❓ The Minister outlines the new Common Ground facility in Mandurah, including its funding, location, capacity (50 units), target demographic (chronically homeless and low-income individuals), and support services. The Minister also highlights the government's broader efforts to address homelessness.
AnsweredQoN 502Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
HOMELESSNESS — COMMON GROUND FACILITIES
502. Mrs L.A. MUNDAY to the Minister for Community Services:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's record investment in both housing and support for those
experiencing homelessness. Can the minister
outline to the house what the new Common Ground facility in Mandurah will mean for those experiencing chronic homelessness as well as those on low incomes?
502. Mrs L.A. MUNDAY to the Minister for Community Services:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's record investment in both housing and support for those
experiencing homelessness. Can the minister
outline to the house what the new Common Ground facility in Mandurah will mean for those experiencing chronic homelessness as well as those on low incomes?
AnswerView source ↗
I can indeed talk about those
things. It was very pleasing to be in Mandurah yesterday with the member for
Dawesville, the member for Mandurah, the Mayor of the City of Mandurah and some
of the administration staff to announce that we have now chosen the site for
the second Common Ground facility. It will be on Allnutt Street in Mandurah. We
also announced funding of an additional $28.1 million, so we now have a defined
budget for that facility, which will deliver 50 units for people in largely
supported accommodation. Members might remember that the Common Ground model
was adopted from a New York initiative from 20 years ago. It is essentially
about self-contained apartments in usually multi-apartment complexes, with half
of those apartments going to people who are
chronically homeless. It is permanent housing for them. The other part is
social housing, so we are not mixing people with complex needs too much
in one set of units. Half of those people will be people who were previously
homeless. There will be built-in supports for people. There will be a 24/7
concierge, and usually room for a couple of businesses downstairs. I have been
to the larger Brisbane Common Ground and noticed that a social enterprise, a cafe
and a medical suite were downstairs. We also had images from the two 40-unit
Common Ground complexes in Canberra suburbs.
It
is quite exciting to have a total budget across these facilities. The Mandurah
and the Perth sites will have 160 units , using a Common Ground model.
Not only is that exciting, but also it demonstrates our government's
practical commitment to break the cycle of homelessness. Members in this
chamber will have heard me speak a number of times about the fact that this
government, with some contributions from the federal government, spends over
$100 million a year providing supports to people who are homeless. That is
largely done by community sector organisations or community housing
organisations. They do a fantastic job, but there is always more to do. This is
a complex area of public policy and service delivery.
It is really difficult when members
who face me are waving to people in the public gallery; I am really trying to
resist the temptation to wave back! I will not wave back.
In addition to the $100 million for
homelessness supports, we are delivering new money to the Housing First
Homelessness Initiative. We now have outreach workers on the ground in the
metropolitan area and in Mandurah, Rockingham, Bunbury and Geraldton. They are
starting to engage with people who are chronically homeless—they are
our priority cohort—about their housing needs and support needs. We are
providing new accommodation through projects
such as Common Ground and, of course, in partnership with my colleague the
Minister for Housing , John Carey, who has made a significant
announcement as part of the state budget for a huge uplift in social and public
housing, we are increasing not only the amount of accommodation but also the
type of accommodation that we make available.
Finally, we are focused very much on
reforming the system so that we are better targeting those people who have very
complex needs and using the evidence that is available across the world to give
people the best chance to, as I said, end the cycle of homelessness.
things. It was very pleasing to be in Mandurah yesterday with the member for
Dawesville, the member for Mandurah, the Mayor of the City of Mandurah and some
of the administration staff to announce that we have now chosen the site for
the second Common Ground facility. It will be on Allnutt Street in Mandurah. We
also announced funding of an additional $28.1 million, so we now have a defined
budget for that facility, which will deliver 50 units for people in largely
supported accommodation. Members might remember that the Common Ground model
was adopted from a New York initiative from 20 years ago. It is essentially
about self-contained apartments in usually multi-apartment complexes, with half
of those apartments going to people who are
chronically homeless. It is permanent housing for them. The other part is
social housing, so we are not mixing people with complex needs too much
in one set of units. Half of those people will be people who were previously
homeless. There will be built-in supports for people. There will be a 24/7
concierge, and usually room for a couple of businesses downstairs. I have been
to the larger Brisbane Common Ground and noticed that a social enterprise, a cafe
and a medical suite were downstairs. We also had images from the two 40-unit
Common Ground complexes in Canberra suburbs.
It
is quite exciting to have a total budget across these facilities. The Mandurah
and the Perth sites will have 160 units , using a Common Ground model.
Not only is that exciting, but also it demonstrates our government's
practical commitment to break the cycle of homelessness. Members in this
chamber will have heard me speak a number of times about the fact that this
government, with some contributions from the federal government, spends over
$100 million a year providing supports to people who are homeless. That is
largely done by community sector organisations or community housing
organisations. They do a fantastic job, but there is always more to do. This is
a complex area of public policy and service delivery.
It is really difficult when members
who face me are waving to people in the public gallery; I am really trying to
resist the temptation to wave back! I will not wave back.
In addition to the $100 million for
homelessness supports, we are delivering new money to the Housing First
Homelessness Initiative. We now have outreach workers on the ground in the
metropolitan area and in Mandurah, Rockingham, Bunbury and Geraldton. They are
starting to engage with people who are chronically homeless—they are
our priority cohort—about their housing needs and support needs. We are
providing new accommodation through projects
such as Common Ground and, of course, in partnership with my colleague the
Minister for Housing , John Carey, who has made a significant
announcement as part of the state budget for a huge uplift in social and public
housing, we are increasing not only the amount of accommodation but also the
type of accommodation that we make available.
Finally, we are focused very much on
reforming the system so that we are better targeting those people who have very
complex needs and using the evidence that is available across the world to give
people the best chance to, as I said, end the cycle of homelessness.
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.