❓ A parliamentary question regarding the WA government's $6 million local government partnership fund for homelessness, and the Minister's response outlining the fund's purpose and broader initiatives to address homelessness.
AnsweredQoN 339Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
HOMELESSNESS —
LOCAL GOVERNMENT PARTNERSHIP FUND
339. Ms S.E. WINTON to the Minister for Community Services:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's unprecedented investment in initiatives that aim to break
the cycle of homelessness for those Western Australians doing it tough. Can the
minister update the house on the $6 million local government partnership fund
for homelessness and outline how locally designed and collaborative responses
such as this will help further address homelessness in the community?
LOCAL GOVERNMENT PARTNERSHIP FUND
339. Ms S.E. WINTON to the Minister for Community Services:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's unprecedented investment in initiatives that aim to break
the cycle of homelessness for those Western Australians doing it tough. Can the
minister update the house on the $6 million local government partnership fund
for homelessness and outline how locally designed and collaborative responses
such as this will help further address homelessness in the community?
AnswerView source ↗
I am very happy to answer the
member's question, particularly as it is Homelessness Week. This is an
important time for us to focus on some of
the more vulnerable in our community, people who are doing it tough and, of
course , people who are chronically homeless and sleeping rough in our
urban areas or the city centre. That is one form of homelessness, but it can
take many forms; people can be sleeping in their cars and in a very precarious
housing situation. As a government, we are committed to understanding the best
evidence and taking the best approach to make sure that we can address those
difficult issues that challenge governments and communities the world over.
As
part of Homelessness Week, I was proud to announce a $6 million local
government partnership fund. This will be an opportunity for local
governments to apply for grants of between $25 000 and $200 000. That is the
breadth of the grants, and we will match that funding. These are one-off grants
for local initiatives. We know that local governments
are close to their communities and know what might work best in their local area.
This initiative is not designed to be a new system or to put in place
ongoing services in those communities. We wanted to recognise that local
governments are often stepping up and trying to meet the needs of the people
who are homeless in their communities, and
that they need some support. This funding is in recognition of the local
governments that are active in this area and want to do something that
is bespoke to their community.
I want to address some feedback we
had from some local government representatives that asked on social media
whether this means that local governments will be responsible for homelessness.
That is not the case. This is new money; it does not replace the more than $100
million that we are spending now on homelessness services across the state. In
fact, we spend much more than that because we are putting in place new money
with our Housing First initiative, with the
collection of the By-Name List real-time data to understand what is happening
on the streets, and the reform we are putting in place called No Wrong
Door, which is designed to make sure that the services and organisations
dealing with vulnerable people talk to each other.
I also acknowledge the Minister for
Health's announcement this week of the WA respite centre in
Northbridge. That will be a 24/7 facility for street-present people who have
been in hospital but are neither sick enough to stay in hospital nor well
enough to be out on their own to come and recover. It is appropriate to them
and they will be able to link in with services. That is a really good
initiative that was welcomed by Homeless Healthcare yesterday. I am proud of the significant extra resources that
this government is putting in to address homelessness. Importantly , we
are drawing on the best evidence to make sure that we have systems reform and
we start to drive down the number of the most vulnerable in our community.
member's question, particularly as it is Homelessness Week. This is an
important time for us to focus on some of
the more vulnerable in our community, people who are doing it tough and, of
course , people who are chronically homeless and sleeping rough in our
urban areas or the city centre. That is one form of homelessness, but it can
take many forms; people can be sleeping in their cars and in a very precarious
housing situation. As a government, we are committed to understanding the best
evidence and taking the best approach to make sure that we can address those
difficult issues that challenge governments and communities the world over.
As
part of Homelessness Week, I was proud to announce a $6 million local
government partnership fund. This will be an opportunity for local
governments to apply for grants of between $25 000 and $200 000. That is the
breadth of the grants, and we will match that funding. These are one-off grants
for local initiatives. We know that local governments
are close to their communities and know what might work best in their local area.
This initiative is not designed to be a new system or to put in place
ongoing services in those communities. We wanted to recognise that local
governments are often stepping up and trying to meet the needs of the people
who are homeless in their communities, and
that they need some support. This funding is in recognition of the local
governments that are active in this area and want to do something that
is bespoke to their community.
I want to address some feedback we
had from some local government representatives that asked on social media
whether this means that local governments will be responsible for homelessness.
That is not the case. This is new money; it does not replace the more than $100
million that we are spending now on homelessness services across the state. In
fact, we spend much more than that because we are putting in place new money
with our Housing First initiative, with the
collection of the By-Name List real-time data to understand what is happening
on the streets, and the reform we are putting in place called No Wrong
Door, which is designed to make sure that the services and organisations
dealing with vulnerable people talk to each other.
I also acknowledge the Minister for
Health's announcement this week of the WA respite centre in
Northbridge. That will be a 24/7 facility for street-present people who have
been in hospital but are neither sick enough to stay in hospital nor well
enough to be out on their own to come and recover. It is appropriate to them
and they will be able to link in with services. That is a really good
initiative that was welcomed by Homeless Healthcare yesterday. I am proud of the significant extra resources that
this government is putting in to address homelessness. Importantly , we
are drawing on the best evidence to make sure that we have systems reform and
we start to drive down the number of the most vulnerable in our community.
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