⁸

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Achieving this will require the full support of state and territory governments, who are central to the operation of homelessness services across Australia. To this end, The Road Home will require a strongly collaborative approach between the Commonwealth and states and territories, again with the vulnerable people to which this system applies always borne in mind.

The development of a regulatory or accreditation system for the sector is a key component of this vision. It also offers a potential mechanism through which this collaborative approach may be developed and through which service improvement enacted. The system will need to be developed through a collaborative approach which is cognisant of and sensitive to the diverse, complex and multi-faceted nature of this service provision sector.

Figure 3 - Homelessness services: the funding and delivery framework
Figure Description

Figure 3 - Homelessness services: the funding and delivery framework

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Ibid., p.xi
Australian Government, May 2008, Homelessness Green Paper: Which Way Home? A New Approach to Homelessness
Australian Government, 2008, White Paper - The Road Home, A National Approach to Reducing Homelessness, p. 44
Queensland Department of Housing and Department of Communities, 2008, Review of program management arrangements for the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program and the Crisis Accommodation program: Final Report, p.2
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2009 (April), SAAP National Data Collection Annual Report 2007-08, SAAP NDC report, Series 13, Cat. No. HOU 191, Canberra: AIHW, viewed at http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/hou/hou-191-10662/hou-191-10662.pdf
Australian Government Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, 2007, SAAP Case Management - Resource Kit for SAAP Services, Section 1.1, accessed at www.fahcsia.gov.au/sa/housing/pubs/homelessness/saap_er_publications/saap_case_mgmt_resource_kit/section_1/Documents/SEC01.pdf
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2007, Demand for SAAP accommodation by homeless people 2005-06: a report from the SAAP National Data Collection. SAAP NDCA report, Series 11. Cat. no. HOU 169. Canberra: AIHW
Ibid.
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2007, Demand for SAAP accommodation by homeless people 2005-06: a report from the SAAP National Data Collection. SAAP NDCA report, Series 11. Cat. no. HOU 169. Canberra: AIHW
Queensland Department of Housing and Department of Communities, 2008, Review of program management arrangements for the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program and the Crisis Accommodation program: Final Report, p.3
Ibid., p.xi
Chamberlain, C., and MacKenzie, D., 1992, 'Understanding contemporary homelessness: Issues of definition and meaning', Australian Journal of Social Issues, vol. 27, issue 4, p.291 in Chamberlain, C. and MacKenzie, D., Counting the Homeless 2006: Queensland, AIHW, July 2009, p.7
Ibid., p.24
Ibid., p.25
Ibid., p. 28
Ibid., p.27
Ibid., p41
NSW Department of Community Services, 2007 (October), Supported Accommodation Program (SAAP) Program Guidelines, viewed at http://www.community.nsw.gov.au/docswr/_assets/main/documents/saap_guidelines.pdf
Chamberlain, C., and MacKenzie, D., 1992, 'Understanding contemporary homelessness: Issues of definition and meaning', Australian Journal of Social Issues, vol. 27, issue 4, p.291
Community housing for the purpose of this collection includes dwellings where funding (capital and/or recurrent) is provided fully or partly through the CSHA, where the tenancy management functions are undertaken by a community provider or local government and a principle of the community provider is to provide medium- to long-term housing tenure to tenants. The definition also excludes non-CSHA programs and properties owned and managed by community housing providers not funded under the CSHA. It specifically excludes dwellings funded under the Crisis Accommodation Program. AIHW 2009 p3
Community Housing Federation of Australia, May 2007, Community Housing Mapping Project 2005-06 - Report on Findings:, pii
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2009, Community Housing 2007-08: Commonwealth State Housing Agreement national data report, p ix
Chamberlain, C., and MacKenzie, D., 1992, 'Understanding contemporary homelessness: Issues of definition and meaning', Australian Journal of Social Issues, vol. 27, issue 4, p.291
Note: this overview will be further developed following interviews conducted with service providers as part of this research. These interviews will consider existing networks of service provision, funding streams, and current workforce capacity
Australian Government, 2008, Homelessness White Paper - The Road Home: A National Approach to Reducing Homelessness, p.41
SAAP National Data Collection, Homeless People in SAAP, Annual Report, 2006-07, Australia
Thompson, D., 'What do the published figures tell us about homelessness in Australia?' in the Australian Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 32, No.3, 2007
Chamberlain C., and MacKenzie, D., 'Counting the Homeless, Australia', Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census 2006
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2009 (April), SAAP National Data Collection Annual Report 2007-08, SAAP NDC report, Series 13, Cat. No. HOU 191, Canberra: AIHW, viewed at http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/hou/hou-191-10662/hou-191-10662.pdf, p.13
Ibid., p.59
Chamberlain, C. and MacKenzie, D., Counting the Homeless 2006: Queensland, AIHW, July 2009, p. 8
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2009 (April), SAAP National Data Collection Annual Report 2007-08, SAAP NDC report, Series 13, Cat. No. HOU 191, Canberra: AIHW, viewed at http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/hou/hou-191-10662/hou-191-10662.pdf, p.54
Ibid.
Australian Government, 2008, Homelessness White Paper - The Road Home: A National Approach to Reducing Homelessness, p.iii
Policy Review Working Group (PRWG) - Submission to Housing Ministers, 2008, Strategic Assessment of Homelessness Policy, Programs and Approaches - Jurisdiction Responses, pp. 28-34
Ibid, p. 32
Ibid, pp. 5-8
Seelig, T. Phillips, R. and Thompson, A., 2007, Mid-term review of the Queensland Government's Response to Homelessness: Final Report, University of Queensland Social Research Centre, Brisbane, p. 5
The Strategic Impact Evaluation of the Queensland Government's Responding to Homelessness Strategy is being undertaken by Urbis. A Draft Final Evaluation Report is currently being reviewed for public release.
Seelig, T. Phillips, R. and Thompson, A., 2007, Mid-term review of the Queensland Government's Response to Homelessness: Final Report, University of Queensland Social Research Centre, Brisbane, p. 5
Policy Review Working Group (PRWG) - Submission to Housing Ministers, 2008, Strategic Assessment of Homelessness Policy, Programs and Approaches - Jurisdiction Responses., pp.24-28
Victorian Department of Community Development, 2006, Evaluation of the Impact and Effectiveness of the Western Australian State Homelessness Strategy
Note: General services are however likely to accept persons from sub-groups.
Note: These categorisations are inferred based on the names of the services only
Policy Review Working Group (PRWG) - Submission to Housing Ministers, 2008, Strategic Assessment of Homelessness Policy, Programs and Approaches - Jurisdiction Responses., pp. 15-19
Naidoo, S., SA Department of the Premier and Cabinet, 2003, 'Social Inclusion at Work: The South Australian Social Inclusion approach to ending homelessness', Parity, Council to Homeless Persons
www.thinkers.sa.gov.au/rhaggerty
Haggerty, R., 2004, Smart Moves: Spending to Save, Streets to Home
Ibid.
Tasmanian Government submission to the Senate Select Committee Inquiry into Housing Affordability in Australia, April 2008, p.6
Ibid, pp. 8-10
Lake, P., 2005, 'Responding to Homelessness: A Joined-up Government Approach', paper presented to Building for Diversity: National Housing Conference
Queensland Department of Housing and Department of Communities, 2008, Review of program management arrangements for the Supported accommodation Assistance program and the Crisis Accommodation Program: final report (evaluation carried out by KPMG
ibid, pp.12-16
Jones, A. Phillips, R. and Milligan, V., 2007, Integration and social housing in Australia: challenges and options, Research paper. Queensland AHURI p 11
Ibid p 34
Seelig, T., Thompson, A., Foster, M., Phillips, R. and Ramsden, D. 2008. Evaluation of the Queensland Health Homeless Evaluation: Final Report. University of Queensland, Brisbane, pp. 4 - 6
Black, C., 2008, 'Supportive Housing: Case Studies', Parity - Models of Supportive Housing, Vol. 21, Issue 2
Australian Government, 2008, Homelessness White Paper - The Road Home: A National Approach to Reducing Homelessness, p.38
Ibid., p.38
Ibid., p.38
Ibid., p.38

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Quality Frameworks for Homelessness and Related Services – Literature Review and Environmental Scan

3 Homelessness service provision - an overview

3.1 Introduction

3.2 The national policy framework for service provision

3.2.1 White Paper on Homelessness: The Road Home

3.2.2 National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness

3.2.3 The Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP)

3.2.4 The Crisis Accommodation Program (CAP)

3.3 Service provision for homeless people

Early intervention

Specialist homelessness services

Crisis accommodation

Social and community housing

Private sector

3.4 Overview of the homelessness service sector

3.4.1 Secondary provision - accommodation and mainstream support services

3.4.2 Secondary and tertiary provisions - the homeless in the private sector

3.4.3 Emerging approaches to service provisions

3.5 Service frameworks and providers - state-by-state profiles

3.5.1 Victoria171

3.5.2 New South Wales173

3.5.3 Queensland

3.5.4 Western Australia177

3.5.5 South Australia

3.5.6 Tasmania

3.5.7 Australian Capital Territory

3.5.8 Northern Territory187

3.6 Effective service models - a best practice analysis

3.6.1 Characteristics of effective service provision

Integration across agencies/services is needed to support coordinated responses

3.6.2 Examples of effective service provision models

The Queensl and Health Homeless Initiative

Housing First

Supportive housing model

Common Ground

Mission Australia Centre, Sydney

Rooming Housing Plus, Melbourne

3.7 The vision of the White Paper - towards an integrated service provision model

3.5.1 Victoria¹⁷¹

3.5.2 New South Wales¹⁷³

3.5.4 Western Australia¹⁷⁷

3.5.8 Northern Territory¹⁸⁷