Homelessness

Ms CLOVER MOORE (Sydney) [5.35 p.m.]: Tonight I will speak on an issue of great importance not only to my electorate but also to New South Wales. Government in a civil society must ensure effective, compassionate solutions for the most disadvantaged members of our community. Homelessness has not disappeared since 2000, when the New South Wales Government developed an Inner City Homelessness Plan in response to the crisis in Woolloomooloo when up to 70 people were sleeping rough, resulting in conflict and a death. About 100,000 people across Australia are homeless or on the edge of homelessness, with 10,000 under 12 years of age, 36,000 aged between 12 and 24 years and 6,000 over 65 years of age.

The New South Wales Government and councils must work together to meet the needs of homeless people. The City of Sydney plays an active role in alleviating homelessness, despite this not being a traditional local government responsibility. The joint City of Sydney-Housing New South Wales funded Inner City Homelessness Outreach and Support Service helps homeless people get off the street by patrolling streets and parks, contacting rough sleepers, building trust and providing practical help. The service has had nearly 8,500 contacts since February 2006, worked with 343 people on the street and provided ongoing support to 367 people.

Nearly all chronically homeless people have serious physical and mental health problems, and many homeless people with high levels of need and complex problems are caught in a revolving door between health, mental health, welfare and homelessness services, and the law. Inner-city agencies are working together through the Complex Needs Coordination Project to provide housing with ongoing support, based on the successful Housing First model that enables homeless people with a mental illness and/or drug problem to get and keep stable housing.

The City of Sydney is a leader in the provision of homelessness services with its ambitious Homelessness Strategy 2007-2012 aiming to end chronic homelessness by 2017. The strategy includes online training for police and volunteers in homelessness services, and a new public space liaison officer to solve problems and improve amenity by working with people who sleep rough, residents and businesses. Council supports the advocacy group Homeless Voice, which is run by and for homeless people. The Homelessness Brokerage Program responds quickly to people who are homeless before they become entrenched in a cycle of homelessness. Since 2002, funding from the city and Housing New South Wales to the YWCA has helped more than 8,500 clients achieve good outcomes, such as rooms at the YWCA or fares to travel back home.

Each year, the city's statewide Homeless Persons Information Centre takes more than 50,000 calls from homeless people and links them with accommodation. Council officers convene the CBD Homelessness Coordination Group and work with mobile food services. St Vincent's Hospital's Community Outreach Medical Emergency Team manages acute medical problems outside of the hospital to reach people living on the street or in boarding houses. This vital program should be expanded to service people who do not generally go to hospitals or doctors.

My Lord Mayor Salary Trust funded a dual diagnosis worker at Lou's Place in Kings Cross, and the service now has funding for a three-year project to help homeless women who have both a mental illness and a drug problem. During two years of operation, the Kings Cross Youth at Risk Project helped in 800 instances to keep young people out of sex work and off illegal drugs, and to get them back home to their families, into accommodation and help with parenting.

I commend the clinical nurse consultants at St Vincent's Mental Health Service who work with homelessness services to manage the mental health needs of homeless clients. I applaud also the psychiatry registrar position established to work with the Haymarket Foundation Clinic and Albion Street Lodge to help homeless people with a mental illness.

However, local government and community organisations cannot tackle homelessness alone. It is very exciting to see the Commonwealth Government now committed to action after years of inaction and disinterest at Commonwealth level. Sharp drops in housing affordability and the long-term cuts to social housing have put more people at risk of homelessness, and the Commonwealth and New South Wales governments must expand social housing and improve housing affordability. The Government's Homelessness Green Paper "Which Way Home" is a positive step, recognising that the whole community and all levels of government must act on homelessness.

I have long argued for more resources to the Supported Accommodation and Assistance Program, which turns away up to 80 per cent of those seeking help because there are no beds. The program's services must be funded to deal with crisis needs, but all government agencies should take responsibility for homelessness, with a focus on prevention and early intervention, including health services, prisons and Centrelink. It is vital that all levels of government work to prevent homelessness, and that we expand and reform services for homeless people to help them quickly get back on their feet.