Federal Homlessness Strategy

Posted on Sat, 1 Aug 09

As taken from ACL e-news;

The Federal Government this week announced that it had reached agreement with five states on the implementation of its homelessness plan and that cash was available for action right away. Negotiations are still continuing with NSW and the two territories.

The aims of the four-year $800 million Council of Australian Governments National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness are to expand homelessness services, to prevent homelessness and to break the cycle of homelessness. Approximately 100,000 Australians are homeless on any given night.

Although Prime Minister Kevin Rudd took homelessness to the last federal election as a key policy area, the problem has only continued to grow, exacerbated by the global financial crisis.

Mission Australia CEO Toby Hall notes that demand for the services of his organisation have grown dramatically. Families have been especially hit hard by the economic downturn. “We have seen a 70 per cent increase in homeless families in the last 24 months,” he said.

The Government commitment to halve homelessness in Australia by 2020 is admirable. Though there is universal agreement in the social services sector that policy needs to be implemented quickly, the fact that homelessness is at the forefront of the public social conscience is a positive development. Let's hope the growing concern for the vulnerable homeless provides sustainable solutions to this problem.