❓ Mrs O'Malley asks about the 20 Lives 20 Homes program in Fremantle and how it will reduce homelessness. The Minister responds by outlining the government's approach, criticising the opposition's past inaction, and detailing the collaborative funding and support structure of the program.
AnsweredQoN 567Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
HOMELESSNESS
567. Mrs L.M. O'MALLEY to the Minister for Community
Services:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's commitment to do everything it can to reduce homelessness
and support those who are sleeping rough. Can the minister outline to the house
how the 20 Lives 20 Homes program in Fremantle will help those who are homeless
find permanent housing and support, and can the minister advise how this will
build on the work the government is already undertaking to tackle this issue?
567. Mrs L.M. O'MALLEY to the Minister for Community
Services:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's commitment to do everything it can to reduce homelessness
and support those who are sleeping rough. Can the minister outline to the house
how the 20 Lives 20 Homes program in Fremantle will help those who are homeless
find permanent housing and support, and can the minister advise how this will
build on the work the government is already undertaking to tackle this issue?
AnswerView source ↗
It
is interesting to hear of the opposition's sudden awareness of
homelessness. I have been minister now for two and a half years and in
just the last six weeks or so—the last couple of months—the
opposition has started to ask questions and understand that homelessness is a problem
in our community. It has been a problem for some time. It was certainly a problem
when members opposite were in government, even if they did not do that much
about it. It is one thing to talk about homelessness and raise one's
hands and say that we should do something about it and that more needs to be
done; it is another thing to actually come up with practical, constructive,
evidence-based solutions that understand that there are as many underlying
reasons that people are homeless as there are people who are experiencing
homelessness in all its different forms. It exists throughout the state. It
does not exist just in the CBD; it exists in metropolitan centres, regional
centres, rural areas and remote Western Australia. It affects many
demographics. It affects young people. Despite the demonisation and
characterisation of all homeless people as
perhaps being addicted to meth, the leading cause of homelessness amongst women
is domestic violence. Members opposite need to understand, and perhaps
show a bit of compassion for, why people might be experiencing homelessness, as
well as come up with constructive solutions. That is something that has
certainly exercised my mind when I have looked at different approaches
throughout the state.
For instance, the housing first
approach is being led by Ruah Community Services. Importantly, Ruah has
developed a cooperative relationship with more than 20 mostly not-for-profit
organisations to deliver the 50 Lives 50 Homes project. An independent
evaluation found that over the three years the project has been implemented in
Perth, 88 per cent of the people the program has housed have been in that
accommodation for those three years. This has
been a significant outcome for those people; they are still in housing three
years later. Something like 147 people have been housed. That program
targets the street present, the most vulnerable homeless people, and is getting
long-term results. That is happening because those people are being given the
right sort of accommodation and are targeted with the supports they need for as
long as they need them, including access to 24-hour support. It is using an evidence-based
approach.
I have heard the opposition talk
about this issue over the last six weeks or so, but I have not heard one
constructive comment or one practical solution for what should be done about
homelessness. I know that there is a problem in Fremantle with street-present
people—with homelessness. It is not as terrifying as the member for
Cottesloe might lead us to think, but it is a problem. I understand that it is
a problem, most importantly, for those people who are experiencing homelessness,
but it is also bad for businesses, which I know are struggling. I introduced
Ruah, St Patrick's Community Support Centre and the housing first
approach to some local businesses nearly 12 months ago. As a result of doing
that hard work of getting people together and talking about a local solution, I
was very proud to stand alongside business leaders, and particularly the
managing director of Sirona Capital, which is doing the Kings Square
development. He has raised, from local Fremantle businesses and wider afield,
$1 million towards a two-year project. The local council is providing support.
The Department of Communities, through the Minister for Health and his
portfolio, is contributing nearly $400 000 to that project, which will have the
innovation of providing a rental subsidy for
private rentals, so that there is the right sort of availability of support for
housing when people need it. We are getting wraparound supports for
those people through St Pat's and Ruah. Fremantle 20 Lives 20 Homes is
a $1.4 million project. It is now funded for two years. The vast majority of
that funding has come from private businesses, which are prepared to help when
we can give them the right model that will provide sustained long-term
benefits. There is not one sector of government or one group in the community
that will solve this; it is going to be done together, by collaboration. The
local government and the state government are
involved. I wish the federal government would pull its weight. It has a role to
play, too. The business community is prepared to step up. The service
providers are doing a fantastic job. I thank those in the Fremantle community
who have been part of that project, and I look forward to the results.
When the Leader of the Opposition
was asked in an interview on 6PR on 15 July about what should happen with
regard to homelessness, she had one suggestion: she said that we actually need
a task force to look at homelessness. She said, ''We should bring all
the not-for-profit agencies together. Get the government agencies and bring
them together and put a strategy in place to address this problem.''
That was the Leader of the Opposition's solution. In fact, that was the
former government's solution in 2013 when it said that it would have a plan
to address homelessness. The Leader of the Opposition was harking back a little
to when she was in government. In 2016, three years later, the former Liberal
government published its plan to address homelessness. It was a snapshot of its role in homelessness policy, current services
and future directions. That is what it managed to do in three years —just
announce what it was already doing, which was nothing. The Leader of the
Opposition says that we should have a plan. That is exactly what we have been
doing over the last year. The Leader of the Opposition might want to listen to
this, because we have been doing that work with the head of the Western Australian
Council of Social Service. The chief executive officer of Ruah, Deb Zanella,
has been working with the director general of the Department of Communities on
a whole-of-government approach and strategy for homelessness—exactly as
the Leader of the Opposition proposed. Perhaps that is a little more
constructive than the Leader of the Opposition's contribution in August
2015, when she said that she did not know why those people who are homeless in
the CBD did not get themselves organised. She said —
''The
accommodation is there, the support services are there, the not-for-profit
groups are there, the money's flowing into the system,''
she said.
''Clearly
if there's homeless people sleeping on King Street, those people aren't
doing their jobs properly.''
The
Leader of the Opposition said that the service sector was not doing its job
properly. That is the extent of the Leader of the Opposition's
understanding—she blames the not-for-profits and says that we need a strategy
and a plan. In fact, that is exactly what we are doing. We are working on
evidence-based solutions and putting them in place where we can. We are
addressing the underlying problems that lead to homelessness, such as job
creation, methamphetamine supply and demand, and domestic violence, which are
underpinning problems that lead to homelessness.
is interesting to hear of the opposition's sudden awareness of
homelessness. I have been minister now for two and a half years and in
just the last six weeks or so—the last couple of months—the
opposition has started to ask questions and understand that homelessness is a problem
in our community. It has been a problem for some time. It was certainly a problem
when members opposite were in government, even if they did not do that much
about it. It is one thing to talk about homelessness and raise one's
hands and say that we should do something about it and that more needs to be
done; it is another thing to actually come up with practical, constructive,
evidence-based solutions that understand that there are as many underlying
reasons that people are homeless as there are people who are experiencing
homelessness in all its different forms. It exists throughout the state. It
does not exist just in the CBD; it exists in metropolitan centres, regional
centres, rural areas and remote Western Australia. It affects many
demographics. It affects young people. Despite the demonisation and
characterisation of all homeless people as
perhaps being addicted to meth, the leading cause of homelessness amongst women
is domestic violence. Members opposite need to understand, and perhaps
show a bit of compassion for, why people might be experiencing homelessness, as
well as come up with constructive solutions. That is something that has
certainly exercised my mind when I have looked at different approaches
throughout the state.
For instance, the housing first
approach is being led by Ruah Community Services. Importantly, Ruah has
developed a cooperative relationship with more than 20 mostly not-for-profit
organisations to deliver the 50 Lives 50 Homes project. An independent
evaluation found that over the three years the project has been implemented in
Perth, 88 per cent of the people the program has housed have been in that
accommodation for those three years. This has
been a significant outcome for those people; they are still in housing three
years later. Something like 147 people have been housed. That program
targets the street present, the most vulnerable homeless people, and is getting
long-term results. That is happening because those people are being given the
right sort of accommodation and are targeted with the supports they need for as
long as they need them, including access to 24-hour support. It is using an evidence-based
approach.
I have heard the opposition talk
about this issue over the last six weeks or so, but I have not heard one
constructive comment or one practical solution for what should be done about
homelessness. I know that there is a problem in Fremantle with street-present
people—with homelessness. It is not as terrifying as the member for
Cottesloe might lead us to think, but it is a problem. I understand that it is
a problem, most importantly, for those people who are experiencing homelessness,
but it is also bad for businesses, which I know are struggling. I introduced
Ruah, St Patrick's Community Support Centre and the housing first
approach to some local businesses nearly 12 months ago. As a result of doing
that hard work of getting people together and talking about a local solution, I
was very proud to stand alongside business leaders, and particularly the
managing director of Sirona Capital, which is doing the Kings Square
development. He has raised, from local Fremantle businesses and wider afield,
$1 million towards a two-year project. The local council is providing support.
The Department of Communities, through the Minister for Health and his
portfolio, is contributing nearly $400 000 to that project, which will have the
innovation of providing a rental subsidy for
private rentals, so that there is the right sort of availability of support for
housing when people need it. We are getting wraparound supports for
those people through St Pat's and Ruah. Fremantle 20 Lives 20 Homes is
a $1.4 million project. It is now funded for two years. The vast majority of
that funding has come from private businesses, which are prepared to help when
we can give them the right model that will provide sustained long-term
benefits. There is not one sector of government or one group in the community
that will solve this; it is going to be done together, by collaboration. The
local government and the state government are
involved. I wish the federal government would pull its weight. It has a role to
play, too. The business community is prepared to step up. The service
providers are doing a fantastic job. I thank those in the Fremantle community
who have been part of that project, and I look forward to the results.
When the Leader of the Opposition
was asked in an interview on 6PR on 15 July about what should happen with
regard to homelessness, she had one suggestion: she said that we actually need
a task force to look at homelessness. She said, ''We should bring all
the not-for-profit agencies together. Get the government agencies and bring
them together and put a strategy in place to address this problem.''
That was the Leader of the Opposition's solution. In fact, that was the
former government's solution in 2013 when it said that it would have a plan
to address homelessness. The Leader of the Opposition was harking back a little
to when she was in government. In 2016, three years later, the former Liberal
government published its plan to address homelessness. It was a snapshot of its role in homelessness policy, current services
and future directions. That is what it managed to do in three years —just
announce what it was already doing, which was nothing. The Leader of the
Opposition says that we should have a plan. That is exactly what we have been
doing over the last year. The Leader of the Opposition might want to listen to
this, because we have been doing that work with the head of the Western Australian
Council of Social Service. The chief executive officer of Ruah, Deb Zanella,
has been working with the director general of the Department of Communities on
a whole-of-government approach and strategy for homelessness—exactly as
the Leader of the Opposition proposed. Perhaps that is a little more
constructive than the Leader of the Opposition's contribution in August
2015, when she said that she did not know why those people who are homeless in
the CBD did not get themselves organised. She said —
''The
accommodation is there, the support services are there, the not-for-profit
groups are there, the money's flowing into the system,''
she said.
''Clearly
if there's homeless people sleeping on King Street, those people aren't
doing their jobs properly.''
The
Leader of the Opposition said that the service sector was not doing its job
properly. That is the extent of the Leader of the Opposition's
understanding—she blames the not-for-profits and says that we need a strategy
and a plan. In fact, that is exactly what we are doing. We are working on
evidence-based solutions and putting them in place where we can. We are
addressing the underlying problems that lead to homelessness, such as job
creation, methamphetamine supply and demand, and domestic violence, which are
underpinning problems that lead to homelessness.
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