❓ Dr. Stratton asks about the impact of the government's homelessness funding. The Minister responds by detailing investments in various programs and criticises the opposition's lack of policy.
AnsweredQoN 9Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
HOMELESSNESS
9. Dr K. STRATTON to the Minister for Homelessness:
I
refer to the Cook Labor government's commitment to providing support to
vulnerable members of our community, including people experiencing
homelessness.
(1) Can the
minister outline to the house how this government's significant funding
for homeless services across Western Australia has provided long-term certainty
for critical programs across the state?
(2) Can the
minister advise how this government's record spending in housing and
homelessness initiatives has had a real impact on our community?
9. Dr K. STRATTON to the Minister for Homelessness:
I
refer to the Cook Labor government's commitment to providing support to
vulnerable members of our community, including people experiencing
homelessness.
(1) Can the
minister outline to the house how this government's significant funding
for homeless services across Western Australia has provided long-term certainty
for critical programs across the state?
(2) Can the
minister advise how this government's record spending in housing and
homelessness initiatives has had a real impact on our community?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for her question
and commitment to supporting social housing and homelessness services in her
electorate.
(1)–(2) As
I have said many a time, our state government is very cognisant of the
pressures that are currently being faced in the housing and rental markets.
That is why this government has taken unprecedented measures to not only drive
and boost housing supply, but also provide relief. That includes, of course,
our record investment of $2.6 billion over four years on social housing and
homelessness services and also on a range of other measures, including our
rental relief scheme and our changes and reforms around short-term rentals.
It was my pleasure in January this
year to announce further assistance to key services in the homelessness sector.
We recognise that there are pressures. Every state is facing the same pressures
as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic radically reshaping our housing and rental
markets. That is why I was very pleased to
announce nearly $50 million in new funding into key areas. The first was
actually locking in and backing in key government initiatives that we
had announced and that had been funded by grants. That included Boorloo Bidee
Mia, the great work of the previous minister, and Koort Boodja, both of which
provide transitional accommodation for rough
sleepers. It includes also $7.8 million to continue the HEART effort ,
which is the outreach teams that have been expanded to Joondalup and Midland.
The government has provided $5.4 million for
the Safe Perth City initiative, which includes return-to-country functions,
and, for the first time, locked-in funding for the Passages Youth
Engagement Hub in the Peel area.
We
also provided an additional $13.4 million for 10 key services, which is a lift
in the baseload funding of 23 per
cent. That was for Uniting WA's St Bart's Tranby Engagement
Hub, the Foyer Oxford organisation, the Beacon accommodation, St Vincent
de Paul's Fusion Australia Perth's youth accommodation and
Accordwest's Collie crisis accommodation.
This also provides additional funding
of $900 000 for the by-name list, which is critical as we seek to get more
rough sleepers onto that list, to assist those efforts. Of course, all that
continues our work around the supported landlord model. While it does not get
much media attention, I am pleased to report that since January last year, as
part of this new innovative program, 75 homes have been purchased, supporting 115 people who were previously rough sleeping. We
will now continue to expand that program into regional Western Australia
with the first in Geraldton, where I announced $5.2 million in funding. It is
substantial work and major reforms.
But
I say this: contrast that with the opposition. It is clocking up now to seven
years—seven years! It wants to be a serious alternative for
government, and in seven years, it has not announced one social housing policy. I repeat: in seven years, not one social
housing and not one homelessness policy has been announced , but it will
knock everything. Hon Steve Martin has mastered the art. Any measure we
announce, he condemns it, criticises it, and says it is useless. I point to
what he said about our rental relief scheme. The rental relief program is an important addition to the measures that we
have provided to address cost-of-living pressures for WA families. We
are extremely grateful for this amazing program. Do members know what Hon Steve
Martin called a cost-of-living measure to assist renters in need? He called it ''a
bad joke''. That is his level of
analysis. That is the opposition's level of policy commitment. Every
initiative that we release and announce, it criticises or condemns, yet
it has nothing to offer the Western Australian public. There is a very clear
line between this government and its ambitious reform agenda to boost housing
supply, and an alternative that has no policies and is not fit to govern.
and commitment to supporting social housing and homelessness services in her
electorate.
(1)–(2) As
I have said many a time, our state government is very cognisant of the
pressures that are currently being faced in the housing and rental markets.
That is why this government has taken unprecedented measures to not only drive
and boost housing supply, but also provide relief. That includes, of course,
our record investment of $2.6 billion over four years on social housing and
homelessness services and also on a range of other measures, including our
rental relief scheme and our changes and reforms around short-term rentals.
It was my pleasure in January this
year to announce further assistance to key services in the homelessness sector.
We recognise that there are pressures. Every state is facing the same pressures
as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic radically reshaping our housing and rental
markets. That is why I was very pleased to
announce nearly $50 million in new funding into key areas. The first was
actually locking in and backing in key government initiatives that we
had announced and that had been funded by grants. That included Boorloo Bidee
Mia, the great work of the previous minister, and Koort Boodja, both of which
provide transitional accommodation for rough
sleepers. It includes also $7.8 million to continue the HEART effort ,
which is the outreach teams that have been expanded to Joondalup and Midland.
The government has provided $5.4 million for
the Safe Perth City initiative, which includes return-to-country functions,
and, for the first time, locked-in funding for the Passages Youth
Engagement Hub in the Peel area.
We
also provided an additional $13.4 million for 10 key services, which is a lift
in the baseload funding of 23 per
cent. That was for Uniting WA's St Bart's Tranby Engagement
Hub, the Foyer Oxford organisation, the Beacon accommodation, St Vincent
de Paul's Fusion Australia Perth's youth accommodation and
Accordwest's Collie crisis accommodation.
This also provides additional funding
of $900 000 for the by-name list, which is critical as we seek to get more
rough sleepers onto that list, to assist those efforts. Of course, all that
continues our work around the supported landlord model. While it does not get
much media attention, I am pleased to report that since January last year, as
part of this new innovative program, 75 homes have been purchased, supporting 115 people who were previously rough sleeping. We
will now continue to expand that program into regional Western Australia
with the first in Geraldton, where I announced $5.2 million in funding. It is
substantial work and major reforms.
But
I say this: contrast that with the opposition. It is clocking up now to seven
years—seven years! It wants to be a serious alternative for
government, and in seven years, it has not announced one social housing policy. I repeat: in seven years, not one social
housing and not one homelessness policy has been announced , but it will
knock everything. Hon Steve Martin has mastered the art. Any measure we
announce, he condemns it, criticises it, and says it is useless. I point to
what he said about our rental relief scheme. The rental relief program is an important addition to the measures that we
have provided to address cost-of-living pressures for WA families. We
are extremely grateful for this amazing program. Do members know what Hon Steve
Martin called a cost-of-living measure to assist renters in need? He called it ''a
bad joke''. That is his level of
analysis. That is the opposition's level of policy commitment. Every
initiative that we release and announce, it criticises or condemns, yet
it has nothing to offer the Western Australian public. There is a very clear
line between this government and its ambitious reform agenda to boost housing
supply, and an alternative that has no policies and is not fit to govern.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.