NOVEMBER 2017 VOLUME 30 – ISSUE 9I S S N 1 0 3 2 - 6 1 7 0

Responding to Homelessness in QueenslandResponding to Homelessness in Queensland

Contents

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Council to Homeless PersonsJenny Smith Chief Executive OfficerKate Colvin Manager — Policy and

CommunicationsIan Gough Manager —

Consumer ProgramsNich Rogers Transition Planning

CoordinatorAndrew Edgar Capacity Building OfficerLynette Deakes Office ManagerNoel Murray Parity EditorLanie Harris Communications CoordinatorBelinda Lack Digital Communications

OfficerAngela Kyriakopoulos HAS CoordinatorCassandra Bawden Peer Education and Support

Program Team LeaderTrish Westmore Capacity Building

CoordinatorDamien Patterson Policy and

Advocacy OfficerNatasha Castellano AccountantAddress 2 Stanley Street Collingwood

Melbourne VIC 3066Phone (03) 8415 6200Fax (03) 9419 7445E-mail parity@chp.org.auWebsite www.chp.org.auPromotion of Conferences,Events and PublicationsOrganisations are invited to have their promotionalfliers included in the monthly mailout of Parity.Rates: $90 National distribution, $70 Statewidedistribution only.Write for Parity!Contributions to Parity are welcome. Each issue ofParity has a central focus or theme. However,prospective contributors should not feel restricted bythis as Parity seeks to discuss the whole range ofissues connected with homelessness and theprovision of housing and services to people who arehomeless. Where necessary, contributions will beedited. Where possible this will be done inconsultation with the contributor.CHP Website, eNews and Social Mediawww.chp.org.au/services/parity-magazine/Contributions can be sent by email toparity@chp.org.au in a Microsoft Word or rtf format.If this option is not possible. Contributions can befaxed on (03) 9419 7445 or mailed to CHP.Subscribe to our free eNews to be kept up to dateon all the latest news and information from thehousing and homelessness sector. Subscribe at:chp.org.au/news-and-events/enewsletters/Follow us on Twitter: @CHPVicFollow us on Facebook:facebook.com/counciltohomeless/2018 Parity Publications ScheduleNB: Please note that this may be subject to change.Please check out the CHP website: www.chp.org.aufor updates.February: Responding to Homelessness

in QueenslandMarch: The Future of Women’s RefugesApril: Young People,Trauma and

HomelessnessMay: Revisiting Rough SleepingJune: Older People Experiencing

Homelessness: What Models of Housingand Support Work Best?

July: At the Coalface: Issues in HomelessnessSector Workforce Development

August: Issues of Substance: Substance Abuseand Homelessness

September: “Marginal Housing: Where to FromHere?” joint edition with the AHI

October: Mental Health, Housing andHomelessness

November: Responding to Homelessnessin the ACT

December: Housing FirstCover artworkCarrying A Queenslander through the snow in a shirtand shorts by Fintan Magee

The views and opinions expressed in Parityare not necessarily those of CHP.

Foreword | 4The Honourable Mick de Brenni MP, Minister for Housing and Public Works and Minister for Sport and Digital Technology

Editorial | 5Jenny Smith, Chief Executive Officer, Council to Homeless Persons

IntroductionSeven Years On: Continuity and Change in How We Approach | 7Homelessness and Housing in QueenslandPhil Crane, Guest Editor and Associate Professor of Social Work, School of Social Sciences,University of the Sunshine Coast

Chapter 1: The Current Approach to Homelessness in QueenslandThe Queensland Housing Strategy 2017–2027 | 10Department of Housing and Public Works

Assessing Queensland’s Housing Strategy | 14Jon Eastgate, 99 Consulting

Understanding and Meeting the Contemporary Needs of People | 16Impacted by Domestic and Family ViolenceDepartment of Housing and Public Works

Clean Clothes and Fresh Food Restore Dignity | 18Department of Housing and Public Works

Chapter 2: Program, Service and PracticeResponses to Homelessness in QueenslandThe Benefits of Good Governance | 19Helen Wood, Chair, Brisbane Youth Service Board

U1R Brisbane: A Synthesis of Collaboration and Imagination | 21Dominic Hale, Jenny Schulz, Travis Radunz and Fiona Caniglia, Under 1 Roof

Responding to Stigma | 24Chris Deighton, Operations Manager Queensland, Accommodation and Housing Services,The Salvation Army Australia Eastern Territory

Including All, Working Together: Partnerships in 2017 | 26Hazel Bassett, Team Leader, Gold Coast Homeless Health Outreach Team, Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service and Liz Fritz, Patron, Gold Coast Homeless Network Inc.

YFS Logan: Embedding Housing Responses | 28Throughout a Multi-disciplinary OrganisationJudith Hunter and Christine Grose, YFS Logan

IT Solutions in Homelessness: Partnering with Business | 30Elizabeth (Liz) Fritz AM, Patron, Gold Coast Homelessness Network Incand 7CareConnect Project Manager for GCHN

SPER Work and Development Orders: | 32New SPER Laws to Provide Fair and Flexible Fine OptionsPaula Hughes, Policy and Casework Lawyer and Belinda Tang, Secondee Lawyer, Homeless Persons’ Legal Clinic, LawRight

Homelessness with HART: Our Story So Far | 34Jodie Cowie, Coordinator of HART 4000

The Art of Community Work: | 35An Alternative Approach to Reducing Inter-generational HomelessnessLuan Murat, Programs Officer, Mareeba Community Housing Company Ltd

Chapter 3: Responding to Homelessnessin Regional and Remote QueenslandDelivering Remote Housing that Meets the Needs | 36of Individual Households and CommunitiesDepartment of Housing and Public Works

Cairns Street to Home, | 38Douglas House and Woree Supported AccommodationDr Phil Flint, Regional Leader North Queensland, Natalie Musumeci, Program Manager Douglas Houseand Woree Facility and Mark Jentz, Program Manager Going Places, Mission Australia

Homelessness in Rural and Regional Queensland Mining Communities | 41Shane Warren, PhD Student, School of Human Services and Social Work, Griffith Health, Griffith University,Dr Donna McDonald, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, Griffith Universityand Professor Donna McAuliffe, School of Human Services and Social Work, Griffith

Keeping Homelessness on the Agenda | 43Jessica Vidafar, Operations Manager, The Cairns Housing and Homelessness Network

How to Keep Your Place: | 44Vulnerability of Older Indigenous Womento Homelessness in Far North QueenslandFrances Every, Homelessness Support Service Worker

My Money Program: | 47Supporting Pathways to Financial and Housing StabilitySharon Edwards, Financial Inclusion Program Manager, Shelter Housing Action Cairns

Dignity First | 50Jessica Vidafar, Operations Manager, Access Community Housing

Chapter 4: Key Issues and Themes in theResponse to Homelessness in QueenslandA: Housing and Housing Issues in QueenslandThe Brisbane Housing Story | 51Jon Eastgate, 99 Consulting

Just Cause: | 55A Just Outcome for Queensland Private RentersPenny Carr, Chief Executive Officer, Tenants Queensland

Supplying Affordable Housing: | 58Challenges and SolutionsJamie Muchall, Chief Operations Officer, Horizon Housing

Australian’s First Rental Vulnerability Index | 60Penny Carr, Chief Executive Officer, Tenants Queensland

The Ache for Home: Rental Affordability in Brisbane | 61Leanne Wood, Research, Social Policy and Advocacy Advisor,Anglicare Southern Queensland

More Than Housing: More Than a Home: | 63Once I Was Homeless…Kaitlyn Crothers, Tenant Engagement Coordinator, Brisbane Housing Company

Housing is a Human Right, Not Simply a Human Service | 65Ross Westoby, Project Worker, Innovation, Performance and Evaluationand Karyn Walsh, Chief Executive Officer, Micah Projects

Housing and Homelessness in Rural Communities | 67Cheryl Prosser, Business Development Coordinator,Horizon Housing Company Ltd

The Role of Neighbourhood Centres in Housing | 69Siobhan Delgado, Sector Development Officer, Queensland Families and Communities Association

B: Responding to Indigenous HomelessnessAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Housing Pathways | 71Department of Housing and Public Works

Systematic Improvement of Housing | 73in the Aboriginal Community of CherbourgPhil Crane and Sean Nicholson

Aboriginal Sociality and Kinship in West End Street Life | 76Paul Memmott and Alex Bond, Aboriginal Environments Research Centre,University of Queensland

C: Responding to Youth HomelessnessCreating Brighter Futures: | 79The Role of Youth Foyers in Providing Pathwaysto Independence for Young Vulnerable QueenslandersDepartment of Housing and Public Works

Youth to Work: Opportunities to Break the Cycle | 81of Intergenerational DependencyThe Department of Housing and Public Works

Social Bonds for Youth Homelessness | 82The Queensland Treasury

Youth Homelessness in Queensland | 85Darren Young, Queensland and Northern Territory State Director,Mission Australia

Youth CONNECT: | 88Building Resilience to Homelessness in Young PeopleLeanne Rutherford, General Manager, Children, Youth and Families,Churches of Christ in Queensland

Sustaining Young Tenancies: | 90An Innovative Program to Prevent HomelessnessDr Nicola Brackertz, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI)and Adam Barnes, Brisbane Youth Service

We are not all the same: | 93Exploring Difference in Young People’s Experiencesof Couch Surfing Versus Sleeping RoughRhianon Vichta and Katie Hail-Jares, Brisbane Youth Service

The Recovery Orientation Model in Action: | 96How Meaningful Change Can, and Does,Happen for Homeless Young PeopleJacqui de la Rue, Brisbane Youth Service

On the Road to Independence | 99Kylie Dodds, Children, Youth and Families, Churches of Christ Care

Creating Digital Pathways Out of Homelessness: | 101Digital Technology Design for Young People, Wellbeingand Engagement with SupportRhianon Vichta, Brisbane Youth Service (BYS) and Dr Karleen Gwinner,Adjunct Research Fellow, Latrobe University, Health Sciences

The Ethical Dimension of Fundraising | 104in the Homelessness SectorLaura Watson, Brisbane Youth Service

Creating Community: | 105Developing a Group Work Model for Young Womenwith an Experience of HomelessnessLaura Christie, Brisbane Youth Service Centre for Young Women

Using Art Therapy as a Tool for | 107Relationship Management in Supported ResidentialSettings for Homeless Young PeopleKristin Penhaligon and Tara Harriden, Brisbane Youth Service

Breaking the Cycle of Homelessness in Northgate | 109Laura Holdstock, Service Coordinator, The Lodge Youth Support Service Inc.

D: Domestic and Family Violence‘Now it’s my time’ of Being an Expert | 111in One’s Own LifeLeanne Wood, Research, Social Policy and Advocacy Advisor,Anglicare Southern Queensland with Carol Birrell, Service Manager,Homelessness Services Women and Families, Anglicare Southern Queensland

Intimate Partner Violence and Homelessness: | 113Young Women Lost in the IntersectionalityRhianon Vichta and Ashleigh Husband, Brisbane Youth Service

‘Homelessness is not who I am, | 116it doesn’t define me as a person or a mother,it is not my identity’Deb Blakeney, In-Place (Nambour, Queensland)

E: Consumer PerspectivesDigital Story Project, | 119Council to Homeless Persons QueenslandDeborah Blakeney, President Council to Homeless Persons Queensland

F: Health and HomelessnessSupporting Homeless and Vulnerably Housed Patients: | 122Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital Service ModelChristen Reid, Emergency Department Homeless Liaison Social Worker,Department of Social Work and Psychology, Metro North Hospital andHealth Service

Integrated Mental Health Approach Sustains Tenancies | 124Department of Housing and Public Works

Working Outside of the Box: | 126Community Clozapine Commencement for the HomelessUsing Assertive OutreachBarbara Baumgartner, Deanna Erskine and Briony, Homeless Health OutreachTeam, Metro North Mental Health — RBWH, Metro North Hospital and HealthService (HHS)

OpinionLeone Crayden | 129Chief Executive Officer, QShelter

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ForewordThe Honourable Mick de Brenni MP, Minister for Housing and Public Works, Minister for Digital Technology and Minister for Sport

Welcome to the Queensland editionof Parity.

Like other states and territories ofAustralia, Queensland is no strangerto homelessness. In parts of our statehomelessness is experienced at rateswell above the national average,and our decentralised state presentsits own challenges when it comes toresponding to the needs of peopleexperiencing homelessness.

In many ways though, homelessnessis the same in Queensland asanywhere. It’s a social condition asmuch as a physical condition and itaffects people from every walk of life.

I have always thought that ourgreatest opportunities as a society liewith our youngest citizens, the nextgeneration. What sticks out with meabout the young homeless friendswho I’ve met, is their paths in and outof homelessness are all so different.So breaking down approaches tohomelessness as some sort of binarychoice inevitably misses the mark.

Homelessness isn’t a discrete thingthat everyone experiences in a similarway. People find themselves without a

home for a range of reasons, and theyhave countless different experiences.For that reason, our focus should beless on the question of ‘what pathwayshould we take as policy makers andproviders’, and concentrate more onthe pathways that we can provide forpeople who are doing it tough.

We all wish there was a silver bullet— a simple solution that could endhomelessness overnight.However, our decisions must beguided by the reality that if we couldclick our fingers and build a housefor everyone who is homeless today,we would still have people on thestreets tomorrow.

There will still be the 14-year-old whohas been beaten up and kicked outby his dad, because his sexualitydoesn’t sit well with him.

There will still be the teenage mumwho takes the opportunity to flee withher kids and drive as far as she canwhile her abusive partner is out.

There will still be the divorced orwidowed middle-aged man, whocan’t afford the mortgage, and isstruggling to re-enter the workforceafter an extended period out of work.

These aren’t hypotheticals. They arestories that happen every day, in citiesand towns right across the country.

And in a way that seems to rub saltinto a wound, homelessness isn’thouselessness; it’s something muchdeeper.

It’s about a lack of connection.

And because there is such an array ofcauses, and individual experiencesand responses are so varied, weought to look at more than a bricksand mortar only approach.

In early 2017, I visited areas that hadbeen impacted by Cyclone Debbie,where a number of people weredisplaced.

Most of those people weren’tsleeping on the streets. They stayedwith friends and family, in sleepingbags, on couches, in spare rooms andon living room floors.

This experience is the everyday realityfor so many young people and olderwomen. There is no distinction.We call it hidden homelessness, andit isn’t necessarily well recognised.The lack of safe secureaccommodation has an impact onevery facet of a person’s life, andlimits their ability to access educationand jobs.

In 2017 the Palaszczuk Governmentlaunched its $1.8 billion QueenslandHousing Strategy, which will see morethan 5,500 new social and affordablehomes built in Queensland.I’m pleased to be a Housing Ministerthat builds hundreds of millions ofdollars of new housing — but I knowfor sure that’s not enough.

We need to keep building houses,but we also need to couple a bricksand mortar approach to homelessnesswith an approach that is centred ondignity, and is based in love.

All of us are a twist of fate awayfrom being homeless. I try never toforget that. If we continue to move inthe right direction, to use every toolat our disposal and use empathy asour guide, we can help more of ourhomeless friends and have a morejust and fair society.

Because this journey of ours is ajourney that will never be complete,it makes it even more importantthat we walk together.

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EditorialJenny Smith, Chief Executive Officer, Council to Homeless Persons

Welcome to the ‘Responding toHomelessness in Queensland’,a truly bumper edition of Parity!As many of you will be aware,finalising this edition was delayedby the November 2017Queensland State Election. In theWestminster system, governmentbusiness goes into ‘caretakermode’ when an election is called.Consistent with that tradition andwith a new government now inplace, the Queensland edition ofParity can now be published!

In August 2010 the original‘Responding to Homelessness inQueensland’ edition of Parity waspublished. Seven years on,Queenslanders committed toending homelessness have againcome together to take stock.Government, the specialisthomelessness and social housingsectors have taken the opportunityto work together to both considerand document what remains, whathas been strengthened and whathas changed.

This edition reflects the changes ingovernment policy we have seenand the developments in service

provision that have followed, as wellas the innovations undertaken bythe sector. It also reflects thechanges we have seen in the wayhomelessness manifests in ourcommunity and in the in the way it ischaracterised.

The edition reflects our deeperunderstanding of the nature of roughsleeping, the prevalence of familyviolence, the extent of youthhomelessness, the particular needs ofchildren, the growth of thehomelessness experienced by olderwomen and men and the uniquechallenges for Aboriginal Australians.There are detailed accounts of thehigh quality practice endinghomelessness across these groups inurban, metropolitan, regional andremote communities.

This edition also includes wideranging reflections including on theroles of governance, communitydevelopment, partnerships, housingfirst and crisis responses. It isinformed by the perspective ofthose with the lived experience ofhomelessness. The editioncelebrates the changes anddevelopments in the serviceresponse to homelessness that wehave put in place, as well asidentifying those that are stillrequired.

This edition of Parity was madepossible by the wholeheartedsupport of the QueenslandGovernment. The project also reliedon very strong support from theQueensland specialist homelessnessand social housing sectors.

On the streets of Brisbane during 500 Lives 500 Homes Campaign Registry Fortnight. Photo: Patrick Hamilton

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This willing support and involvementis emblematic of the response tohomelessness in Queensland.

This edition showcases theQueensland Housing Strategy; astrategy built on extensiveconsultation with all relevantstakeholders across the state. Theseconsultations were consistentlyreported as paying attention to thevoices of those living the experienceof homelessness, hearing the needfor access to affordable housing, aswell as listening to those whoactually deliver services to thosemost in need.

As a country, for decades now, wehave failed to systematically investin social housing. The FederalGovernment’s stimulus investmentin the immediate wake of the 2008global financial crisis was the lastsizeable effort. At a time whenmany governments continue toavoid the issue altogether, theQueensland Government is to becommended for its commitment tocreating and increasing the supplyof social and affordable housing.While we are a long way fromhaving enough, it is refreshing tosee that the provision of increasedsocial housing is seen as part of the‘solution’ rather than as part of the‘problem’.

Far too often homelessness and theneed for affordable housing arediminished by being categorised as‘wicked problems’ that defy solution.The Queensland Housing Strategydoes not however vacate the policyfield as ‘too hard’ or hand overresponsibility to the private sectorand the market. The Strategydemonstrates that government canmake a positive and very realdifference, working in partnershipwith the sector and the communityto develop policies that work.

This is perhaps best exemplified bythe ambition set out for Strategy bythe Queensland Department ofHousing and Public Works.

‘Our vision is to prevent peoplefrom becoming homeless byensuring they get the rightsupport to either remain housedor access suitable housing. Thiswill require a service system thatis easy for people to navigate

and integrates seamlessly withother homelessness, housing andhuman services.’

The Council to Homeless Personscongratulates the Queenslanderscommitted to ending homelessnessin supporting this stocktake, andthanks you for working with ourParity Editor Noel Murray to developand produce this outstandingedition of Parity.

AcknowledgementsThe Council to Homeless Personswould like to acknowledge and thankthe Queensland Government throughthe Department of Housing and PublicWorks for their sponsorship of thisedition of Parity. This sponsorshipprovided the basis for the furthersponsorship support that was provided

by Queensland Shelter, MicahProjects, QCOSS, Mission Australia, InPlace, The Salvation Army, TenantsQueensland, Brisbane Youth Services,Churches for Christ in Queensland,Brisbane Housing Company, HorizonHousing Company, Communify andAnglicare Southern Queensland. Manythanks to all those homelessness andsocial housing organisations thatsupported this edition of Parity.

The Council to Homeless Personswould also like to thank Lisa Gilesand Belinda Lewis from theQueensland Department of Housingand Public Works for all their workon the development and preparationof this edition.

Finally, many thanks to Guest EditorsPhil Crane and Cameron Parsell.

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Mum and daughter outside their remote housing property

Photo provided by the Queensland Department of Housing and Public Works

IntroductionSeven Years On: Continuity and Changein How We Approach Homelessnessand Housing in QueenslandPhil Crane, Guest Editor and Associate Professor of Social Work, School of Social Sciences,University of the Sunshine Coast

It has been seven years since theprevious and first Queensland editionof Parity ‘hit the newsstands’ in 2010.What has changed and not changedin the Queensland homelessness andhousing landscape during this time?

In 2010 the Rudd and then GillardLabor Australian Government was inthe process of implementing theNational Affordable HousingAgreement (NAHA),the NationalPartnership Agreement onHomelessness (NPAH) andQueensland was largely focused ondeveloping its response tohomelessness in the context of the2008 The Road Home: A NationalApproach to Reducing HomelessnessWhite Paper recommendations.

The Labor Government of Anna Blighwas in power but would lose office tothe Campbell Newman led LiberalNational Party (LNP) in 2012.

The Queensland policy context inwhich this edition is located isheadlined by the QueenslandHousing Strategy 2017–2027released in June 2017. In late 2017Queensland had a state electionwhich necessitated a delay in the

finalisation and release of thisedition. In the foreword to thisedition the Queensland GovernmentMinister for Housing and PublicWorks indicates the QueenslandHousing Strategy is broad rather thannarrow in its scope and includeshomelessness, social and affordablehousing, private rental, homeownership and retirement living.

The analysis of the Housing Strategyby Jon Eastgate highlights a numberof features of the Queenslandcontext, including the relativeabsence of the Commonwealth inthe current policy landscape, andthe generally welcomed positivedirection of the Strategy. Inparticular, Eastgate highlights thecommitment to enhanced levels ofsocial housing and the proposedassistance to those renting privately.As flagged in the 2010 edition, thecore difficulty confrontinggovernments and the service sectoris that despite a range of positivedevelopments in policy andpractice, the growth in the need foraffordable housing continues toexceed growth in its availability, andrental affordability, vital to those whoexperience homelessness or are onlow incomes, has been declining.

Overall, the consensus seems to be:‘Acknowledge a clear andpersistent positive effort over time.But more needs to be done’ — notonly in terms of quantum ofdedicated resources, but also interms of the synergy between howwe conceptualise the issues,enhance the legitimacy of housingand homelessness policy in thebroader political arena (particularlyat the national level), and providesupport which is connected,responsive to people’s oftencomplex needs and rights, and thatis sustained over time.

So how do the foci and themes inthis Queensland edition of Parityresonate and differ to those raisedin the 2010 edition?

As expected there are numerouscontinuities. It is apparent that thedrivers of homelessness andinadequate housing which werespoken about in 2010 persist, with‘affordability’ the key current vehiclefor attending to the structural level.While very complimentary about thepolicy and service developments bothnationally and within Queensland atthe time (Queensland was cited as aleading state) Adrian Pisarski warnedin 2010 that while new services werea necessary and welcome addition tothe homelessness service system,the level of demand for services wasgrowing faster than supply, as was thedemand for the support provided bya range of services to assist thoseexperiencing homelessness withhigher needs (2010). The 2017 editionaffirms these sentiments.

A number of articles in this editiontalk to importance and character ofaffordable and accessible socialhousing. Unpacking the concept of‘homelessness’ itself also continues,whether this is in terms how to definein respect of Indigenous people(Paul Memmott and Alex Bond) orby making more complex theassumed distinctions betweensleeping rough and couch surfing byyoung people, or by challenging thelabelling impact of the use of theterm itself (highlighted by bothconsumers and service providers).

A range of other foci articulated in2010 continue to be front and centrein 2017 edition, including the needfor the most vulnerable to have forongoing support post-crisis and post-tenancy, the importance of servicesand practice frameworks which bridge

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across the complex intersection ofhuman need and service systems,how we meet the housing andsupport needs of particular groupsthrough a combination of policy andservice support, to mention just a few.The diverse and regional character ofQueensland is evident with articlesfrom across the state, including onesfocusing on Indigenous communities,mining towns, as well as urban,regional and remote areas.

There is continuing advocacy on legalrights issues associated with renting,including the need for ‘just cause’evictions (or terminations). The articleby Penny Carr details the high relativeproportion of people renting inQueensland and the long arguedcase for further protection of theiraccess to sustained affordableaccommodation. Rental issues forthose on low incomes should be seenin the context of housing and taxationpolicies:

Property investors receivedgenerous taxation benefitsthrough negative gearing andreduced capital gains liability. Weneed to be asking residentialproperty investors for a social-good contribution in exchange.

(Penny Carr, 2017)

This latest edition also reports on thedevelopment of the Work andDevelopment Order Scheme to assistpeople experiencing financialhardship deal with debts toGovernment agencies.

The digital world and how to moreeffectively utilise the new anddeveloping technologies, is fastgaining the attention of humanservices agencies. One article refersto the development of a specific webbased app providing service locationsand information to consumers, serviceproviders and the general community,accessible through a Smart Phone, orany device that has access to theinternet, making the provision ofsupport ‘real time’ (Liz Fritz et al).Technology related strategies are alsobeing utilised to provide support torural workers and offices, facilitatetelling the stories of people who haveexperienced homelessness andservice support (Deb Blakeney), andfor e-learning by practitioners. But inthe context of specialisthomelessness support the character

of such digitech is suggested asneeding to be built on ‘trustedpersonal interactions’ (RhiannonVichta and Karleen Gwinner).

A broadening suite of fundingapproaches and sources have been orare being developed, trialled andreported. Articles refer to variousnon-traditional approaches to fundingresponses to homelessness andhousing need, including theQueensland Government’s DignityFirst Fund, that commenced in 2016,and the Social Benefit Bondinvestment approach (QueenslandTreasury Corporation and LeanneRutherford). Also outlined is a crosssubsidised public-private sectorpartnership model, the ‘Reserve andHundred Hills’ housing development,where a housing development cross-subsidises rent for affordable housing(Jamie Muchall). In a cautionary notethe ethics of fund raising forhomelessness services is also raised.

In the current edition there is also anemerging attention to ‘outcomes’ as ameasure of effectiveness, though thisis more emerging and implied byincreased attention to evaluation andservice user data, along withoutcomes measures being used inpilot approaches to funding such asSocial Benefit Bonds. Watch thisspace!

An increased interest in governance isevident in this current Queenslandedition of Parity, not only as aninterest from government but as aself-recognised interest of non-government organisations. Therelationship between good agencygovernance processes andsustainable service delivery benefitsfor vulnerable clients is explored inthe contribution from Brisbane YouthServices Board Chair Helen Woodswho argues for embracinggovernance and service delivery assymbiotic forces.

There is continuing interest in, andemerging evaluative insight,regarding system and serviceintegration and collaboration,including the use of enhancedcommunication, coordination, andcollaboration/partnerships within andbetween services and systems. Someof these were also outlined in the2010 edition (such as U1R, andBrisbane Common Ground),

providing an opportunity to considerhow particular innovations havedeveloped over time and whatcollaboration challenges they nowexperience some years down thetrack. The value of multi-disciplinaryand ‘flexible’ approaches topartnership are the focus of particularservice contributions (Hazel Bassett etal and Judith Hunter and ChristineGrose).

Likewise, there is a continuinginterest in the needs and responsesto particular groups within thecommunity. In 2017 we see acontinued concern with servicemodels for young peopleexperiencing homelessness, and amuch more substantial focus onwomen’s homelessness (particularlyolder women), family andIndigenous homelessness andhousing. Domestic and familyviolence is now more prominent withexplicit attention being given byboth government and non-government services.

We also see the continueddevelopment of tools to assistidentify and categorise levels ofneed and vulnerability. The RentalVulnerability Index (RVI) (Penny Carr)and the Vulnerability Index ServicePrioritisation Decision Assistant Tool(VI-SPDAT) (Ross Westoby and KarynWalsh) reflect efforts to differentiateand prioritise need.

There has also been significantattention to housing in Indigenouscommunities where overcrowdinghas and continues to be asignificant issue. Articles examiningthis issue across Queensland(Department of Housing and PublicWorks) and in respect of Cherbourg(Phil Crane and Sean Nicolson)provide support for sustainedenhancements to the housingavailable in Indigenouscommunities. The reality is thatAboriginal and Torres Strait Islanderpeople are four times more likely tobe homeless compared with non-Indigenous people, and this isincreasing (Department of Housingand Public Works citing theAustralian Bureau of Statistics). TheAboriginal and Torres Strait IslanderHousing Action Plan and plans toestablish a new Aboriginal andTorres Strait Islander Housing Body(Department of Housing and Public

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Works) are welcome responses tothis reality. The importance ofappreciating the lived experienceand attachments to place ofAboriginal people over time andthe implications this has for howtheir homelessness is understood isalso examined (Paul Memmott andAlex Bond).

The specific nature and character ofhomelessness support is the subjectof a number of contributions from anumber of service providers and isdiscussed in terms of necessarilyinvolving a combination of assertiveoutreach, housing first informedattention to accessingaccommodation, direct support andthe coordination of wrap aroundservices. Various approaches to thearticulation of housing,accommodation and support arereported, including BrisbaneCommon Ground, youth foyers(Department of Housing and PublicWorks), and sustaining tenanciesexemplars (Nicola Brakertz and AdamBarnes). Also evident is thedevelopment of a range of healthoriented services directed to thosewho are homeless and seen as havingcomplex needs, examples being theRecovery Orientation Model (Jacquide la Rue), the Hospital Emergency

Department Homeless Liaison Officer(HEDLO) (Christen Reid et al.), andthe Mental Health DemonstrationProject (Department of Housing andPublic Works).

Some ReflectionsThere are a number of areas wherethere is less presence or attention inthis 2017–18 edition. Unlike in 2010there is little voice or role proposedfrom Queensland local government.In 2010 Brisbane City Council wascited in several articles as a keysupporter and funder of initiatives,and this shift reflects a diminished rolein social initiatives aroundhomelessness and social housing byBrisbane City Council after CampbellNewman became Mayor in April 2011.

In terms of support services, theprinciples underpinning policy andpractice directions in 2010emphasised the importance of beingclient-centred, a ‘no wrong door’approach and a correlative emphasison collaboration. The logic for thisemanates from what is understood asa complex interplay of the needs ofpeople, the complexity of thephenomena of homelessness itself,and the difficulty society, systems andservices often have in responding withempathy, coherence, and timeliness.

In this current edition of Parity theframe of complexity can be found inmany of the contributions.Complexity is often used to typifycomplexity at the individual level, thatis, to indicate multiple intersectingneeds or problems as defined bysystems and services. Both a growingbody of research and the accounts ofpeople who have been homeless (anumber of which are in this edition)warn us against seeing complexity asessentially located in the people whohave presenting needs, or as simplythe intersection of differentcategories of problem. Rather it is theintersection and interaction betweenpeople and economic, social, housingand service systems which manifestsin what we see as complexity. Thearticle on young women and inter-partner violence argues that a frameof complexity is essential if we are toadequately respond.

Along with policy that facilitates accessto affordable rental and housingoptions and policy that is explicitlyperson-centred and inter-disciplinary,community development strategiesalso have an important role to play inadequately appreciating andresponding effectively to that suite ofcomplexities that are understood andarticulated as homelessness.

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Brisbane street art

Chapter 1: The Current Approachto Homelessness in Queensland

The Queensland Housing Strategy2017–2027Department of Housing and Public Works

The Queensland Housing Strategy2017–2027 (the strategy) wasreleased by the Queensland PremierAnastacia Palaszczuk on 12 June2017. It is a ten-year framework thatguides targeted investment andservice delivery reforms that arecollectively aimed at deliveringimproved housing outcomes for allQueenslanders.

Delivering an effective response toemerging housing challenges willrequire new partnerships betweennational, state and localstakeholders and a coordinatedapproach to identifying andimplementing innovative solutions.The strategy outlines Queensland’s

commitment to working collectivelyacross the housing and humanservice systems to make a realdifference in people’s lives.

The strategy will position the stateto respond effectively andcomprehensively to the range ofchallenges we face, includingpopulation growth, an ageingpopulation, homelessness,housing affordability and supplyand people’s changing needs.It will also ensure that those mostin need are supported by aneffective safety net which includesdelivering stable housing optionslinked to human services andsupport.

A substantial proportion of peoplerequiring housing assistance facemultiple disadvantages and havecomplex needs. These are oftenpeople who need support frommultiple human service agencies suchas aged care, mental health anddisability services or throughcommunity facilities likeneighbourhood centres.

The strategy is supported by anadditional $1.8 billion investment,over ten years, to deliver more socialand affordable housing, relievehousing affordability pressures, driveservice delivery reform and respondto the needs of Queensland’s mostvulnerable people.

The Honourable Mick de Brenni MP speaking at the AHURI Homelessness and Housing Solutions conference, in 2017Photo provided by the Queensland Department of Housing and Public Works

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The strategy spans the entire housingcontinuum, including homelessness,social and affordable housing, privaterental, home ownership andretirement living. Reflecting thisbroad scope, the strategy focuses onfour key areas: Growth, Prosperity,Connections and Confidence.

ConsultationThe strategy was developed afterundertaking extensive communityconsultation in 2016. The consultationprocess included community, sectorand industry feedback and focussedon identifying people’s experiences,expectations and aspirations forQueensland’s housing future.

Nearly 1,900 people attended 76engagement events across the stateand we received 869 online surveyresponses and 188 writtensubmissions.

Key priorities identified duringconsultationParticipants identified a range of keypriorities including to:

develop more person-centred•

support to help people secure andsustain a tenancyimprove service delivery to•

support vulnerable peoplebetter integrate services to•

address issues that may impacttenanciesimprove cultural awareness for the•

design and delivery of housingand homelessness servicesbetter understand the needs of•

client groups struggling toaccess/sustain secure housing

better connect housing and•

education and training servicesovercome barriers to housing•

access (affordability,discrimination, rental history)provide greater choice of housing•

optionsincrease social housing availability•

ensure fairer rent arrangements.•

Growth: Boosting Social andAffordable Housing Supply andEconomic GrowthQueensland’s population is expectedto increase by 18 per cent over thenext decade (877,000 people) whichwill require an additional 371,000dwellings to be added to the currenthousing supply. While an increase inthe overall housing supply isnecessary to address populationgrowth, it needs to be supplementedby a range of other actions to ensureavailable housing is affordable.

The strategy will contribute toimproved housing outcomes forvulnerable households by increasingthe supply of social and affordablehousing and ensuring this investmentacts as a catalyst for precinctdevelopment, strengthening localcommunities and boosting localeconomic activity.

This includes increasing the provisionof affordable housing options, whileensuring it is delivered as part of abroader program to help householdsfind and remain in stable housing.

The new Housing Construction JobsProgram (the program) will align the

growth of housing supply with thedevelopment and planning of priorityprecincts to support populationgrowth and economic development,rather than a piecemeal ‘lot by lot’approach. The program takes awhole-of-government approachthrough partnership between theDepartment of Housing and PublicWorks (the department), EconomicDevelopment Queensland and keyagencies, which will underpin andsupport increased economic andsocial participation for vulnerableQueenslanders.

Building new social andaffordable housingThe Housing Construction JobsProgram is a core initiative of thestrategy and will make a substantialcontribution to growing social andaffordable housing supply.

The program redefines how theQueensland Government will deliverhousing to support urban renewaland precinct development, increaseprivate market and affordablehousing supply, generate new jobsand drive innovative housing designthat responds to contemporaryneeds.

More than 5,000 new social andaffordable housing dwellings will bedelivered over the ten-year strategy(including more than 1,700 newdwellings in the first three years).

In addition, we will leverageunderutilised government land, andpartner with private industry and

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Image from the Queensland Housing Strategy 2017–2027 Photo provided by the Queensland Department of Housing and Public Works

community housing providers, toimprove the supply of affordablehousing, which will address thecurrent gap between social housingand private housing.

Prosperity: Fostering HousingPathways and Brighter FuturesThe strategy is underpinned by ashift from a program-centredapproach, to a person-centredapproach, that will provideQueenslanders in need withpathways to economicindependence through a range ofhousing options.

This will include developing a suiteof flexible products and services(including loans, subsidies,head-leases and supports) that willhelp to reduce the barriers tosecuring private rental tenancies andhelp people sustain their tenancies.Some of the products will betailored to assist women escapingdomestic and family violence to re-establish a home.

The aim is to deliver positivesupport to people to help themprogress through the housingcontinuum, so allocation to socialhousing is no longer the end-pointof assistance.

This will include more activeengagement and collaboration withpeople to develop Home PathwayPlans. These plans will be jointlydeveloped by the Department’shousing officers and public housingtenants, to identify tenants’ needsand goals, resources and skills, andthe services that will help themachieve their housing aspirations.

Home Pathway PlansHome Pathway Plans (plans) will bedeveloped with people seekinghousing assistance.

The plans will be person-centred andrecognise the unique mix ofcircumstances, needs, strengths andvulnerabilities of the individual. Theywill identify strengths that can be builton, achievable actions, necessarysupports and practical steps forpeople to reach their housing goalsand aspirations. The plans will alsohelp support people’s capability tomanage their finances and thereforecreate greater independence andbroader housing options.

Support may include flexible housingassistance products that are designedto enable people to better accessand sustain private housingopportunities.

The Home Pathways approach willactively assist people to find asuitable home appropriate to theirneeds and to create genuineopportunities to progress through thehousing continuum.

Other strategy actions willcomplement this approach byworking with the private market andcommunity housing providers todeliver new affordable housingoptions and introducing changes thatensure housing markets operate in afair and supportive way for vulnerablehouseholds.

Working in partnership toClose the GapThe Queensland Governmentrecognises the complex housingchallenges facing Aboriginal andTorres Strait Islander peoples and iscommitted to developing solutions inpartnership with communities andstakeholders to improve housingoutcomes.

We will investigate and establish anAboriginal and Torres Strait Islanderhousing body to work withIndigenous Community HousingOrganisations and Aboriginal andTorres Strait Islander Councils toimprove housing outcomes in urbanand regional areas and remote anddiscrete communities. The role andscope of the housing body will bedeveloped with input from keyAboriginal and Torres Strait Islanderstakeholders.

We will also develop an Aboriginaland Torres Strait Islander HousingAction Plan, with the Department ofAboriginal and Torres Strait IslanderPartnerships, in consultation withAboriginal and Torres Strait Islanderstakeholders.

Other Housing Strategy commitmentsinclude providing support forIndigenous Queenslanders to owntheir own home and developing anew accommodation facility foryoung Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander girls, from remotecommunities, to access educationand employment opportunities.

Connections: Helping Peopleto Sustain Their TenanciesThrough a Seamless ServiceSystemUnder the strategy, we will create ahousing support system that is wellintegrated and tailored to individuals’needs and provides flexible productsand genuine wraparound services toimprove housing choices and stability.

Our vision is to prevent people frombecoming homeless by ensuring theyget the right support to either remainhoused or access suitable housing.This will require a service system thatis easy for people to navigate andintegrates seamlessly with otherhomelessness, housing and humanservices.

Housing and HomelessnessHubsPeople who are experiencinghomelessness, or are at risk ofhomelessness, will find it easier toaccess the housing and supportservices they need through five newhousing and homelessness servicehubs (hubs) that will be establishedover three years in Toowoomba,Logan, Cairns, Moreton Bay regionand Townsville. The hubs willsupplement existing services byimproving coordination and delivery.

Each hub will be designedcollaboratively with local communitiesto ensure it responds to the localenvironment and the uniquecharacteristics and needs of eachlocation. Such factors includecommunity demographics, demandfor housing assistance, availableservices, existing networks (includinghub-like services) and the nature ofthe private housing market andavailable social housing.

These hubs will bring togethergovernment and non-governmenthousing, homelessness and other localsupport services, to integrate servicedelivery and enable people to accessthe services they need in one place.

As part of the Housing andHomelessness Hub model, we willimprove our intake and assessmentprocess to make it easier for peopleto access our services. By integratingsupport services that can shareinformation, we can reduce the needfor people to have to retell their storyseveral times, which can be traumatic.

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We will also create a more holisticneeds assessment process to betterunderstand and identify anindividual’s personal challenges andrequired supports. This will be partof a suite of reforms to create amore connected housing servicesystem that provides seamlesspathways from crisis and transitionalhousing to safe, secure and stablehousing.

The Dignity First FundHomelessness is a complex issueand people can experience it for amyriad of different reasons. Whilethe Queensland Government fundsspecialist homelessness services andcomplementary housing programsaimed at assisting peopleexperiencing homelessness, or atrisk of homelessness, there is anarray of services and activitiesfunded externally that deliverimmense value to the community.

In July 2016, the QueenslandGovernment established theinaugural $2.5 million Dignity FirstFund to provide innovative,non-traditional responses deliveredby community-based organisations,to help Queenslanders experiencinghomelessness live with dignity andto improve their quality of life.

A second $2.5 million funding roundwas undertaken in mid-2017. Thefunding program seeks grounded,practical ideas that make adifference to the lives of peopleexperiencing homelessness, andprevent or reduce homelessnessthrough early intervention strategies.

Preference was given to proposalsthat respond to homelessness inregional or remote parts ofQueensland and/or deliver servicesthat address the special needs ofAboriginal and Torres Strait Islanderpeople, young people, women andchildren escaping domestic andfamily violence and older people.

There has been strong interest in thefund with almost 190 proposals,from 163 organisations submittedover the two funding rounds. Ofthese, 54 projects were approvedand are now delivering a wide rangeof innovative and essential servicesthat are making a real difference tothe lives of people experiencinghomelessness.

The Dignity First Fund builds on theinvestment that the QueenslandGovernment has committed todelivering through the QueenslandHousing Strategy 2017–2027 toaddress homelessness.

Housing referral teamsHousing referral teams (teams) will beestablished in Housing ServiceCentres to help people access safeand secure housing and link them tosupports to improve their wellbeingand housing outcomes. The teamswill work in partnership with peopleseeking housing assistance todevelop Home Pathway Plans.

The teams will build strongrelationships with local specialisthomelessness services, communityhousing providers and other supportservices and government agencies toenhance service networks thatprovide referral pathways for clients.They will work collaboratively withother government services, andnon-government providers, sotenants and their families haveopportunities to achieve greatereconomic, social and culturalparticipation.

Confidence: Reforming theHousing System to Ensure it isFair and Responsive.The strategy will deliver a range ofreforms to ensure the private rental,retirement and residential servicesmarkets operate fairly and providemore diversity and choice. A fairerand more diverse housing system willprovide better pathways to suitablehousing and enable people to accessmore housing options.

This will include a range of reforms tothe legislation that govern how thesesectors operate including greaterprotection and housing security, andaccess to better information andsupport to assist people can makemore informed decisions about theirhousing options.

We will review and modernise theHousing Act 2003 and reformlegislation for retirement villages,boarding houses and manufacturedhomes to ensure fairness, clarity andtransparency (for example, betterdisclosure processes prior to signingcontracts for retirement villages). Wewill ensure that people have a voice,and that there are effective and quick

dispute resolution processes toresolve housing issues.

Legislative changesThe Housing Legislation (BuildingBetter Futures) Amendment Act 2017makes changes to the Act thatregulates the operation of residentialservices such as boarding houses,including residential services thatprovide personal care and aged rentalaccommodation. Amendments aim toimprove safety for residents andensure compliance with accreditationand registration requirements.

The amendments will also look toimprove private rental accommodationby providing a framework for minimumprivate rental standards.

Moving ForwardThe release of the strategy is the startof a ten-year journey of reform thatwill result in better housing outcomesfor all Queenslanders, including thosewho are the most vulnerable. TheQueensland Housing Strategy2017–2020 Action Plan documentsthe first steps the department willtake towards achieving the ten-yearvision and sets out clear priorities forimplementation.

The strategy will introduce a strongerevidence-based approach to housingpolicy and programs. As weimplement the first actions over thenext three years, we will gatherevidence of the outcomes and impactson peoples’ lives to better understandthe needs of key cohorts, which willguide and inform the development ofsubsequent action plans.

The strategy presents us with bothopportunities and challenges that wewill need to work in partnership todeliver on. Our partnerships withgovernment, non-government andprivate sector stakeholders are integralto achieving a better housing future forall Queenslanders. The release of thestrategy is just the beginning of alonger-term program of transformation,and we are partnering with serviceproviders, industry and the communityto collectively deliver this importantreform agenda across the state.

Visit www.hpw.qld.gov.au/housingfor copies of the QueenslandHousing Strategy 2017–2027 andQueensland Housing Strategy2017–2020 Action Plan.

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Assessing Queensland’sHousing StrategyJon Eastgate, 99 Consulting

In July 2017 the QueenslandGovernment released its newQueensland Housing Strategy2017–2027, a ten-year blueprint forsocial and affordable housing andhomelessness service delivery. Thisstrategy comes after 18 months ofwork by the Department of Housingand Public Works and Minister MickDe Brenni, including a state-wideconsultation process and almost ayear of internal work within thegovernment.

For those like me who are passionateabout housing our most vulnerableresidents, the strategy has beengreeted with a kind of measuredhopefulness. There are good things init and nothing to provoke howls ofprotest. Yet there are also somemissed opportunities, and there arestill many areas where the wayforward is not entirely clear. Thefollowing provides a brief appraisal ofsome of the key elements of thestrategy.

Where is the Commonwealth?My comments on the Queenslandstrategy should be seen in thecontext of significant policy failure atCommonwealth level. Since WorldWar Two housing assistance policy inAustralia has been largely driven byCommonwealth funding throughsuccessive Commonwealth-StateAgreements. Base funding underthese agreements has eroded in valueover time (the Nation Building SocialHousing Initiative aside), so that theamount of funding currently enteringthe system is not enough to meet itsbasic costs. This leaves the states withan ongoing and intractable problem— increasing need, ageing housingstock and declining funding. In theabsence of any national will to solvethis problem, the states are doing thebest they can but can only patch up astruggling system.

New Social HousingA highlight of the Queenslandstrategy is a commitment to build6,000 new social and affordablehousing dwellings across the state inthe coming ten years, including4,000 between 2017 and 2022. Workhas already started on delivering thistarget, with the first roundexpressions of interest for thegovernment’s Housing ConstructionJobs Program closing in July 2017and tenders for construction onState-owned sites being releasedprogressively through 2017–18.

This program represents a significantincrease in investment over what hasbeen delivered in recent years,almost doubling output. A ten-yearprogram also provides some forwardplanning capability for government,community and private sectorpartners. Low income households willbenefit from increased supply.

However, the increase is off a verylow construction base and will notmeet the backlog of need inQueensland’s housing system. As atJune 2017 there were approximately16,000 households on the socialhousing register, over two thirds ofwhom were in high or very highneed. This in itself is a drasticunder-estimate of the real need —Queensland’s homelessness servicesprovided assistance to over 50,000individuals during 2015–16. Thedifficulty of accessing social housingmeans many of these weresupported to access housing in theprivate rental market, but this ishardly a lasting solution to the needsof most, with rents unaffordable andtenure insecure.

There is also a pressing renewal task— much of the State’s social housingis old, requiring significant upgradeand it does not match the needs of

the current wait list. The previousgovernment’s approach to this beganin Logan with the proposed transferof housing to a community providerand use of the increased incomefrom Commonwealth Rent Assistanceto leverage redevelopment of ageingproperties. The current governmenthas withdrawn from the transfer, butretains the commitment to renew theLogan’s social housing. However, it isnot clear how this will be done, andthere are no indications at this stageof what might happen beyondLogan.

Unmentioned in this strategy is theimpact of the discontinuation of theNational Rental Affordability Scheme,which funded approximately 10,000dwellings in Queensland between2009 and 2015. With housingsecured as affordable rental for tenyears under this scheme, the firstproperties will begin to exit theaffordable market in 2019 and thescheme will be completely wounddown by the end date of thisstrategy. While some communityhousing organisations have fundedtheir projects in a way that willenable them to keep at least some ofthe housing, much will be lost. Thismeans that over this time we will seea net loss of social and affordablehousing unless the Commonwealth’sproposed National Housing Financeand Investment Corporation can findan effective way of restarting thisinvestment.

Community HousingWhere does all this leave communityhousing providers? The previousgovernment’s housing strategyenvisaged large scale transfers ofpublic housing management to thecommunity sector. This strategyreverses that direction — thegovernment abandoned the onlytransfer that was in progress, in Logan

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City, and although the strategy itselfis ambiguous on the subject theMinister has made it clear that thenew social housing will remain undergovernment management, whilecommunity housing organisations willbe encouraged to engage indevelopment of affordable housing.

While some organisations will beable to take advantage of this, itpresents a dilemma for the sector asa whole. Most of Queensland’scommunity housing organisations arenot developers and have few assets,and up to now their largest area ofbusiness has been transitionalhousing, supporting highlydisadvantaged households exitinghomelessness. Their engagement inthis field is highly constrained bygovernment policy, which dictateswho they house, what rent theycharge, how they spend any surplusfunds and keeps control of the assetswhile delegating responsibility formaintenance. As a result, communityhousing organisations findthemselves in a funding squeeze withan increasingly disadvantaged tenantcohort, increasing costs and limitedflexibility to address the issue.Nothing in this strategy clearlyaddresses this situation.

Private TenantsWith the pathway to social housingincreasingly blocked low incomehouseholds are more reliant thanever on the private rental market. Inrecent years the QueenslandGovernment has grown its programsto assist people in the privatemarket, and this is an area where thecurrent government is doing quitewell. One of its early acts was torestore tenants’ advice services, cutby the previous government, and ithas also announced some significantimprovements to the ResidentialTenancies and RoomingAccommodation Act, the RetirementVillages Act and the ManufacturedHomes Act.

The new strategy also flags ‘a newsuite of flexible assistance packagesto enable access to private rentalproperties’. While it is not clear at thisstage what this will entail it is a clearsignal that in the absence ofsignificant growth in social housingwe will be increasingly housingpeople for longer periods in theprivate market.

Homelessness ServicesOver the past decade, thehomelessness sector has madeimportant gains in the way peopleenter the system and the way serviceswork together to meet the needs ofthese highly vulnerable people. Thisperiod has also seen the emergenceof new and effective responses tohomelessness based on variousversions of the Housing Firstprinciple. Over this period the socialhousing system has increasinglybecome a response to homelessnessrather than a wider response tohousing stress, and households haveentered this system via its own singleentry point, the Social HousingRegister. The weakness of thesesystems at the moment is that theyare not connected, so to getassistance beyond the immediatehomelessness response people needto go through a separate applicationprocess for the social housingregister, repeating information theyhave already supplied to theirhomelessness provider and doublingthe workload of overloaded staff.

This theme came up repeatedly in theconsultations around this strategy, andthe government has responded to thisby flagging a move towards moreseamless service delivery and a morecollaborative approach betweengovernment and non-governmentservice providers. This change will bewelcomed by the sector although westill wait to see what it will involve inpractice. We should not

underestimate the difficulty of thetask, with the need to address issuesaround privacy and confidentiality, theneed for systems to be simultaneouslysimple and highly connected, and theneed to shift the culture of theDepartment of Housing and PublicWorks and of some non-governmentproviders in the direction of moreopenness and collaboration.

The government has also announcedsome concrete new services — extraYouth Foyer facilities, extra women’srefuges, expansion of the Homestayprogram, new housing andhomelessness service hubs andhousing referral teams and increaseduse of digital technology for access toservices. All of this suggests that thegovernment is serious aboutimproving services for peopleexperiencing homelessness.

So What Now?This is flagged as a ten-year strategybut in practice such strategies aregood for about 3 to 5 years. Theprevious ten-year housing strategylasted less than two before a changeof government consigned it to thearchives. At least this time around thegovernment has a full three-year termto implement its agenda. If they cansucceed in that, they leave asignificantly improved sector, but onewith some long-term, difficultchallenges still to address. Real gamechangers are more likely to comefrom the Commonwealth electionwhich is not due until 2019.

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Brisbane street art

Understanding and Meeting theContemporary Needs of People Impactedby Domestic and Family ViolenceDepartment of Housing and Public Works

Queensland says Not, Now, Not Ever:Domestic and Family ViolencePrevention Strategy

The Queensland PolicyLandscapeOne of the key features of theQueensland Housing Strategy2017–2027 (the strategy) is thecommitment to taking a person-centred approach to deliveringhigh-quality and tailored housingresponses to people experiencinghomelessness or in housing need.This includes responses for familiesand women and children impacted bydomestic and family violence. Thestrategy recognises that these clientsmay need tailored and focusedsupport arrangements, along withaccess to stable housing.

A main policy driver of the strategyhas been the response to the reportof the Special Taskforce on Domesticand Family Violence in Queensland:Not Now, Not Ever: Putting an end todomestic and family violence inQueensland. The response to thereport has included improvements toservice delivery by the Department ofHousing and Public Works (thedepartment), along with theestablishment of new services. Theseservices have included new sheltersfor women and children escapingdomestic and family violence, as wellas new mobile support servicesworking with women where they live.Government agencies have worked inpartnership to ensure that theseservices have focused on meeting thefull range of needs of vulnerablewomen and children.

Data shows us that too manyQueensland families are experiencinghomeless, or are at risk ofhomelessness, and that women andfamilies are particularly at risk. Soleparent families, predominantly

headed by women, are more likely torent than families with two parents, ina context where private rentersexperience higher levels of housingstress than people in other housingtenures. We also know that socialhousing is critical for women as theyrepresent approximately 60 per centof government-managed, socialhousing tenants. These families areoften dealing with multiple issues,including contact with childprotection systems and domestic andfamily violence.

The strategy contains specific newinitiatives in response to the uniqueneeds of families experiencinghomelessness or at risk ofhomelessness. These include triallingthe Supportive Housing Initiative forvulnerable children and families andexpanding the HomeStay Supportearly intervention service to supportfamilies at risk of homelessness, witha focus on those with children underten years of age.

It is anticipated that having access tostable housing will provide thefoundation vulnerable families needto better address the issues that putthem at risk of homelessness andrelevant support services to helpmaintain their tenancies.

Domestic and Family Violenceas a Key Cause of FamilyHomelessnessEvidence demonstrates there is astrong link between the impacts ofdomestic and family violence andfamily homelessness. The issues andexperiences of individuals andfamilies who become homeless, as aresult of domestic and familyviolence, are sometimes very similarto people experiencing homelessnessas a result of family breakdown.1

According to the Australian Instituteof Health and Welfare, one in three

women who seek assistance fromSpecialist Homelessness Services(SHS) across Australia are affected bydomestic and family violence.

Domestic and family violence is amajor cause of homelessness forwomen and children. In 2014–15,11,919 clients of Queensland SHSrequested/required assistance fordomestic and family violence,representing 27.8 per cent of all SHSclients. Of this 27.8 per cent, half(50.8 per cent) were assisted byservices funded to provide domesticand family violence assistance, whilehalf (49.2 per cent) were assisted bynon-domestic and family violencespecific services.

Evidence-based Housing andSupport ResponsesEvidence shows us that whetherwomen are homeowners or socialhousing or private rental tenants,domestic and family violence impactstheir housing in a variety of ways.Impacts include housing instability,homelessness and long-termeconomic insecurity. Supportingfamilies to maintain stable housingaligns with an expanding body ofresearch highlighting the value ofhomelessness prevention and earlyintervention approaches for womenand children affected by domesticand family violence.2, 3

Accessing and maintaining safe andappropriate housing are two of themost pressing concerns for womentrying to escape domestic and familyviolence. Effective intervention, suchas providing access to appropriateand affordable housing, is essential topreventing women and childrenexperiencing homelessness as a resultof domestic and family violence. Thishousing should be appropriatelysituated to suit the needs of theindividual or family.

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The location of accommodation andsupport services is critical for familiesaffected by domestic and familyviolence as they need to accessemployment and maintain school andchild care routines.

The department has three key roles toplay in addressing this issue:

providing housing services1.

funding homelessness services for2.women and children escapingdomestic violence

enabling and facilitating3.integrated service responses.

The Queensland HousingStrategy Action Plan 2017–2020includes a number of initiatives toaddress the needs of women andchildren escaping domestic andfamily violence.

The Queensland Government hascommitted $3.5 million to constructtwo new crisis shelters in south-eastQueensland, for which thedepartment is working in partnershipwith the Department of Child Safety,Youth and Women (DCSYW) todeliver. An additional $6 million hasbeen committed over the three yearsfrom 2017–18 to 2019–20 to replacethree domestic and family violenceshelters in the Aboriginal and TorresStrait Islander communities ofPormpuraaw, Cherbourg andWoorabinda.

The government is working with localAboriginal councils, and existingservice providers, to ensure thedesign of the replacement sheltersmarries local cultural heritage with theunique needs of the women andchildren in each community, and theservices are integrated with localservice systems to ensure a seamlessdelivery. For example, inPormpuraaw, an Indigenous architecthas been engaged to design a spacethat reflects these different needs.

In 2015, the department collaboratedwith the former Department ofCommunities, Child Safety andDisability Services to deliver two newcrisis shelters in Brisbane andTownsville for women and childrenescaping domestic and familyviolence. These shelters were openedin December 2015 to provide

immediate access to safety andsupport while women await a refugeplacement.

Access to services in rural andregional centres has been identifiedas an issue for women and childrenescaping domestic and familyviolence due to geographic isolation,lack of transport options, limitedhuman services and not having accessto their own income.4 In 2016, theQueensland Government respondedto this need by committing to delivertwo rural crisis shelters in Roma andCharters Towers. Service funding of$4.48 million over four years, andcapital funding of $.4.2 million in2016–17, has been allocated toprovide and operate the new shelters.

These new shelters will be designed,implemented and integrated withother local services required bywomen and children in need.Co-design workshops were held inboth locations, with key partners andstakeholders, to identify the relevantservice delivery and building designrequirements for each service. A finalworkshop was held in Brisbane on 12

October 2016 to review the outcomesfrom these sessions and to finalise anew service delivery model and thephysical design of the shelters.

The government will monitor andevaluate the success of the initiativeswith a view to modifying them toensure that families, women andchildren are able to achieve housingstability and access the range ofsupport they require.

Endnotes

1. Chamberlain C and Mackenzie D 2006,‘Homeless Careers: A framework forintervention’, Australian Social Work,vol.59, no.2, Melbourne, pp.32–38.

2. Burnet G 2016, ‘Housing: More than justbricks and mortar: Domestic Abuseinterventions in the Housing Sector’, inHilder S and Bettinson V (eds) DomesticViolence: Interdisciplinary perspectives onprotection, prevention and intervention,Palgrave Macmillan, London, pp.227–248.

3. Spinney A 2014, Family Homelessness:Reducing repeat use of crisis services,FaHCSIA, Canberra, ACT.

4. Campo M and Tayton S 2015, Domesticand family violence in regional, rural andremote communities: An overview of keyissues, Australian Institute of FamilyStudies, Melbourne, p.1.

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Brisbane street art

Clean Clothes and Fresh FoodRestore DignityDepartment of Housing and Public Works

In 2016, the Queensland Governmentestablished the inaugural $2.5 millionDignity First Fund to deliverinnovative, non-traditional responsesto help Queenslanders experiencinghomelessness to live with dignity andimprove their quality of life.

A second $2.5 million funding roundwas undertaken in mid-2017. Inaddition to seeking grounded,practical ideas to make a difference tothe lives of people experiencinghomelessness, proposals that seek toprevent or reduce homelessnessthrough early intervention strategieswere encouraged.

Preference was given to proposalsthat respond to homelessness inregional or remote parts ofQueensland and/or deliver servicesthat address the special needs ofAboriginal and Torres Strait Islanderpeople, young people, women andchildren escaping domestic andfamily violence and older peopleacross Queensland.

There was a very strong interest in theFund with 190 proposals from 163organisations submitted over the twofunding rounds. Of these, 53 projectswere approved and are nowdelivering a wide range of innovativeand essential services such as mobileshowers and laundries, haircuts, home

welcome packs, food rescue anddelivery, health and fitness education,mentoring, and life skills programsdelivered through camps or clinicsand driving lessons for young people.

The Dignity First Fund helps peoplewho are currently doing it tough tolive with dignity, while we worktowards longer-term homelessnesssolutions. The Fund is bringing somegreat ideas to life and is helping someof Queensland’s most vulnerablecommunity members. In the words ofThe Minister for Housing and PublicWorks, Mick de Brenni, ‘the Fund hasproven how much difference you canmake with a good idea, a lot of heartand a little money’.

One of the successful applicants inboth the 2016 and 2017 rounds wasOrange Sky Australia, formerlyOrange Sky Laundry. It was launchedin Brisbane in 2014 by Nic Marchesiand Lucas Patchett who came up withthe idea to put two washing machinesand dryers into a van and wash anddry clothes for free for people whowere doing it hard. In 2016, theyexpanded their services by puttingshowers into the back of a van.

In 2016, they received $270,727 inDignity First funding to operate amobile laundry van in south eastQueensland and a van fitted with twoshowers in Brisbane. In 2017, theyreceived a further $115,770 DignityFirst funding to operate a laundry andshower van in Townsville. This fundingwill allow them to continue to helpthose experiencing homelessnessacross Queensland and cover theircosts of six dollars to wash and drysomeone’s clothes or provide a hotshower.

Orange Sky demonstrated innovativethinking to ensure peopleexperiencing homelessness maintain

their dignity. This includes harnessingthe thermal heat from the van’sengine to provide hot water in theirshowers.

Their services not only provide dignitythrough practical assistance butthrough the meaningful humanconnections they establish whentalking to those using the services.One of the most difficult aspects ofexperiencing homelessness is thesense of loneliness and disconnectionfrom the community. In the one hour ittakes to wash and dry someone’sclothes, people can sit and engage inmeaningful conversations. Orange Skyestimate that their volunteers haveover 1,200 hours of positive,non-judgmental conversations withpeople every week. The conversationsand relationships that the Orange Skyvolunteers share on the street continueto be the most integral and vitalaspect of the services they provide.

Another successful applicant of the2016 round of funding was SecondBitewho received $281,818 for a van andtruck to expand its food rescueoperations and deliver approximately1.2 million more meals annually forpeople experiencing homelessness,women and families in crisis, andyouth at risk in Queensland.SecondBite provides fresh andnutritious food for people in need.Food is donated by farmers,wholesalers, markets, supermarkets,caterers and events and isredistributed to community foodprograms that support people in needfrom all walks of life. Orange Sky andSecondBite are just two examples ofhow the Dignity First Fund helpsQueenslanders experiencinghomelessness to live with dignity whilethey get back on their feet. Visitwww.hpw.qld.gov.au/Housing formore information on the other servicesfunded through the Dignity First Fund.

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Minister for Housing and Public Works,

the Honourable Mick de Brenni,

with Orange Sky co-founder Nic Marchesi.

Chapter 2: Program, Service and Practice Responsesto Homelessness in Queensland

The Benefits of Good GovernanceHelen Wood, Chair, Brisbane Youth Service Board

IntroductionThe Queensland Housing Strategy2017–2027 1 (‘the Strategy’) commitsa $1.8 billion investment towardimproving the current housingsituations of the vulnerable. Whileservice delivery is often consideredthe most practical and worthwhilearea for expenditure, a large focusof the Strategy is on prevention andearly intervention throughinvestment in corporate governanceand strategic business areas. Whilemany see ‘feeding the corporateagenda’ as an ineffective use ofresources and a diversion of fundingfrom service delivery, if doneeffectively, good governance,strategic leadership and an effectivecorporate business model increasesan organisation’s ability to not onlydo more to assist the vulnerable, butalso to deliver services in the mosteffective way. Ultimately, if we arewithout effective governance, we arewithout strategic direction andsustainability.

The purpose of this article is to showa clear link between effectivegovernance and strategic businessfocus with strong promotion of thecore values of the organisation and itsservice delivery approach. If aneffective balance can be created,implemented and maintained thenthis enables more effective andefficient service delivery in thehomelessness sector. This in turncreates a substantial and lastingimprovement to the situation of manyvulnerable people in Queensland.

Ultimately this article will emphasisethe interdependent nature of effectivegovernance and effective servicedelivery, while also providing anoutline of how organisations canbetter balance these factors so theywork in harmony rather than incompetition.

The Tension BetweenCorporate Governance andService DeliveryWith service delivery beinghistorically, and rightly, the corefocus of the social services sector,governance is often seen as animpediment to the provision ofservices and corporate functions as adrain on resources that could bebetter spent on services andfront-line workers.

Governance is often seen as anoverhead or a compliancerequirement rather than as agenuine value adding function forthe organisation. There is often alack of knowledge about whatelements of governance are criticalto service delivery and how tointegrate governance into servicedelivery.2

Further discrepancies, perceived orreal, exist between the overarchinggoals of governance and servicedelivery. While service deliveryprimarily centres on achievingresponsive, rapid action —governance is focussed on ensuringthe long-term viability andcontinued success of anorganisation. Often, the perceiveddivergence of goals for these areasresult in organisations viewing thefunctions as disparate elements thatdo not work well together. This canlead to these factors being in directcompetition for a limited number ofresources. If this occurs then it isimpossible for organisations toeffectively meld these two functions,leading to decreased forwardplanning and less than effectiveservice delivery.

What is actually most important in thiscontext is that the goals should in factbe linked and shared under the samevision for the organisation. Effective

strategic planning and alignment ofgoals and aspirations that both areasfeel ownership over is essential.

The benefits of governance can beseen in stronger links between thestrategic response of anorganisation to service deliverychallenges. Value is added andgained when an organisation canorganise itself more fully tooptimise opportunities, strategicpartnerships and to consider thekey elements to growth andsustainability. Simply put, they cando more with what they have ifgovernance is effective.

This value however, can only berealised if governance is effectivelyintegrated and perceived as addingvalue by all members of theorganisation, including those on thefront line of service delivery.

An example of the need tointegrate governance moreeffectively with service delivery isseen through a review of the actionsof the Wiluna Government, a Shirein regional Australia with high levelsof homelessness, poor health andwellbeing, a lack of elderly carefacilities, child neglect, pooreducation outcomes, alcoholism,violence and poverty.3 Reviews ofgovernment practices found thatservice delivery outcomes had beenunsuccessful due to inconsistentgovernance policies. Poorgovernance had created a lack ofintegration and coordinationbetween departments, causingservice delivery to be inconsistentand often not occurring at all.

As a result of this, new practiceswere put in place to developconsistency between governanceand service delivery. This casehighlights the consequences that

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result from under valuinggovernance, particularly whenconsidering the social servicessector, which requires widespreadcommunication and understandingabout organisational direction andviability. This case also highlights thesymbiotic nature of these twofactors, as they allow for cohesion,coordination and integrated forwardplanning among a number ofdepartments or functional units —which is crucial when consideringthe number of individuals and teamsoften involved in service delivery.

When considering the recentrelease of the QueenslandGovernment’s housing strategy, it isevident that finding a balance ofgovernance and service delivery willbe crucial. A focus on long-termoutcomes and prevention meansthat the processes and practices putin place must be sustainable andable to be repeated over time, allthe while lessening the reactivenature of services. We do not wantto just respond to homelessness;we want to eliminate it.

In order to create sustainableprocesses that will also bring aboutsustainable service deliverybenefits, governance must be acore focus. This focus enablesservice delivery processes to beconsistent and efficient acrossdepartments and organisations.Effective governance practicesshould include appropriateseparation between board andexecutive functions; clear policiesand procedures on all aspects ofservice delivery; human resourcesand other organisational functions;strategic and operational riskmanagement; fiscal due diligenceand sustainability; and informedexecutive oversight of all functionsof the organisation. Done correctly,focus in these areas avoids theproblems highlighted in the Wilunacase study and instead facilitatesmore effective service provision thataligns with organisational goals andcorporate structures in a sustainableway.

A Key to BalancingCorporate Governanceand Service DeliveryWhile it is evident that a sharedapproach between governance andservice delivery reaps rewards for an

organisation, a balanced view can behard to achieve.

In thinking this dilemma through, it ishelpful to reflect on the fact thatorganisations typically operate overthree levels — Strategic, Tactical andOperational. In order to strike abalance between the commitment togovernance and delivery there mustbe a clear line of sight from strategyto operational execution and how theday to day actions of staff feeds into,and is reflective of, the strategicagenda.

At the executive level, establishing aclear line of sight will create a processfor decision-making that sets andaligns organisational direction andexpectations. This will ensure thatcorporate governance processes andoverall organisational objectives aredefining strategy and not hindering it.Ensuring a clear line of sight does notjust inform strategy — it asserts thatoperational actions and decisionsdirectly impact on the organisation’soverall strategy in an everyday sense.

This approach ensures that strategicgovernance at the executive level andservice delivery at an operationallevel are working cooperatively and inharmony to achieve the same overallgoal. By demonstrating, talking aboutand linking a clear line of sight for allstaff, organisations can ensure thatgovernance and service delivery arefocused on the same outcomes albeitvia different contributions. This in turneliminates resource competition,elevates the important of servicedelivery and practice methodologiesand ultimately enhances outcomes forclients.

In a more pragmatic sense, having aclear line of sight also helpsemployees to recognise what isexpected of them in their roles, andthe potential positive or negativeramifications that their performancecan have on the organisation. Thisgreater insight into individual rolesand expectations allows employeesto take initiative and respond rapidlyand appropriately to changes withoutinstruction from their managers.Successful service delivery outcomesare more likely to occur as a result ofincreased employee autonomy, as theorganisation is able to remain flexibleand respond to changes in the marketor with clients.

ConclusionGovernance and service deliverymust no longer be viewed asseparate, and often conflicting,factors competing fororganisational resources andfocus. Ultimately, in order for thecommunity services sector tothrive and achieve its intendedoutcomes including loweringhomelessness rates and improvingthe situations of vulnerable clients,a shift toward embracinggovernance and service delivery assymbiotic forces must occur. Toachieve this, organisations mustprovide clear line of sight to theiremployees that celebrates bothgood governance and a maturingpractice model that delivers forvulnerable clients.

Ultimately, if an organisation in thissector is not able to achieve itsoutcomes, it is not able to assistvulnerable clients to its fullpotential even with great staff anda mature practice approach. It isthrough collaboration that bothgovernance and practice cancoexist to see substantial statisticalimprovement in the rate ofhomelessness and to provide clearlink to relevant strategies such asthe Queensland Housing Strategy2017–2027.4

While it is tempting to think that afocus on governance may onlyseem to deliver benefits for theorganisation, the greatest benefitof this balance is that it can createsubstantial and lasting positivedevelopments for the lives of ourmost vulnerable.

Endnotes

1. Department of Housing and Public Works2017, Queensland Housing Strategy2017–2027, Queensland Government,p.13.

2. Integrated Basin Development andLivelihood Promotion Programme,unpublished working draft, Understandingthe Linkages between Governance andService Delivery in Meghalaya: A LiteratureReview, Meghalaya Institute ofGovernance, p.5.

3. Lange C 2005, Local Governance inRemote Regions — Models and Issues:Governance and Service Delivery inWiluna, Centre for Aboriginal EconomicPolicy Research, Australian NationalUniversity, Canberra, p.4.

4. Department of Housing and Public Works2017, op cit.

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U1R Brisbane: A Synthesis ofCollaboration and ImaginationDominic Hale, Jenny Schulz, Travis Radunz and Fiona Caniglia, Under 1 Roof

Under 1 Roof (U1R) Brisbane is amulti-agency service integrationinitiative that draws togetherfront-line service providers fromdiverse agencies in collaborativeplanning to achieve housing andsupport outcomes. The agenciesinvolved are from both governmentand non-government sectors,including services from housing andhomelessness sectors as well asspecialist support services fromareas such as mental health andsubstance use.

U1R began in 2006 and firstpioneered case coordinationmeetings in March 2010, that aretargeted to meet the needs of peopleexperiencing homelessness and thoseat risk of homelessness. U1Rharnesses front-line resources andskills to drive service integration thatis focussed entirely on the person orhousehold needing assistance. U1Rmoves beyond abstract discussionsabout collaboration to tangible andpractical actions that assist people.

Care Coordination as a Process:The ModelSuccess in securing housing andsupport outcomes is attributable toU1R’s care coordination model. Thisapproach has evolved over sevenyears to include a fortnightly meetingattended by front-line staff who areinvited to make referrals using anagreed referral and assessment form.

As an initial priority, the referral formincludes guidance for seeking andobtaining informed consent todiscuss the situation at the U1Rmeeting, to ensure respect for clientconfidentiality and promote a moreperson-centred and informedapproach. The referral processassesses needs and issues anddetermines if a multi-agency casecoordination process might assist.

Case coordination is not alwaysrequired. Referrers are requested todetermine if case coordination willbe beneficial by establishing if oneor more of the following are present:

the person has multiple,•

intersecting/ interacting needs orissuesthe person has experienced•

recurring episodes ofhomelessness or long-termhomelessnessthe person has experienced one•

or more examples of a housingplacement deteriorating orending, including rapid cyclingin and out of housing andhomelessnessthe person is currently housed•

and their tenancy is failing orvulnerable

the practitioner involved with the•

person would find peer supportand multi-agency inputbeneficial because the situationis complex and/or there aredifficulties sustaining arelationship between the agencyand the personthe client has been circulating•

between agencies and wouldbenefit if their profile was raisedacross agencies working on acollaborative plan of action.

U1R encourages front-line workersto continue to progresscollaborative work directly withother agencies and not to wait for ameeting to initiate planning orintervention. Meetings can then beused to present the case, discuss

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options and make agreementsabout a plan of action.

Meetings work best whenparticipants (service providers)contribute at one or more levels:

direct involvement: a•

contribution of specific actionsthat directly benefit a clientspecific expertise: a contribution•

of specialist expertise,knowledge or experience thatcan help even if the worker is notdirectly involvedcommunity of practice: a•

contribution as a community ofpeers providing support, ideas,reflections and learning.

U1R has evolved by using acommunity developmentmethodology with a focus on buildingrelationships as well as supportivestructures such as meetings, learningevents and setting up a leadershipgroup. It is an approach that hasworked to move beyond establishedservice norms and relationshipstowards the synthesis of diverseideas, perspectives and contributions.

This approach further recognises theimportance of empathy in building

purposeful relationships, includingbetween service providers acrossmultiple sectors. Participants mightbe at different starting points, but theprocess has helped those involved toagree on a shared body of work as abasis for developmental progress.There can be different views onsolutions, but facilitated dialoguedraws people closer to the bestpossible solution and supports themin working harmoniously to achieve apositive result.

What are the Benefits?U1R continues to monitor outcomesand between 2011 and 2015 thefollowing data for 518 referrals wasrecorded:1

Other notable trends include:by 2015, the proportion of men•

and women was almost equalthe proportion of young people•

has increased and by 2015 theyrepresented 37 per cent of thetotal clients referredin 2015 25 per cent of clients•

recorded three or morecomplex issues and 76 per centexperienced two or morecomplex issuesthere has been a slight reduction•

in the number of cases referred in2015 reflecting the growth incase coordination groups inBrisbane and also that clients areretained for longer to consolidatesupport arrangements.

0

50

100

150

200

2014–152013–142012–132011

Num

ber

of

Clie

nts

120

167

122109

Number of Client referals to U1R by yearNote: 2012–2013 reflects a period of 18 months.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

201520142012–132011

Per

cent

age

of

Clie

nts

64 6774 77

Clients assisted with an improved housingoutcome (%)

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This data shows a steady increase inclients recording positive housingoutcomes and that clients referredare experiencing a level ofcomplexity that warrants amulti-agency response.

The benefits of U1R casecoordination are multifaceted. Theprimary focus of the group is toachieve and sustain real outcomesfor people who may otherwise ‘fallthrough the cracks’ of the servicesystem. U1R has become a place ofconnection for workers from avariety of sectors that are touchedby homelessness, including but notlimited to specialist homelessnessservices, housing services, youthservices, alcohol and other drugservices, and mental health services.

U1R has the potential to provide apeer support function for workers inchallenging situations, to assist inmaintaining hope in the face ofpressure, time constraints, crises andadversity. By making the processesrequired to suitably house tenantstransparent to all group members,direct support providers and housingproviders also develop empathy foreach other’s role. In utilising acollective problem solving approach,U1R overcomes service silos,providing opportunities for mutuallearning and contribution to helpnavigate and overcome challengesgenerated by systems level issues,resource deficits and clientcircumstances. U1R also helps todevelop and strengthen practice in asupportive and collegial environment.

At the board-level, U1R createsopportunities to effect system-levelchange between organisations, aschallenges experienced by workerson the ground are ‘filtered up’ to theboard members for discussion and amulti-agency response.

What are the Next Challengesfor Further Improvements?As a dynamic multi-agency response,there are always new frontiers andendless scope for innovations thatleverage from strengthenedrelationships and supportivestructures. Some challenges include:

Resources:Workers/organisations are oftentime-poor, and when working withclients experiencing crisis, it can be

difficult to attend a set meetingtime/day each fortnight. There isalso an ongoing challenge to secureresources for case coordinationwork itself.

Succession PlanningA consortium of organisations isalways dynamic and workers comeand go from key roles. As front-lineand senior workers change, differentlevels of interest and commitmentcan occur. There is a risk forsuccession when a worker leaves.There is also currently a long-termrole in place providing coordinationsupport within U1R and work iscurrently underway to strengthensuccession when this role orfront-line workers move from theirpositions thus ensuring greaterstrength over time.

Greater involvement of personsexperiencing homelessnessA persistent challenge in caseco-ordination is balancing the needfor services to be able to quicklyand honestly discuss barriers tosustainable housing whilecentralising the experience of theperson experiencing housing strain.Without the individual person beingthe key agent of change, thesustainability of any housingoutcome can be jeopardised. U1Rpractices careful informed consenthowever people who are referreddo not necessarily want toparticipate in meetings themselves.This is an area of furtherinvestigation and consideration andU1R is always seeking new ways tostrengthen the person’s role in theprocess of change.

Data collection systemsA shared data platform geared torecording and reporting oncollaborative multi-agency work isan important future goal for U1R.Data is essential to trackingsuccesses, identifying areas forimprovement and establishingopportunities for measuringcumulative impact across regionswhere case coordination groups arepresent.

Maintaining EnthusiasmWorking with clients with complexneeds in crisis situations can leadto feelings of hopelessness, andworkers attending U1R are noexception. When a client’s

situation is really challenging, andstructural barriers are in the way ofa successful outcome, it can bedifficult to maintain enthusiasm inthe meetings. A conscious efforton the part of all workers inattendance to maintain thatenergy can help to mitigate thischallenge, as can acknowledgingwhere the energy is lacking andworking together to get thingsback on track.

What are the key elements ofsuccess for others thinkingabout something similar?The key elements of success are:

skilled facilitation•

shared tools and resources•

clear communication pathways•

ongoing relationship building•

and support for meetingstructuresmutuality and respect among•

workersa program of learning and•

developmentleadership support from all•

agenciesa central and shared•

coordination worker.2

ConclusionThe consortium has evolved since2006 to practice fortnightly casecoordination meetings, regularlearning events and leadershipmeetings that guide and supportfurther progress. The model hasassisted over 500 clients throughcollaborative assessment, planningand intervention and freely offersinformation, tools and resources toother regions where there isreplication interest. In the future wewill seek to improve data collectionand reporting and continuemeaningful dialogue on practiceissues including informed consent.Case coordination could beconsidered a way of unlockingregional capacity for serviceintegration and helping to harnessservice system elements andresources in ways that directlybenefit clients.

Endnotes

1. Visit http://www.under1roof.org.au/publications-and-resources/ for moreupdates on data reporting and otherresources.

2. U1R agencies commit resources to maintaina one day per week position to providecoordination support.

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Responding toStigmaChris Deighton, Operations Manager Queensland, Accommodation and Housing Services, The Salvation Army Australia Eastern Territory

The research is clear, labels like‘homeless’ or ‘client’ restrict peoplewith disabilities.

As we know, stigma and labels canhave a significant negative affect onpeople. This can be especially truewithin the homelessness or mentalhealth sectors. It was interesting toexplore how many people accessing aspecialist homelessness serviceactually considered themselves to be‘homeless’ — and if so, does thisself-perception have an overall impacton their wellbeing?

We explored this issue recently byundertaking research with TheUniversity of Queensland within oneof The Salvation Army’s largestcentres. We found that 55 per cent ofpeople staying in homeless

accommodation provided by TheSalvation Army identified as‘homeless’, and 31 per cent rejectedthat label.1 This presents someinteresting data, as you have toidentify as being in a ‘homeless’situation in order to receive support.The research went on to furtherexplore this issue in relation topeople’s wellbeing relative to theirhomeless label. In our research, wefound that the wellbeing of peoplewho refused to define themselves as‘homeless’ was significantly higherthan the wellbeing of those who hadadopted the label to describethemselves.2 Similarly with mentalhealth, it appears that, ‘when weadopt a label to describe ourselves,we start to think and act in ways thatalign with the stereotypes of thatlabel’.3

This opens up an interestingquestion; can we have someprofound impact by simply changingthe language we utilise andsubsequently, how we present ourservices and practice to people?

Over a number of years now, TheSalvation Army in Queenslandthrough its Accommodation andHousing Services has been doingexactly that — challenging how wecommunicate and engage within ourpractice with people, not homelessclients.

A number of interesting questionshave been raised in undertaking thisjourney:

Do we see a ‘homeless client’ or•

do we see a person seekingaccommodation support?

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Do people or services have•

lower expectations of peoplewho are labelled as being‘homeless’?Do we actually believe a person•

can and will overcome, and isthis reflected in the languagewe use and how we engage?Therefore, can or do our•

actions, our words and ourthinking, inadvertently restrictpeople’s outcomes?

While these initial questions mayseem simple and obvious, whenyou take these questions across allaspects of support, it opens up alanguage labyrinth that directlyframes and informs serviceprovision.

How we initiate engagement withsomebody, especially from firstpoint of contact, directly informsthe ongoing support relationship.When someone walks into a‘specialist homelessness service’for the first or subsequent time,what impact does this have on theperson? What does it take to walkinto a service and take on the labelof ‘homeless’ in order to receiveassistance? What does it take toresist the title ‘homeless’? Moreimportantly, what can we do so thatyou do not need to label yourselfin order to receive support?

These are the complexities of ourwork that have framed our thinkingand subsequently some of thechanges we have seen within ourservices over the past few years.

What is the change we need tosee? In our experience, the changeis both in how the person perceivesthemselves; and also how theservice presents and engages withthe individual. This change startswith the service provider.

The language we use needs tohave impact right from the start,permeating all aspects of servicedelivery, even prior to initialengagement. We have had toconsider how we provide languagevia our policies, procedures andpractices. We need to present ourservices, through all that we do,with language that provides hopeand encouragement whilst alsochallenging the persons’self-perceptions.

When you come into our service,you are not coming in to secure abed as a homeless person for thenight. In fact, you are coming into aservice that does not self-identify asa homelessness service, but rather,as a place that providesaccommodation integrated with anenvironment for transformation. Weseek to break down barriers, tounpack life together. We want towork at a deeper level withindividuals. We see people, not onlyas survivors of circumstance, but asso much more than that. Yes weunpack vulnerability and needs, butwe also focus on skills and abilities.We help people to explore whatworks best for them, understandingthat they are the expert in their life— exploring the issues that impacton their life (vulnerabilities) whilstassisting to identify what can bedone to overcome challenges on adaily basis.

We also learn from people. We seeopportunities for shared discoverywhere we grow and learn from eachother. We do not see ourselves as theexpert in someone else’s life. We donot want to diminish the person’s ownagency. By working this way we cansee that we are not all that differentfrom each other. We all go throughthese trials, we all struggle, atdifferent times in our lives. We allwant something different or havedreams and aspirations for our future.

We are all on this journey togetherand at times, need each other. We arein fact interdependent. As one of ourreframed practice principles states:we see ourselves as being on a lifejourney of sameness, we resist seeingpeople through the lens of theircurrent and past challenges.

How we see and present ourselvesdictates how we work with peopleand subsequently how they may seethemselves. If we frame the context ofour work within the framework of the‘homelessness’ label, then we havethe potential to restrict people’soutcomes. We need to continuallyask: How do we expect people tobreak away from the narratives oftheir circumstances if we continue toremind them of these through thelanguage and labels that we use?

Let’s keep challenging how we frameour language, and by doing so,challenge ourselves and the peoplewe are so blessed to come in contactwith through our work.

Endnotes

1. The Conversation, What’s in the name‘homeless’? How people see themselvesand the labels we apply matter. May 23,2017 http://theconversation.com/ whats-in-the-name-homeless-how-people-see-themselves-and-the-labels-we-apply-matter-69282

2. ibid.

3. ibid.

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Including All, Working Together:Partnerships in 2017Hazel Bassett, Team Leader, Gold Coast Homeless Health Outreach Team, Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service and Liz Fritz, Patron, Gold Coast Homeless Network Inc.

In his Parity article, HomelessnessPolicy: Where to now?, AssociateProfessor David MacKenzie, arguedthat homelessness continues to be asignificant issue facing our society.1

Both the number of people seekingassistance and the cost of thatassistance has spiralled in the lastdecade. This, in turn has placedpressure on the services that providesupport — so many people and suchlimited funding.

However, while this is the case for theservices, what is often missed is thereality of homelessness for those whoare homeless. The human toll ofhomelessness and the trauma itbrings is rarely recognised orconsidered by governments or policymakers. For those tasked with the job,providing mental health care to thoseexperiencing homelessness can be adifficult assignment.

In 2010, we argued for partnershipsamong all types of services, bothgovernment and non-government, toprovide the backdrop for flexibleservice delivery.2 Partnerships allowedthe crossing of traditional boundariesand the ability to be creative whenworking with people experiencinghomelessness who were alsoexperiencing a myriad of other issues,including poor mental health.

So, what does mental health servicedelivery now look like on the GoldCoast? Are partnerships still theanswer for being able to providetimely and client focused care? Theanswer is a resounding ‘yes!’Partnerships are still proving to be thevehicle through which several clientneeds are addressed. Do thepartnerships look the same as theydid in 2017? The answer is ‘no’.Organisations have come and gone.Government agencies haverestructured and their focus has often

altered. However, the desire to workin partnership has not waned.

The Gold Coast Homelessness Sectorcontinues to strive to work togetherwith the aim of providing the servicesthat ‘best fit’ for the person seekingthe service. Within mental health careprovision, partnerships are the key forengaging people. When serviceshave a working relationship withmental health services, they canprovide the conduit to connect themental health service with the person.

This enables the provision of mentalhealth services within the premises ofthe other service so that the mentalhealth care is provided in a safeplace, not a sterile, clinical place. Italso means that mental healthservices can be provided while otherservices are being provided, leadingto holistic care.

The other advantage of providing thiscare within the other service is theincrease of mental health literacyamong workers of that service. This

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leads to the workers being able tomanage people experiencing issueswith their mental health and have ahigher tolerance for behaviouralissues that may occur as well. It alsomeans that the workers can identifywhat is a mental health issue, andrefer to mental health services in atimelier way that benefits the client.

There are also other forms ofpartnership that occur that facilitateappropriate care for peopleexperiencing homelessness. GoldCoast Homeless Network continuesto oversee partnerships that can assistpeople experiencing complex issuesinto long-term housing. In the lead upto the Commonwealth Games, theGold Coast Network is working hardto house our more vulnerable peoplethrough the Advance to Zero Panel.The panel consists of member of theCoalition of Specialist HomelessServices and aims to identify andhouse those who are experiencingcomplex needs including mentalhealth concerns. The focus of the

panel is not only to identify peoplefor housing, but also to identify andwrap services around the person ashe or she enters housing. Servicesthat will support the person tomaintain their accommodation thusending the cycle of homelessness forthe person. The idea is that theservices are not static but instead willcome and go and change dependingon the need — flexible partnershipsin action meeting the needs of theindividual.

Ted’s StoryTed’s story is a good example of this.Ted had been rough sleeping on thecoast for many years. Estranged fromhis family who live on the coast, Tedhad engaged with the HomelessHealth Outreach Team (HHOT) for anumber of years. Through RosiesStreet Mission, HHOT had been ableto build a relationship with him. Tedwas diagnosed with schizophreniaalong with a co-occurring alcoholmisuse disorder.

Ted had not had treatment for anumber of years and his mental stateincreased his vulnerability on thestreets. Slowly but surely, through hisengagement with Rosies and thenwith HHOT, he agreed to treatment.HHOT worked with the localpharmacy to organise a paymentscheme for his medications withwhich Ted was happy. He also linkedwith the Gold Coast Homeless Hub toexplore accommodation options.

Ted was considered at the Advanceto Zero Panel and a Department ofHousing seniors unit becameavailable for him in an area where hewished to live. With the assistance ofHHOT and the Salvation Army, he hasbeen able to move into the unit.

He is so happy to be off the streets.At his age, he was starting to find ithard to sleep on the ground or incramped spaces. He has alsoreported that his mental health hasimproved, particularly as he is able toreceive his medication regularly.

HHOT continue to be involved in hiscare and he still attends outreachvenues as he still has friends on thestreet. However, he has been able tomaintain his space ‘as his space’ anddoes not invite others in.

HHOT are also looking into engaginganother service to provide practicaldaily living support. Ted is excitedabout this and believes this will helphim maintain his unit. He disclosed tohis HHOT case manager that he hasnot cooked or cleaned in over 20years. Recently, he made contact withhis family and plans to spendChristmas with them.

Are partnerships important? Yes! Asone organisation, we can only achieveso much. However, whenorganisations work together to meetthe needs of people experiencinghomelessness, much more can beachieved than with one organisationon its own. Not only do theorganisations win, most importantly,the clients win.

Endnotes

1. MacKenzie D 2017, Homelessness Policy:Where to Now?, Parity, vol.30, no.6,pp.17–20

2. Fritz E and Bassett H 2010, Including All,Working Together: The Provision of MentalHealth Care in the Homeless Sector, Parity,vol.23, no.6, pp.44–45

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YFS Logan: Embedding HousingResponses Throughout aMulti-disciplinary OrganisationJudith Hunter and Christine Grose, YFS Logan

Over the past five years, YFS in Loganhas been overwhelmed with requestsfor help from people who arehomeless or at significant risk oflosing their housing.

Last financial year, YFS Connect dealtwith almost 6,000 contacts relating tohousing, homelessness or tenancyissues. Our specialised housing supportservices can only work with 214 adultsand people each year. Clearly, this isnowhere near the demand for help withhousing in our area.

In an attempt to fill this gap, YFS hasreconfigured our organisation andchanged the way we work so that wecan support as many people aspossible to keep or achieve stablehousing. We have invested inresponding to the acute needs ofpeople for help with housing inseveral ways, including:

prevention strategies for people•

who are at immediate risk of losinga tenancyshort-term and crisis responses for•

people who are already homelessembedding housing capacity in all•

our case management teams,regardless of target group.

The ContextYFS operates in Logan, south ofBrisbane. Over the past 30 years, YFShas grown into a significant serviceprovider in Logan and surrounds,offering services in housing, domesticand family violence, family support,employment preparation, mentalhealth, disability, youth engagement,legal and financial capability.

Logan is a diverse area, with anumber of suburbs experiencing verysignificant disadvantage and highconcentrations of public housing.Logan has relatively affordablehousing and many funded supportservices. However, there are some

significant gaps. For example, Loganhas no homeless hub, very limitedcrisis accommodation and limitedhomestay services.

Embedding Housing SupportAcross our OrganisationAs Figure 1 shows, the people whocontact YFS Connect last year oftenhad overlapping presenting issues,with housing, homelessness ortenancy issues and financial problemsthe most common.

YFS has developed capacity in all ourcase management teams so thatcaseworkers can support people tofind stable housing while alsoaddressing their other issues. Forexample, our Intensive FamilySupport service routinely works withfamilies who are homeless and havechild safety concerns to securehousing and improve family

functioning. Similarly, our PersonalHelpers and Mentors (PHaMs) team,our Youthlink workers and ourParentsNext employment preparationstaff routinely help clients resolvesignificant housing issues.

This means that homelessness is not abarrier to receiving a YFS service.

Last year, YFS began to measurecross-organisation outcomes in threeareas: housing stability, financial securityand social connectedness. These threefactors are essential elements ofindependence and participation. So far,we have had the greatest impact onclients’ housing status.

Of 967 YFS clients surveyed on entryto our programs in 2016–17,15 per cent were homeless and34 per cent were at risk ofhomelessness (Figure 2). Only half of

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Figure 1: YFS Connect Presenting Issues 2016–17

all clients were in stable, safe,affordable housing. By the time theyexited from our services, 78 per centwere in stable housing, and onlysix per cent remained homeless.Many of those who remainedhomeless had disengaged or lostcontact with us for various reasons.

YFS’ Approach toHomelessness and HousingIn 2009, YFS initiated a single frontdoor approach to test a betterapproach to customer service for ourclients. Prior to this, all our teams hadseparate referral, intake andassessment processes. With up to 20funded programs, this approach wasfragmented and inefficient. We wereas siloed as our funding bodies.

Over the past eight years we haverefined our front door function. It isnow known as YFS Connect, andincorporates initial assessments,information, referral, crisis responsesand short-term assistance. YFSConnect has enabled us to link morepeople with a service that can helpthem, particularly peopleexperiencing homelessness. It iswhere our work in preventinghomelessness and responding tocrises happens.

YFS Connect is not a fundedhomelessness hub, but a triage andassessment function for theorganisation and community. YFSsubsidises it because of the benefits itoffers clients and our organisation.

Preventing HomelessnessSeveral years ago, YFS made adecision to focus our emergency reliefprovision where it was most needed— housing and homelessness. YFSConnect administers our emergencyrelief program. Our financial capabilityand capacity workers are also basedat YFS Connect, allowing us to workwith people facing eviction on abudget to work out whether theircurrent housing is affordable. If it is,we advocate with real estate agents orlandlords to set up payment plans toaddress arrears, tipping in some ofour emergency relief funds todemonstrate commitment to the plan.We benefit from a partnership withQSTARS who have located a team inour offices, providing quick access forpeople with tenancy issues to getadvice to address these quickly.

Short-term ResponsesYFS Connect helps people who haveno options to access crisisaccommodation. Unfortunately, thisoften means leaving Logan and theirsupport networks including family andschools, due to the lack of local crisisbeds. We have also had successrecently helping people to establishprivate rentals, sometimes supportingthem with rent in advance to achievethis. We are developing relationshipswith local real estate agents to facilitatethis work to provide a faster responsefor people than going into the ‘system’.

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0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

OtherHomelessAt RiskStable

Entry (n=967) Exit (n=820)

Figure 2: Organisational outcomes data — housing 2016–17

Brittany’s story

Brittany, 19, was five monthspregnant and considering adoptionwhen she came to YFS in September2015. As a consequence of anabusive relationship she wasstruggling with mental health issuesand needed help finding a place tolive. Through support from YFS’Step-by-Step family supportprogram, Brittany improved hermental health and found a housewhere she lives with her son.

Mavis’ story

Mavis, 48, is a single parent. Shecame to YFS in August 2016following a friend’s recommendation.She was homeless, experiencingdepression and anxiety.Case-workers from YFS’ PHaMsmental health recovery team helpedMavis move into permanenthousing, address her mental healthissues and regain her confidence.

Panapa’s story

Panapa, 61, came from New Zealand23 years ago, looking for newopportunities. Last year he had tostop working due to serious healthissues. He was referred to YFS byQueensland Housing in Septemberbecause he fell behind on his rent.Panapa now has a new place to live.He’s happier, his confidence hasimproved and he credits his YFSMoneySmart worker’s support for allthe changes in his life.

IT Solutions in Homelessness:Partnering with BusinessElizabeth (Liz) Fritz AM, Patron, Gold Coast Homelessness Network Inc and 7CareConnect Project Manager for GCHN

A Local Focus, Real-time,Interactive, Web BasedApplicationOver many years’ the Gold CoastHomelessness Network Inc (GCHN)has embraced and promotedinnovation as a way to meet itsobjectives to support and assistpeople to end their homelessness,and to develop prevention and earlyintervention strategies for people atrisk of homelessness. The GCHN hasactively sought the support ofgovernment agencies, business,service clubs, sporting clubs andcommunity services, and built strongpartnerships, delivering significantsupport to the homelessness sector.

After meeting and working with Dr.Hung Eddywing, Chief ExecutiveOfficer of GMO Alliance andAssociates, the GCHN is excited andproud to bring the 7Care Connect— Homelessnessapplication/navigation tool to theGold Coast community. This hasbeen enabled through thegenerosity of GMO Alliance andAssociates, and demonstratescorporate social responsibility thatwill benefit our community into thefuture. GMO and its corporatepartners have displayed a high levelof understanding of thecircumstance of some of the mostvulnerable people in our community,embracing and demonstrating thevalues of Dignity, Respect, Fairnessand Choice in their work. Our sharedgoal is to have a more accessibleand seamless service deliveryexperience for vulnerable consumersacross the following areas:

safety•

accommodation•

support•

learn/earn•

food•

health•

social.•

The first stage of the 7CareConnect— Homelessness project wasdelivered by GMO Alliance andAssociates in partnership with theGCHN, in record time with zerofunding. The project work began inearnest on September first 2016with strong commitment andexcitement from all involved.This first stage was entirelysupported by pro bono and in-kindsupport from GMO Alliance andAssociates, along with voluntaryproject management andadministration support, helped tomeet the GCHN’s responsibilities inthe project. The Rotary Club ofBroadbeach, Queensland partneredwith us to provide support to theconsumer workshop held on the ‘golive’ date of 20 February 2017.

With the project now requiringfinancial support for its ongoingdevelopment and maintenance theGCHN made a successfulsubmission to the QueenslandGovernment Department of Housingand Public Works DIGNITY FUNDfor funds to support the hosting andsupport to the website for a two-year period.

This web based, real timeapplication/navigation tool, set inGoogle Maps displays servicelocations and information toconsumers, service providers andthe general community. It can beaccessed using a Smart Phone,or any device that has access to theinternet.

Research tells us that 95 per cent ofpeople experiencing homelessness inAustralia have a smart phone.1

However, it is acknowledged thatstaying connected can be challengingat times, with local homeless peopletelling us that phone charging andhaving phone credit are the two main

barriers to connectivity. Wifi accesspoints are now available in manylocations for consumers withoutphone credit. Gold Coast CityLibraries has welcomed people whoare homeless to use the libraryfacilities, including charging phonesand devices, and has embraced theproject by having a link directly to the7CC website on computers forconsumers and staff alike. Gold CoastCentrelink offices offer the sameservice through the client consoles forhomeless customers.

The Notification and Request functionsenable people to be informed in atimely way and therefore to benefitfrom the resources and in-kind servicesthat potentially exist for people in ourcommunity who are homeless. Thewebpage provides more informationincluding short training videos tosupport consumers using theapplication for the first time, makingthe application very user friendly.

Benefits include:the availability of the application•

can reduce the anxiety associatedwith trying to find services when avulnerable person or family is indistress and requiring support andaccommodationthe visual display in Google Maps•

makes it easier for the consumerto locate services, and is especiallybeneficial for those with poorliteracy and/or anxiety anddepressive symptomsthe consumer has access to•

contact details for a service and ashort description of the services onoffer. This allows them to moreeasily navigate the service systemin a timely manner, and havechoice about who they wish toreceive services from. It reducesthe need for the consumer to ‘ringaround’ to services to find outwhat they can offer, giving

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consumers a stronger sense ofcontrol over what is happeningin their livesa link to the ‘Translink Journey•

Planner’ makes it easier for theconsumer to find their way tothe service, as well as to meettheir travel requirements asthey participate in communityactivities, employment andeducation, and engage insocial activitythe SOS link on the ‘landing•

page’ gives immediate dial-into ‘emergency’ contacts forexample, Police; 000; DomesticViolence (DV) Connectconsumers are able to send•

and receive general requestsregarding service availabilityconsumers can receive•

notifications from the7CareConnect administratorand/or the service providerwith whom they are engaged.

Service Provider Support:7CareConnect —•

Homelessness enhances servicedelivery by reducing the impacton the service of having peoplecalling to find out ‘what theydo’.The opportunity for members•

of the GCHN to work withGMO Alliance and Associatesprofessionals, has resulted in abroadening of the knowledgeand skills of those homelessnessservices through collaboration andbroader understanding ofinformation technology and whatit can deliver to vulnerable groupsin our society.7CareConnect — Homelessness•

equips community members andagency workers at all levels ofGovernment to assist peopleexperiencing homelessness whenthey come in contact through theirwork and social activity. We allunderstand the notion that ‘ittakes a village’, with collaborationat all levels of a community to helpbreak the cycle of homelessnessand support people to experiencethe dignity of having ‘A Place toCall Home’.

As well as specialist homelessnessservices, service providers alreadyregistered on the 7CareConnectapplication include meal serviceproviders, outreach/mobile supportservices, drop-in centres, health and

disability services, housing services,Queensland Police Service, CityLibraries and Active and Healthyprograms, DV Connect and more.

The 7CareConnect application is asignificant application to ensurepeople experiencing homelessnessreceive timely information duringmajor events through the upcomingupgrade to build in a generalmessaging service. As such, thewebsite is part of the GCHN strategyto support people experiencinghomelessness in the lead up to, andduring the 2018 CommonwealthGames in the City. A link to ahomelessness specific webpage willprovide access to the DemystifyingHomelessness information andawareness video as well as to specificpolicy and program information, forexample, the Gold CoastHomelessness Protocol.

The 7CareConnect application iseasily replicated to other regions and

other consumer groups. Interestedpersons and groups shouldcontact 7CareConenct on theemail address provided.

Feedback‘As a mental health organisationwe work with people at differentstages in their recovery journeyand feedback from staff andparticipants has been positive. Forexample, a participant who hasbeen homeless for some time hasspoken about the value of thiswebsite in providing up-to-dateresources about availablecommunity resources, particularlycommunity meals.’

‘The 7CareConnect app allows ourvolunteers to assist people in needin real time. A single mum of threechildren rang the office on aFriday, unfortunately our foodparcel program and free lunch ison a Thursday and we were unableto assist her with her immediateneed. However, over the phonewe were able to direct her to the7CareConnect site and talk herthrough the options and servicesavailable and close to her locationthat day. 7careconnect is a greatsite.’

A group of young peopleindicated they:

‘…would have loved to have hadaccess to this App long before now’and some believed that they may nothave ‘experienced secondaryhomelessness for the amount of timewe did if we had had the App tosearch for local homelessness andsupport services.’

Another young person with anintellectual disability providedfeedback stating:

‘…the App was easy to use’ andindicated that they ‘…liked it usingGoogle Maps and how it can tell youhow long it can take (walking orpublic transport distance and time)you to get to the service you arelooking for’.

Endnote

1. Humphry J 2014, ‘Homeless andConnected: Mobile phones and theinternet in the lives of homelessAustralians’: https://accan.org.au/ files/Grants/homelessandconnected/Homeless_and_Connected_web.pdf

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Brisbane Street art

SPER Work and Development Orders:New SPER Laws to Provide Fair andFlexible Fine OptionsPaula Hughes, Policy and Casework Lawyer and Belinda Tang, Secondee Lawyer, Homeless Persons’ Legal Clinic, LawRight

For many years, LawRight’s HomelessPersons’ Legal Clinic (HPLC) hasidentified debts to the State PenaltiesEnforcement Registry (SPER) as a keylegal problem faced by our clients. Anew Work and Development Orderscheme provides hope to homelessQueenslanders struggling to managetheir SPER debts. Whilst this is awelcome change, there is still morework to be done.

Homelessness and FinesThe connection betweenhomelessness and fines is now wellestablished. Offences that arecommonly associated with finepenalties, in particular public spaceand nuisance type offences,disproportionately impact peopleexperiencing homelessness.

Historically in Australia it has been acriminal offence to be a ‘vagrant’,until as recently as 2005 in the caseof Queensland. While these lawshave now been repealed, homelesspeople continue to be one of themost criminalised populationgroups in Australia.

In 2011 Tamara Walsh in her bookHomelessness and the Law 1 cites twomain reasons for this phenomenon.Firstly, there are a number of lawswhich directly or indirectly targetpeople experiencing homelessnessor poverty, such as begging and fareevasion. Secondly, people who areresiding in public spaces aresignificantly more likely to come topolice attention. People who areexperiencing homelessness reportinteracting with police on a regularand in some cases daily basis.2 Forthose who are conducting their livesin public, many behaviours whichwould be lawful within a privatehome, such as swearing or drinkingalcohol, are unlawful when done inpublic.

Because people experiencinghomelessness are unlikely to beable to afford to pay fines whenthey arise, many incur significantSPER debts, which they areincapable of paying off.

HPLC CaseworkA study by LawRight’s HPLCsuggests that in Queensland asmany as 60 per cent of homelesspeople have a SPER debt.3

An analysis of our SPER caseworkfrom the past two years indicates:

those with a SPER debt had an•

average debt size ofapproximately $5,800for those who identified as•

Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander, the average debt sizewas markedly higher, atapproximately $7,000the average SPER debt size for•

women was approximately$4,800, and for men it wasapproximately $6,800.

Under the current legislation, SPERis empowered with a broad range ofenforcement options to recoverthese debts, including licencesuspension, redirection of earningsand even imprisonment. SPER alsoimposes enforcement fees for debtsthat remain unpaid. As a result,clients who cannot afford to paytheir debts are subject to ballooningdebt amounts and increasinglysevere enforcement measures. Thiscan cause significant distress andfurther exacerbate the hardship andvulnerabilities of our clients.

New SPER Laws and the WDOSchemeUntil now, the options available toaddress a SPER debt have beenlimited and often inappropriate forvulnerable people experiencinghardship. The option to enter into apayment plan offers limited relief for

a person experiencing severefinancial hardship with no disposableincome. Whilst Fine Option Ordersallow people to undertakecommunity service under thesupervision of Probation and Parole,many vulnerable people are unableto comply with these orders due totheir disadvantaged circumstances,for example disability or healthconcerns.

After years of advocacy by the HPLCand other stakeholders in thecommunity and community legalsectors, Queensland Parliament haspassed new laws to change the waySPER collects debts.

The State Penalties EnforcementAmendment Act 2017 will introducea new Work and DevelopmentOrder (WDO) scheme which willprovide a broader range of non-monetary options for peopleexperiencing hardship to addresstheir SPER debts. The new schemehas not yet commenced, but willcome into operation on a date to beset by the State Government.

Under the new scheme, if a personhas a SPER debt and meets theeligibility criteria, a WDO will allowthem to undertake any of thefollowing to satisfy their SPER debt:

unpaid work for, or on behalf of,•

an approved sponsormedical or mental health•

treatment under an approvedsponsor’s treatment planprovided by a health practitioneran educational, vocational or life•

skills course as decided by anapproved sponsorfinancial or other counselling as•

decided by an approved sponsordrug or alcohol treatment as•

decided by an approved sponsorif the person is under 25 years of•

age — a mentoring program as

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decided by an approvedsponsor; orif the person is Aboriginal or a•

Torres Strait Islander and lives ina remote area — a culturallyappropriate program as decidedby an approved sponsor.

A person will be eligible toundertake a WDO if they are unableto pay their SPER debt because theyare:

experiencing financial hardship•

have a mental illness•

have a cognitive or intellectual•

disabilityare homeless•

have a substance use disorder; or•

are experiencing domestic and•

family violence.

Much of the detail of the newscheme, including definitions of theabove terms, will be determined byfuture regulations and guidelines.

It is hoped that these changes willalleviate the significant burden ofSPER debts on Queensland’shomeless, by providing them with abroad range of non-monetaryalternatives to address their debts.The scheme may also assist peopleexperiencing hardship to engagewith vital services to address theircomplex needs.

Success and Reflections fromNew South Wales (NSW)The Queensland WDO schemebuilds on the success of the NSWmodel. New South Wales was thefirst state to introduce a WDOscheme in Australia with a two-yearpilot program beginning in mid-2009. The pilot became permanentin June 2011. Based on the initialevaluation by the NSW Departmentof Attorney General and Justice, theresults were overwhelminglypositive. Evaluated benefitsincluded: reduced re-offending,engagement of clients withappropriate treatment programs,reduced levels of stress, anxiety andhopelessness for debtors, increasein client skills and an incentive toenter the workforce.4

The evaluation showed that82.5 per cent of WDO clients didnot receive another fine since theirWDO was approved. Significantly,40 per cent of the 82.5 per centwere repeat offenders.5

Furthermore, general feedbackfrom caseworkers and supportagencies found that the schemehad increased client agency, self-esteem and self-efficacy.6 Thescheme now involves over 2,238service locations and since 2012almost $90 million of debts havebeen cleared.7

Despite the success, stakeholderfeedback has shown thatadministration of the scheme hasroom for improvement, with theneed to streamline applicationsand reporting processes.8 Initialproblems were related to backlogsand slow response times of up totwo months.9 Otherrecommendations includedallocating further resources towardseducational and promotionalmaterials for service-providers, withtargeted approaches to regionaland remote areas and indigenouscommunities. Interestingly, fewsponsors are undertakingmentoring programs, and thereasons for this remain unclear.

In other states, Victoria has alsorecently introduced a Work andDevelopment Permit scheme andthe Australian Capital Territory hasa WDO scheme that applies only todebts arising from trafficinfringements. Other states are yetto consider reforms and some stilluse imprisonment as an option fornon-payment.

The Bigger Picture: Barriersfor the HomelessAlthough the WDO scheme is awelcomed reform, thedisproportionate average SPERdebt for homeless people still begsserious questions about thecriminalisation of homelessness,which will not be solved by theWDO scheme alone.

Whilst the WDO scheme is a stepin the right direction, the schemeonly addresses one piece of thepuzzle. The issue remains that thehomeless community are moresusceptible to receiving fines, dueto increased police attention and asuite of offences thatdisproportionately impact themdue to their homeless status. Inpractice, offences such as beggingapply only to people who arehomeless or experiencing extreme

financial hardship. Despite this,such offences are typicallyassociated with monetary penaltiesthat our homeless clients have nocapacity to pay due to theircircumstances. The regular fining ofpeople who have no capacity topay them further entrenches theirdisadvantage and also causesunnecessary expense to the finesenforcement system.

In 2008 Clark, Forell andMcCarron 10 found that theadministrative burden of finesenforcement systems also createssignificant barriers for peopleexperiencing homelessness. Thisincludes an inability to manage theenforcement system due tocapacity, cognitive or languagedifficulties, as well as a general lackof awareness of rights andresponsibilities. It is our hope thatthe implementation of the newscheme will seek to address someof these barriers.

By providing for fairer and moreflexible options, Queensland’s newWDO scheme provides a welcomechange for homeless peoplestruggling to address their SPERdebts. However, until there arebroader changes to the justicesystem, people experiencinghomelessness and disadvantagemay continue to struggle with finesand criminalisation.

Endnotes

1. Walsh T 2011, Homelessness and the Law,The Federation Press, Annandale NSW,p.76.

2. ibid at p.74.

3. QPILCH 2013, Responding tohomelessness and disadvantage in thefines enforcement process in Queensland,QPILCH, Brisbane.

4. New South Wales Department AttorneyGeneral and Justice 2011, A fairer finesystem for disadvantaged people, Section8.2.

5. ibid.

6. ibid, section 8.2.2.

7. Department of Justice NSW 2017, Office ofState Revenue, Legal Aid NSW, AboriginalLegal Service NSW/ACT, WDO News,Issue. 8, July 2017.

8. New South Wales Department AttorneyGeneral and Justice 2011, op cit Section8.2.7.

9. ibid.

10. See Clark S, Forell F and McCarron E 2008,‘Fine but not fair: Fines and disadvantage’Justice Issues paper 3, Law and JusticeFoundation of NSW, Sydney.

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Homelessness with HART:Our Story So FarJodie Cowie, Coordinator of HART 4000

HART 4000, the HomelessnessAssessment and Referral Team, hasbeen working with people who areeither currently experiencinghomelessness or at risk ofhomelessness in the greater BrisbaneCity Region.

HART’s journey began with theintroduction of the 2008 The RoadHome: A National Approach toReducing Homelessness White Paper.We moved on with the introduction ofthe Housing First Framework and nowwe are looking forward to workingwith Queensland Government’s newlyreleased Queensland HousingStrategy 2017–2027. In 2013, HARTjoined the profit for good communityorganisation, Communify Queensland.

In this brief article, I will highlight,some of the strengths and some ofthe challenges that we experienced,as well as some of the issues thataffect the people we work with.

Since its inception, HART has workedalongside many individuals andfamilies who have experiencedhomelessness. In the last financialyear, HART had contact with over2,500 individuals and familiesproviding housing and homelessnessinformation and referrals In addition,HART conducted planned support(case management) with 1,124individuals and families.

The stark reality is that many peoplein the greater Brisbane region do nothave access to housing or theirhousing is at risk.

Housing is a basic human right.Providing housing is also a resolvableissue. However, at HART we havefound that for many people findingsuitable accommodation that is,affordable and available and in afamiliar community where there is

connection, very difficult andsometimes impossible.

HART supports both individuals andfamilies to achieve their housinggoals. This is the primary focus of ourwork and planned support. In doingthis work we have experienced somechallenges. Under a Housing Firstframework, there is a strong focus onminimising the length of time anindividual or family experienceshomelessness. Unfortunately, we havefound that many people end up inhousing limbo and experiencehomelessness for far too long. Thisonly perpetuates and exacerbatestheir vulnerabilities and otherassociated risks.

To put it simply, more suitable housingneeds to be made available. This couldinclude looking at models of scatteredsocial housing. We need to extend theavailability of and access tomainstream housing within the privaterental market with the application oftenancy laws that are fair and equitablefor tenants. In the past ten years, wehave seen the introduction of theNational Rental Affordability Scheme(NRAS), and then witnessed its demise.These NRAS properties are highlysought after. In a very competitiverental market, every person iscompeting to be ‘the tenant of choice’.In addition, there is a particular need tosupport families in sustaining theirtenancies. Unfortunately with onlyminimal supports available, services arereaching capacity very quickly.

For those working at the coalface ofhomelessness, there is a sharedunderstanding of the sheer difficultyof accessing housing and the lack ofavailable emergency options forfamilies who are experiencinghomelessness. At HART what we havefound is that individuals are living wellbelow the poverty line, and that even

though they may be receivingunemployment benefits, they are alsostruggling to end their experience ofhomelessness.

The lack of suitable housing for thisparticular demographic is at timesappalling. Sometimes the only optionavailable are boarding houses withshared facilities. For some of the mostvulnerable, there is the option ofshared accommodation but notnecessarily with any tenure. An addedchallenge for many individuals andfamilies wishing to end theirexperience of homelessness is thatthey may not be able to stay in theirown community. This causesdisplacement and breaks theconnections and supports, andweakens the resiliency they may havewithin their local community.

However, while all of these challengessit within in much larger servicesystem and structure, it is not alldoom and gloom. In HARTs journeyso far, we have found much strengthin working collaboratively across thehuman services sector. We work withhousing and government as well asintegrating services throughoutCommunify Queensland to supportpeople to achieve their goals, obtainsuitable housing, sustain theirtenancies and connect withappropriate supports. We focus ourwork on the needs of individuals andfamilies to develop informal supportsand social connections.

The work of HART is based ondeveloping relationships andpartnerships to achieve effectiveoutcomes for the people who may beexperiencing, or who are at risk ofhomelessness. We are hopeful thatwith the release of the QueenslandHousing Strategy 2017–2027, thenext ten years will see homelessnessin Queensland considerably reduced.

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The Art of Community Work: AnAlternative Approach to ReducingInter-generational HomelessnessLuan Murat, Programs Officer, Mareeba Community Housing Company Ltd

While observing the children of myprevious clients, now youngadults, walking through the doorsof our local community centre, Icould not help but wonder howwe are falling short in addressinginter-generational homelessness.

I remember a time when thesechildren were filled with brightnessand energy that made themindistinguishable from any otherhappy child. Now they often sitbefore me with depression writtenon their bodies, seeminglycarrying an invisible load built upover years. Because of this I ask:What is our role? What are ouraims? Where can we improve?

I still remember the words of asix-year-old girl, who like herparents and grandparents, wasexperiencing homelessness. Whenasked what she wished to be whenshe is older, she replied: ‘adoctor’. When asked why, shesaid: ‘I wish to fix my dad; he isbroken’. Those few words mademe realise the deep and hiddenpain caused by the emotionalabsence of her father. While therephysically, his own pain andstruggles prevented him fromexpressing the natural love aparent has for their child.

The continuation of homelessnessin her family and for many in hercommunity goes beyond theabsence of shelter, and beyondthe support provided incompleting paperwork andorganising referrals. While theseforms of support are importantand beneficial, it is hearing andlistening to the words and storiesthat people bring that is neededto find a deeper way of workingwith them to promote the healingthat is required.

This article will briefly discuss thelimitations of our current approachand propose an alternative way ofworking to reduce intergenerationalhomelessness.

In Far North Queenslandhomelessness is highly prevalent inIndigenous communities, where it isoften connected to unemploymentand illiteracy. In today’s world,homelessness demonstrates anintricate interplay of challenges thatare difficult to meet, makinghomelessness difficult to end. Thesechallenges operate across cultural,environmental, systemic and individualdomains. Unfortunately, our currentapproach homelessness has nospecialised response or program thattruly addresses its underlying causes.

One of the key inherent weaknessesin our current system is anover-emphasis on providing individualsupport without making an effort tochange the shared environmentalconditions that play such a significantrole in the reoccurrence ofhomelessness. Another limitation ofour current approach is the belief thata system can solve complex humanproblems. While systems always havea place, and are useful forcoordinating resources and people,they have proven to be incapable ofaddressing issues which are not solelyrelated to a lack of resources.

Unfortunately, our strong belief in asystemic approach prevents us fromfocusing on improving the quality ofservice delivery through theintroduction and standardisation ofevidence based practices such asstrength based work and traumainformed care.

Eliminating intergenerationalhomelessness begins with changinghow we think about community work

and the individual support weprovide. One helpful approach,derived from traditional ways ofviewing a community, is the idea thatwhile human beings are, by nature,sound and balanced regardless oftheir ethnicity, they are still alwayssusceptible to physical, mental andspiritual illnesses. We need toappreciate that just as individuals aresusceptible to illness, so too arecommunities.

A reoccurrence of multiple symptomssuch as illiteracy, substance misuse,identity crisis and homelessnesswithin a community, indicate the needto support the community to heal andstrengthen.

In such a traditional approach, theaim is to not impose ‘solutions’, butrather to engage with, and supportand strengthen the innate healingprocess that naturally exists to helpcommunities become stronger andmore resilient. To ensure its success,this approach requires thegovernment to work in directpartnership with the community. Thatis, work hand in hand in all the stepsof the community approach toreducing homelessness — fromdeveloping an understanding theissues, to the development ofrelevant and appropriate strategies. Itis imperative that best practiceprinciples are employed from thecommunity development and otherrelevant fields.

Finally, we must provide a space forall people who are suffering, just likethat young girl I mentioned, to telltheir story and to express their pain.This is the first step of the individualand collective journey towardshealing. I write this article in the hopeI do not see that young girl return,like so have many before her. to mycommunity centre.

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Chapter 3: Responding to Homelessness in Regionaland Remote QueenslandDelivering Remote Housing that Meetsthe Needs of Individual Households andCommunitiesDepartment of Housing and Public Works

As noted in the following article,overcrowding in remotecommunities has been reduced byalmost half through the NationalPartnership Agreement on RemoteIndigenous Housing (NPARIH) andNational Partnership on RemoteHousing (NPRH) program, and wehave delivered almost 1,150 homes,almost 1,500 refurbishments andsupported maintenance for almost4,300 houses. The NPRH programhas helped build the capacity ofAboriginal and Torres Strait IslanderCouncils and Indigenous businessesin Queensland, who now deliverover 80 percent of housingconstruction and repairs.

While there is currently uncertaintyaround the future funding of the NPRHprogram, it is important to note thatany potential cessation of investmentwould see housing standards inremote communities deteriorate andhave lasting impacts on Indigenoushealth, education and communitysafety outcomes across Queensland.

Addressing OvercrowdingThe Queensland Government hasbeen working with Aboriginal andTorres Strait Islander communities totackle disadvantage by improving and

maximising housing outcomes andboosting socio-economicadvancement through increasedemployment, training and businessopportunities. This has been driventhrough the Commonwealth fundedNPARIH and NPRH.

The government is committed toimproving the lives of Aboriginal andTorres Strait Islander people throughthe Queensland Housing Strategy2017–2027. We will continue to workwith Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander communities to deliverculturally appropriate housingoutcomes, and local employmentopportunities, to help close the gapon housing disadvantage.

Currently, Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander people are 14 times morelikely to become homeless thannon-Indigenous Australians, and theirhomelessness situations are likely tobe more severe.1 Overcrowding is asignificant issue and tends to increasewith remoteness.2 The gap betweenAboriginal and Torres Strait IslanderAustralians’ rates of specialisthomelessness service use, and that ofnon-Indigenous Australians, has beenwidening over time, to 9.1 times in2015–16.3

The government has been workinghard to improve the living standardsof Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander communities by reducingtenant overcrowding andhomelessness, improving poorhousing conditions and alleviatingsevere housing shortages. While onlyone fifth of Aboriginal and TorresStrait Islander Australians live inremote areas, this group has thegreatest level of housing need.4

In the 34 Queensland Aboriginal andTorres Strait Islander communities,activities relating to the delivery ofnew social housing dwellings, and themaintenance and refurbishment ofexisting dwellings, are closelycoordinated with the variousIndigenous Aboriginal and TorresStrait Islander Councils, to deliver thebest outcomes for each community.

Providing these new dwellingscontributes to increased employmentopportunities for Aboriginal and TorresStrait Islander people, IndigenousCouncils and local businesses, whichbenefits the local economy. Theprogram of delivery aims to balancecapital and maintenance works withthe need for sustainable employmentin these communities.

For new construction projects,Indigenous Councils are consultedwith during the planning, design andconstruction phases. The choice ofhousing type in the communities isdetermined by housing need andinfluenced by regional housing styles,local conditions and the availability ofskilled trades, materials andequipment.

Overcrowding in the communitiesremains one of the biggestchallenges. The typical extendedfamily structure of Aboriginal andTorres Strait Islander families oftenLow-set housing extension

36

features older people andfoster/adoption relationships withchildren and young people. This canresult in large households living in theone dwelling. Not only doesovercrowding put stress on householdinfrastructure, such as foodpreparation areas and ablutionsystems, it can also impact people’sphysical health, through disease andchronic infection. Severeovercrowding was the most commoncause of homelessness for Aboriginaland Torres Strait Islander peopleliving in remote Australia.5

The Department of Housing andPublic Works is addressingovercrowding through the delivery ofa housing extension program thatprovides additional, removablemodular buildings, to existingdwellings to increase the property’ssize. This helps to reduce the pressureon families and mitigates health andsafety risks. These housing extensionproducts are also useful where thereis little or no available serviced landto build new dwellings, or house lotsare affected by family land or nativetitle issues which limit the council’sability to allocate families to moreappropriately sized dwellings.

Under NPARIH/ NPRH funding (2008to 30 June 2017), 853 new dwellingswere constructed, and 67 extensionsdelivered since April 2009. In2017–18, the government plans tocomplete another 238 new dwellingsunder NPRH and 39 new extensions.

The delivery of new social housingdwellings, and housing extension

products, is having a positive effect inreducing overcrowding inQueensland’s Aboriginal and TorresStrait Islander communities, decliningfrom 36 per cent in 2012 to24.6 per cent in 2017 (see graphbelow).6 There is also a ripple effect,resulting in stronger and morepositive communities.

In Poruma and Warraber, buildingnew dwellings has created a friendlyrivalry between the islands, withresidents starting to take ownershipand pride in their new homes.Residents are beautifying their yards,and creating vegetable gardens,which helps give them a sense ofpride in their homes while providinghealthy food options.

A local councillor from an islandcommunity in the Torres Strait, saidresidents were extremely grateful andappreciative of the 13 newconstructions recently delivered,along with the other seven currentlyunderway. He said the new dwellingswould assist to reduce overcrowdingin his small but expanding communityand create local jobs. He alsorecognised the benefit that some ofthe new houses, which will bepurpose-built to accommodatepeople with disabilities, would haveon those who receive the property.

Endnotes

1. Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2012,Census of population and housing:Estimating homelessness, 2011, ABS cat.no. 2049.0. ABS, Canberra.

2. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare(AIHW) 2014, Housing circumstances ofIndigenous households: Tenure andovercrowding, Cat. No. IHW 132, AIHW,Canberra. Retrieved from:https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/homelessness-services/specialist-homelessness-services-2015-16/contents/clients-in-regional-and-remote-areas

3. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare(AIHW) 2017. Specialist homelessnessservices 2015–16. Retrieved from:https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/homelessness-services/specialist-homelessness-services-2015-16/contents/client-groups-of-interest/indigenous-clients.

4. AIHW 2014, op cit.

5. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare(AIHW) 2014, Homelessness amongIndigenous Australians, Cat. no. IHW 133,AIHW, Canberra.

6. Department of Housing and Public Works2017, Improvement in proportion ofovercrowded households.

High-set housing extension

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

201720162015201420132012Percentage of Overcrowded Dwellings

36.0%

31.2%

28.0%26.5% 25.5% 24.6%

Improvement in Proportion of Overcrowded HouseholdsQueensland Indigenous Communities’ dwellings at 30th June

Source: Indigenous Housing Data Collection

37

Cairns Street to Home, DouglasHouse and Woree SupportedAccommodationDr Phil Flint, Regional Leader North Queensland, Natalie Musumeci, Program Manager DouglasHouse and Woree Facility and Mark Jentz, Program Manager Going Places, Mission Australia

Mission Australia (MA) has a numberof unique and innovative homelesssupport services in the Cairns area.These have been specifically tailoredto address the needs of this regionalcommunity in Far North Queensland.These programs emphasise bothwrap-around services andtrauma-informed practice. They relyheavily on collaboration with otherservices and an understanding of andrespect for the needs of Aboriginaland Torres Strait Islander people.

Going Places Street to HomeOur first and longest running programis the Going Places Street to HomeProgram. Going Places began itsoperation in 2010 and is an initiativeof the National PartnershipAgreement on Homelessness,(NPAH). The service supports peoplewho are sleeping rough orexperiencing chronic homelessness tomove into stable, long-term housing.Properties are sourced from theDepartment of Housing and PublicWorks (DHPW), Access CommunityHousing or the private rental market.Since 2010, Going Places hassupported over 1,100 clients andhoused over 750 adults and 350children. Significantly, 77 per cent ofclients have identified as beingAboriginal and/or Torres StraitIslander. While homelessness amongAboriginal and Torres Strait IslanderAustralians is a major issue in remoteareas (where severe overcrowding isthe predominant issue), it is alsoextremely concerning in regionalcentres like Cairns and Darwin wherepeople are drawn to services andnetworks in metropolitan areas.

Through Going Places, assistance isprovided through assertive outreach,direct support and the coordinationof wrap-around support services. Thekey to the success of Going Places isits core belief in the five Housing First

Principles; the consumers’ right tochoose; the importance of separatingthe housing from the serviceprovided; matching the needs of theconsumer; a focus on recovery basedpractice; and community integration,with a focus on connecting thepeople we help to natural supports inthe community and a reconnectionwith family.

In 2016 there was an increasing gapin the provision of outreach healthservices, largely due to the loss ofQueensland Health’s HomelessHealth Outreach Team (HHOT). Thesector pushed for an increase inoutreach health services and theDHPW approached Mission Australiato submit a proposal to expandGoing Places to include healthservices. The service agreement wassigned off in September 2016 and theteam now consists of three nurses,each responsible for mental health,general health and alcohol and otherdrug support, five Case Workers, anIndigenous Mentor, Financial Mentor,

Senior Case Worker and ProgramManager.

Ninety three per cent of clientshoused over the program’sseven-year lifespan, were sustainingtheir tenancy at program exit.

In 2013 a cost-benefit analysis ofGoing Places was completed thatfound that for every one dollarinvested by the Government, thegovernment saved $5.10 in publicservices no longer required. Webelieve, the addition of the nursingstaff will lead to even greater costsavings for the government.

Douglas HouseAlthough the proportion of tenanciesbeing maintained as clients exited theGoing Places program was quite high(over 90 per cent) it became evidentthat there was a cohort of clientsstruggling with the Housing Firstmodel who required supportedaccommodation, hence the need for

38Photo provided by Mission Australia

our Douglas House supportedaccommodation facility.

Douglas House is a Cairns-based,22-bed supported accommodationfacility that houses people who haveexperienced rough sleeping andlong-term chronic homelessness. Ithas been operating since 2014. LikeGoing Places, Douglas Housepredominantly supports people fromAboriginal and Torres Strait Islanderbackgrounds who have histories ofrough sleeping in the Cairns region.Prior to being accommodated, manyof the Douglas House residents wereexcluded from other services,frequently attended hospital andmental health facilities, and were inregular contact with police for minoroffences.

Douglas House works from atrauma-informed framework, whichincorporates recovery-oriented,strengths-based and culturally-responsive practices. Douglas Houserecognises the social, physical,emotional, cultural and spiritualneeds of its residents. The DouglasHouse team develop individualrecovery plans in partnership withresidents and endeavour to ensureresidents do not exit back intohomelessness.

Our staff are trained in theCollaborative Recovery Model (CRM).As part of individual casemanagement, recovery workersprovide tenants with emotional andpractical support, advocacy, andassistance to access housing andspecialist services, such as support forsubstance misuse, mental healthrecovery, legal advice, domestic andfamily violence, and other mainstreamservices. Recovery workers alsofacilitate access to education,volunteering, employment and leisureactivities for tenants.

Group programs complementone-on-one direct service provision.They include cooking, budgeting anddebt management assistance, yardmaintenance, tenant rights andresponsibilities and trauma-informedart therapy. These programs areorganised, and in some cases run, byLifestyle Coordinators. Recoveryworkers assist tenants to betterconnect with the community,providing them with a physicalorientation of where services are and

helping them to access the servicesthey need. They also help tenants toexplore new activities and determinehow they can affordably participate inthose activities in the community.Recovery workers and IndigenousMentors develop links to culturalgroups and communities, provideactive referrals and follow up withservices. They provide short-termtransport assistance and publictransport training, and attend initialmeetings and events with tenants as asocial support.

Woree SupportedAccommodationMission Australia extended ourcapacity in 2015 with the constructionof an 18-bed facility in Woree, asouthern suburb of Cairns. The newfacility has provided longer-termaccommodation and a continuum ofsupport for those who need it. Webelieve this is an important approachfrom the Queensland governmentand its Housing Department givingsome of the most vulnerable peoplein our community. The serviceprovides supported housing withindividualised case management foradults who have experiencedlong-term chronic homelessness.

The facility is a stepping-stone,helping tenants develop the skillsthey need to move from DouglasHouse or other temporaryaccommodation into sustainableindependent housing. Staff also assistclients to renew their participation ineconomic and social aspects ofcommunity life. The service is fundedby DHPW and works from atrauma-informed and recoveryfocussed model.

Cafe One Van: A SocialEnterpriseA new initiative that ties the threeprograms together by addressing ashared identified gap is our socialenterprise Café One. Cafe One is amobile coffee van business whichoffers training and employmentoptions, while providing a safe andsupportive environment for peoplewho are homeless or experiencingdisadvantage, marginalisation andpoverty.

As a mobile social enterprise, CafeOne is able to attend local events andcommunity activities and thereforefacilitate wider engagement with thecommunity. Café One providesopportunities for people to cometogether, develop relationships, forgestronger social connections, and buildnetworks and support. We hope thisresults in improved understandingbetween our clients and thecommunity. Since opening in October2016 Café One has run three baristatraining courses, supporting over 25clients who are rough sleepers orhave experienced chronic homeless.On completion of their training, MAhas employed three individuals towork in the Café One van.

A Trauma-Informed ApproachIn Cairns, like much of Australia,trauma is significant for the Aboriginaland Torres Strait Islander homelesspopulation because ofintergenerational trauma and familyviolence stemming from colonisation.In their recent evaluation of DouglasHouse Carrington and Mensinga 1

outline the following principles as keyto a trauma-informed approach:recognising trauma; resisting

39Photo provided by Mission Australia

re-traumatisation; understandingcultural, historical and gendercontext; trustworthiness andtransparency; collaboration andmutuality; empowerment; choice andcontrol; safety; survivor partnerships;and pathways to trauma specific care.The trauma informed approach takenby Douglas House includes a focuson:

Strengths is an individual•

approach as well as a keycomponent of thetrauma-informed approach. Astrengths approach can be usedto support a trauma-informedapproach by reframing trauma toenable feelings of resilience andconfidence to emerge. Thisapproach offers physical,psychological, and emotionalsafety for both workers and clientsand creates opportunities forpeople to rebuild a sense ofcontrol and empowerment.2

Recovery originated in the field of•

psychiatry and mental health butis now often included inmultidisciplinary settings.Recovery is used to understandand respond to intersectingcomplexities of mental health,substance abuse, experience ofcare, and contact with the criminaljustice system, which present in

the lives of those experiencinghomelessness. Commonly, keyaspects of recovery include: thepromotion of citizenship; theorganisational commitment;supporting personally definedrecovery; and productive workingrelationships.3 For our recoverymodel to work, it was imperativethat staff display a belief thatrecovery is possible.

Culturally ResponsiveThe local Cairns context necessitatesthat cultural factors and responses beincorporated in responses tohomelessness in this region. Bestpractice approaches include: a focuson cultural safety; developingpartnerships; including Aboriginalgovernance; ensuring equitablefunding; employing Aboriginal staff;facilitating cultural reconnection; andengagement in research/evaluationon best practices.4

Why Our Approach WorksIn Cairns, MA is committed to aholistic, trauma-informed approachaimed at ensuring the people weassist not only find a home, but alsobuild a life that will allow them tokeep it. While trauma informed care isnot a new concept, we believe theway we are applying it here at Going

Places, Douglas House, Woree andthrough our Cafe One socialenterprise is both important andnecessary. We recognise that no twocases are the same — so you cannottreat people with one simple systemor method. That is why we believethese programs are working so well;we are constantly connecting andcollaborating with any service orindividual that can help to improvethe lives of the people we work with.We examine each case individually toensure we make a difference.

The success of these integratedprograms is a great example of whatcan be achieved to address chronichomelessness — particularly amongAboriginal and Torres Strait IslanderAustralians. There is no reason thatour approach, programs and thelessons we have learned can’t berolled out in other parts of thecountry.

Endnotes

1. Carrington A and Mensinga J 2017,Douglas House, Supported HousingServices, practice model development andevaluation, March 2017, James CookUniversity, Townsville and Cairns.

2. ibid.

3. ibid.

4. ibid.

40

Photo provided by Mission Australia

Homelessness in Rural and RegionalQueensland Mining CommunitiesShane Warren, PhD Student, School of Human Services and Social Work, Griffith Health, Griffith University,Dr Donna McDonald, Adjunct Senior Research Fellow, Griffith University and Professor Donna McAuliffe, School of Human Services and Social Work, Griffith Health, Griffith University*

The last 20 years has seen manyQueensland rural and regionalcommunities influenced by the miningcycle experience the dizzyingeconomic heights associated with theboom and spectacular lows associatedwith the downturn. The decade longmining boom from 2002 to 2012undoubtedly transformed miningcommunities across Queensland withrapid increases in communitypopulation and widening social andeconomic inequalities. The downturnfrom 2012 to the time of publicationalso impacted the prosperity of thesecommunities with mining communitiesexperiencing major job losses andgeneral economic and communityuncertainty. This article explores theimpact of the mining cycle on regionaland rural mining communities thatsupport the coal mining industry,arguing that the mining cycle has beena major contributor to homelessness inthese communities.

Despite the best efforts of someresearchers, homelessness outside ofAustralia’s capital cities continues tonot be well understood at a policy,research or practice level. Surprisinglygiven the length of the last miningboom, regional and rural miningcommunities have not been the focusof much homelessness research at all.For many Australians the links betweenthe mining industry and homelessnessare paradoxical. How could any form ofsocial disadvantage like homelessnessoccur in these communities when thedominant narrative of mining has beenone of wealth and opportunity?

This narrative has served to concealmany of the inequalities, disadvantageand social issues includinghomelessness experienced in regionaland rural mining communities. It alsohad the effect of perpetuating thenotion that homelessness in thesecommunities is a form of ‘hidden

homelessness’.1 This article is based ondoctoral research involving the miningcommunities of Mackay, Moranbah andDysart from 2013 to 2017 that locatedhomelessness in these communitieswithin the context of the mining cycle.

In recent years there has been mucheffort to understand the structuraldrivers of homelessness in Australia,specifically the links between theconditions of the labour market andthe housing markets and homelessnessacross different regions.2 This researchhas provided useful analysis tounderstand the structural factors thatinfluence homelessness in Australia’sregions and why homelessness is moreprevalent in some regions than others.Their research findings also challengedmany assumptions about the supply ofhousing and other general stereotypesthat homelessness is largely ametropolitan issue that influence thepublics’ understanding of what causeshomelessness.3

Contextualising factors which placepeople at risk of homelessness suchas individual risk factors or lifeexperiences, and access to affordablehousing, employment and supportservices, relative to the mining cycle,is critical to understanding the causesof homelessness in thesecommunities and ultimately how tobest end a person or family’sexperience of homelessness.

The mining cycle has had, andcontinues to have, a major influenceon homelessness in rural and regionalmining communities. The decade longmining boom 2002 to 2012 had aprofound effect on the larger regionalcommunity of Mackay, and the smallerinland rural communities of Moranbahand Dysart within the Bowen Basincoal mining region in CentralQueensland with huge increases inpopulation and demand for services.4, 5

The regional city of Mackay and thetwo inland rural mining communitiesof Moranbah and Dysart have a longhistory of strong informal and formalconnections for industry, business,services, recreation and socialactivities. The infrastructure of miningcommunities such as roads, housing,health and education services wereplaced under great stress as result ofthe rapid population increase and thedemand for services. Specifically thedemand for housing and housingsupply factors, and other industryrelated factors, saw housing pricesinflate contributing to the lack of anyaffordable housing in miningcommunities.6 Private rental housingfor many years during the boom wassimply out of reach for anyone on alow income.

The boom also placed significantpressure on few human servicesincluding the small number ofSpecialist Homelessness Services (SHS)located in Mackay, Moranbah andDysart. These services experiencedsignificant increase in demand forsupport services, some of which areonly one or two worker services. Thischallenged their capacity to providesupport or any level of housingassistance to people experiencinghomelessness or at risk ofhomelessness. Service providersreported that during the boom theonly viable solution for many homelesspeople was to leave the community inhope of finding housing andemployment elsewhere in Queenslandor to move interstate. This was viewedas a more viable option thanpersevering in a community with nextto no likelihood of accessing housingor other services and support.

The loss of community culture andidentity was identified as aconsequence of the boom which hadimpacted homelessness in the

41

community. While rural communitieshave few funded services, historicallythey have had strong informalsupport networks and other forms ofsocial capital to assist people need.7

The cultural changes within miningcommunities during the boom saw anerosion of this social capital and as aconsequence, more challengingcircumstances for peopleexperiencing homelessness.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics(ABS) Census data for peopleexperiencing homelessness between2001 and 2011 showed fluctuatingrates of homelessness in the Mackayand Isaac Regions (which includes thecommunities of Dysart and Moranbah)at different stages during this decade,including for much of the decadehigher rates of homelessness than thenational average.8 SHS gave voice tothe ABS Census data in these regionswhen they spoke about the increasingnumbers of people seeking assistanceand the resulting pressures on theiragencies that were at capacity, or overservice capacity, for much of this time.

Despite its fundamental limitations,the 2016 Census data will reflect datacollected more than three years afterthe mining industry downturn. Whilethe downturn is noted for a generaloverall improvement in access toaffordable housing in miningcommunities, other factors such as lossof employment and general economicuncertainty have also influencedhomelessness in these communities.

While the acute pressures of the boomperiod on SHS may have subsided,service providers report homelessnessin mining communities continues to beunder recognised and that policyresponses have been entirelyinadequate. This was reflected in aquote from a SHS provider interviewedin this research who reflected that themining industry and government for along time maintained an attitude of‘pretending that homelessness doesn’texist in mining communities’. Attitudessuch as this ensure homelessnessremains hidden. This begs thequestion, what if anything has beenlearned from the recent decade longmining boom regarding homelessnessin regional and rural miningcommunities and moreover, what canbe done to prevent and reducehomelessness in these communities infuture phases of the mining cycle?

The research found that peopleexperienced homelessness in ruraland regional mining communities fora variety of reasons, but werecommonly associated with familybreakdown and domestic and familyviolence, unemployment and noaffordable housing options. Theseissues were compounded for peoplewith high vulnerability tohomelessness (that is, people whohave experienced chronichomelessness throughout their lives,people who have exited prisons,people with mental health concerns,people with alcohol and drug issues),which served to have the effect ofunnecessarily prolonging the person’sexperience of homelessness. Theinfluence of the mining industry inthese communities can be seen toaccentuate many of the issues thatpeople experience in their pathway tohomelessness, but also impact on theprospects of obtaining housing andsupport services needed to end theirexperience of homelessness.

It is critical that mining related activitiesare recognised as having major socialimpacts on rural and regional miningcommunities. This research putsforward five policy recommendationsto prevent and reduce homelessness inregional and rural mining communitiesin future phases of the mining cycle.

A mandate for mining companies1.to accept their Social License toOperate (SLO) and that thisfundamentally means that miningcompanies take seriously theirresponsibility to undertakeconsultation and gain agreementfrom rural and regionalcommunities about the impacts oftheir industry on the communityand undertake planning andstrategies aimed at preventinghomelessness for communitymembers.

The need for longer-term social2.planning and policy responses thatrecognise the impacts on miningcommunities of extended boomperiods followed by periods ofdownturn. The supply of housingand accommodation needs to becentral focus of these policyprocesses.

Improving access to affordable3.housing options for peopleexperiencing homelessness and

on low incomes during periods ofmining boom.

Greater emphasis on prevention4.and early intervention responsesfor all community members at riskof homelessness through differentphases of the mining cycle.Prevention and early interventionstrategies maybe different at theheight of a mining boom asopposed to the mining downturn.

Some increased capacity for crisis5.accommodation responses duringacute periods of mining boom.

While the attitude of mining bringinguntold wealth to mining communitiescontinues to influence the nationalpsyche, the learnings from the socialimpact of the mining cycle on ruraland regional communities from thelast two decades of boom anddownturn are urgently needed toinform immediate policy responses.Preventing and reducinghomelessness must be central to anypolicy action taken by the miningindustry and government in attemptsto mitigate the worst effects of themining cycle.* NB: the views and opinions expressed in this

article are those of the authors and do not inany way represent the views of theQueensland Government and theDepartment of Housing and Public Works.

Endnotes

1. Milbourne P, Cloke P 2006, InternationalPerspectives on Rural Homelessness.Routledge, London.

2. Wood G, Batterham D, Cigdem M andMallet S 2015, The structural drivers ofhomelessness in Australia 2001 to 2011Final Report 2 of 2, AHURI, Melbourne.

3. ibid, Final Report 1 of 2.

4. Queensland Government Statistician’sOffice Bowen Basin Population Report June2014. Retrieved fromwww.ggso.qld.gov.au/ products/reports/bowen-basin-pop-report-2014.

5. Petkova V, Locki, S, Rolfe, Ivanova G 2009,Mining developments and social impactson communities: Bowen Basin case studies,Rural Society, vol.19, no.3, pp.211–288

6. Haslam-Mackenzie F, Phillips R, Rowley S,Brereton D and Birdsall-Jones C 2009,Housing market dynamics in resourceboom towns, Final Report, No. 135, AHURI,Melbourne.

7. Bay U 2012, Making a living in diverse ruraland remote communities, in Maidment Jand Bay U 2012, Social Work in RuralAustralia, Allen and Unwin, Crows NestNSW.

8. Wood G, Batterham D, Cigdem M andMallet S 2016, Without a home fact file,ABC, www.abc.net.au/interactives/homelessness/

42

Keeping Homelessnesson the AgendaJessica Vidafar, Operations Manager, The Cairns Housing and Homelessness Network

The Cairns Housing and HomelessnessNetwork (CHHN) is a collaboration ofhousing and homelessness services,women and youth services, Aboriginaland Torres Strait Islander services andpeak bodies who meet on a monthlybasis and have as their goal to AchieveHousing Justice for all people in Cairns.

The network has been along-established group and activelyensures that the issue of homelessnessin the Cairns community is kept on theagenda. Whilst it is recognised thatdefinitions of homelessness often leadto different statistical accounts ofhomelessness, it is estimated thatapproximately 2,000 people arehomeless in Cairns. We also know thatthere is in excess of 1,600 people onthe Department of Housing’s Registerof Need. Sadly, these figures are notdeclining — our efforts are not seeinga decline in the dire housing situationin far north Queensland.

In November 2016, a QueenslandCouncil of Social Services (QCOSS)project entitled Enabling LocalCommunities identified that given theover representation of Aboriginal andTorres Strait Islander people in thehomelessness statistics in the Cairns

area, that their pathways intohomelessness often differ to theexperiences of non-Indigenous people.

Overcrowding in the cultural contextof kinship and links to traditionallands or family ties often means theexperience of First Nations peoples ismore complex. The term ‘spiritualhomelessness’ is outlined in thereport as an experience for someAboriginal and Torres Straitindividuals and families.1

The CHHN has a 30-year history ofadvocacy and awareness raising in thecommunity and the activities andevents organised this year highlightthe commitment of members and thestrong cross sectoral relationshipsthat are apparent in the region. In thepast the involvement in events suchas the Home for Good campaign andRegistry week, Homelessness Weekand programs lead by QueenslandShelter and QCOSS have highlightedthe plight of vulnerable people in ourcommunity.

This year events such asHomelessness Week, Anti-PovertyWeek and International Tenants’ Daybrought together services from across

the community to provide awareness,information, skills and capacity.

This year was the first celebration ofInternational Tenants’ Day in Cairnswith over 40 tent stalls set up atFogerty Park. It brought togethertenants, businesses, support andadvocacy services and communitymembers with the aim of raisingawareness of tenancy issues andsupport for people to obtain andmaintain a successful tenancy.

We know that housing is a basichuman right and we need innovativesolutions to assist people inmaintaining their tenancy. Thesesupport needs may include healthand mental health, domestic violence,drug and alcohol concerns,relationship breakdown, housingaffordability and availability, financialissues and legal matters. Looking atprevention and early interventionapproaches to homelessness is thekey to preventing the cycle ofhomelessness and ensuring housingsustainability.

Endnote

1. QCOSS 2016, Enabling Local Communities2016, QCOSS, Brisbane.

International Tenants’ Day — Cairns, 3 October 2017

43

How to Keep Your Place: Vulnerability ofOlder Indigenous Women toHomelessness in Far North QueenslandFrances Every, Homelessness Support Service Worker

‘How I gonna keep him away? Thatone I growed up since he was a baby,I have to have a place for mygrandchildren to come, they’re myfamily, I can’t say no…’

— Indigenous grandmother,interviewed in North Queensland in

2017.

While research and policy focus hasconcentrated on chronichomelessness and rough sleepingover the last ten years 1 the otherbroad category concerns those whohave housing but are at risk of losingit, also referred to as hiddenhomelessness.2 In rural areashomelessness is hidden becausepeople without stable housing tendto stay with family and friends. Thisoften leads to overcrowding, breachof tenancy law and eviction.

Drawing on the author’s experienceworking in the areas of earlyintervention homelessnessprevention, this article highlightsissues around hiddenhomelessness as experienced byolder Indigenous women in a ruralcommunity in North Queensland.Women whose tenancies arethreatened by overcrowding maybe forced to choose betweenasking family members to leave orbeing evicted, and as the quoteabove suggests, this can be atough choice. Assisting thesewomen through early interventionand prevention using a holisticapproach that considersIndigenous norms, culturalpractices and wishes regardingtheir housing is vital in preventinghomelessness.

Indigenous people areoverrepresented in homelessnessstatistics, particularly in the ‘severelyovercrowded’ category 3 Women haveadditional factors increasing theirvulnerability, namely domestic andfamily violence. In Indigenous societywomen also have greaterresponsibility for housing 4 and areoften primary lease holders.

Indigenous women have strongobligations to accommodate familyand kin due to demand sharing andcultural obligation.5 Overcrowding inNorth Queensland is also associatedwith chronic homelessness for somegroups, particularly young, singlemen and visitors from remotecommunities who stay with kin,creating long-term overcrowding.6

Overcrowding is also associated withpoor health, domestic violence andantisocial behaviour, and is a keyfactor for risk of homelessness.7

The Cycle of Overcrowding,Homelessness and VulnerabilityIn 2012 Indigenous and Torres StraitIslander women comprised almost75 per cent of State managed (socialhousing) tenants in Queensland.8 Inthe rural community observed, manytenancies of Indigenous women are atrisk. Often these women are over 50,care for children of family members,share housing with extended family,have chronic health problems and areaffected by domestic violence.

A reason for concentration of thisgroup in social housing is they meetthe ‘high or very needs’ criteriarequired. It is often erroneouslyassumed, (for example, bygovernment housing officers,) thatwomen are able to manage thepresence and behaviour of visitors.Such assumptions may lead toeviction when appropriate supportsare not made available.

44Grandmother caring for the children of her extended family

The stories of ‘Doreen’ and ‘Gertie’illustrate this:

DoreenDoreen is 57, has custody of hergranddaughter and shares a socialhousing property with herdaughter. She also has informalcare of her young nieces (theirfather is in jail and their motherdrinks heavily). Doreen’s extendedfamily and the neighbours use herback yard for drinking sessions.These often involve family violenceand property damage resulting intenancy breaches. Doreen has achronic health condition andsometimes misses Centrelinkappointments, so payments aresuspended and rent not paid. Shenow faces eviction, has a largedamages debt and a poor tenancyhistory, factors that may excludeher from future social housing.

GertieGertie is a grandmother in her 60s.Her two teenaged grandchildrenhave lived with her for most of theirlives. Her grandson has a drinkingproblem and has smashed manywindows over the years. Extendedfamily frequented the property andused the small back yard for noisy

drinking parties. This led to Gertie’seviction. She is now staying at herson’s place which is a gatheringplace for visiting family from remotecommunities and where drinkingparties are also ongoing. Gertie isdistressed and cannot rest, she wastoo frail to clean her property so hasa cleaning debt in addition to thedamages repairs. Her furniture andwhite goods are ruined from beingstored outside and her pension istaken by her family.

The figure below depicts the cycleof overcrowding and homelessness.Debt, political exclusion, domesticviolence, elder abuse, involvementin child protection systems and poorhealth are also important factors inthis cycle. For Doreen and thechildren in her care, eviction willperpetuate the cycle ofovercrowding, vulnerability toill-health and exposure to violence;Gertie is now exposed to elderabuse, has lost her household goodsand her physical and emotionalwellbeing are suffering.

The promotion of exploitativefinancial and product rental servicesis common in Indigenouscommunities, as is poor financialliteracy and there is a dearth ofadvocacy services.

As a result, household incomes areeroded by multiple debts (that is,for damages, cleaning, rent arrearsand loans). If domestic violence orelder abuse is occurring, womenhave even less control over theirmoney. Combined Centrelinkincomes of household membersmay seem high but are not alwaysan accurate indication of financialcapacity without consideration ofthe above. This can mean that rootcauses of financial hardship thatimpact on women’s tenancies arenot understood and appropriatesupport and intervention is notoffered.

Social housing is often the lastresort and people who are evictedare likely to fall into chronichomelessness.10 Older Indigenouswomen have a key role as carersand providers of much neededstability for children so secure,affordable housing is essential tofamily wellbeing. The intention ofsocial housing is to target the mostvulnerable, that is, households withhigh and complex needs.11 Thisgoal is lost when the people whoare most in need of social housing,are excluded from it.

Barriers to Accessing ServicesReluctance to seek assistance alsocontributes to the risk ofhomelessness for Indigenouswomen. Cultural differences alsoplay a role as Indigenous andfemale specific services are rare inthe area.12 There are alsoavoidance behaviours due to lowself-esteem, anxiety anddepression. The power imbalancebetween human service workersand tenants are also part of thebarriers experienced by Indigenouswomen.13

Indigenous women often do notpresent to services until eviction isimminent or unless mandated byhousing or child protectionauthorities. This may be too late forintervention and gives rise topejorative assumptions that womendo not want help or are too lazy ordisorganised to maintain theirhousing.

The reality is that Indigenouswomen, particularly if domestic andfamily violence is a factor in theirlives are often deeply estranged

45Figure 1. The cycle of overcrowding, homelessness and vulnerability 9

Move in with family and friends

Overcrowding and antisocial behaviour

Eviction and homelessness

Demand sharing, cultural/family

obligations

Domestic violence and

property damage

from the broader community. Theymay also be unaware of the helpavailable to them or too unwellphysically and mentally to seek it.Pressure from authorities, and afear and perception of theinevitability of eviction alsoengender a sense of hopelessnessand that there is ‘nothing else tolose’.

Feelings of frustration, hopelessness,anger and powerlessness are oftenexpressed by Indigenous women inthe community. These feelings areconveyed clearly by the followingconversation extracts:

Trying to keep your place…

Means paying for holes in walls,broken windows and doors,because of domestic violence…

Having the housing mob talkdown to you, use big words, causeyou shame and confusion, sendletters you can’t understand…..

Keeping the mob away, familycoming for sorry business becauseso many Aboriginal people diefrom suicide or sickness — themob don’t know how to grievewithout getting drunk anymore….

Keeping your money for rent andbills … but what if your familytakes it, takes your key card? Youhave to pay for funerals, Rent ToBuy, Crisco… you want to havegood things for your kids just likeother people…

Losing your place…

Means sleeping on someone’scouch, waiting for the nextdrinking session and hoping youcan escape the violence and noiseand blame from police, havingyour stuff stolen and broken….

Means more danger from DV andsexual abuse, you can’t keepyourself and the kids safe whenyou’re not in your own place, youcan’t lock the door…..

Means losing hope… drinking allday because there’s nothing else...

— Indigenous women, interviewed2017,

North Queensland.

ConclusionThe housing circumstances of olderIndigenous women are oftenprecarious. Homelessness increasesexposure to multiple risks for womenand their families. Factors such asdomestic violence, property damageand anti-social behaviour can be boththe cause and the result ofhomelessness and are cyclical in nature(as illustrated in Figure 1). This situationis also cost-inefficient for governmentas homelessness increases pressure onhuman service agencies.14

Limited resources (staff and housingstock) poor understanding of culturaland local influences and inappropriatepolicy (for example the ‘Three StrikesPolicy’ abandoned in 2015 15) alsodetermine state housing servicesresponses to tenancy problems.

Prevention and early intervention areimportant in preventinghomelessness.16 These supports arebest offered by homelessness serviceswhich are embedded in the localcommunity and ideally, are wellengaged with local Indigenous people.To work effectively, both state housingproviders and homelessness serviceswould have the following qualities:

early intervention focus — engage•

at first indicator of riskprevention — engaging with the•

community at relevant levels viadifferent mediums such aseducation, to facilitate broaderchangeflexibility — the ability to work•

with not only the individual tenantbut also all relevant peopleassociated with the risk.duration of need — not time limited•

expertise — staff who are well•

trained in homelessness, tenancyrelated issues and culturalunderstanding.

As highlighted in this article,overcrowding by extended family andattendant tenancy threats are majorcauses of eviction. A culturallyappropriate, flexible and collaborativeapproach is critical in ending thecycle of vulnerability andhomelessness. The vital role of olderwomen as caregiver, and the strengthof their connection to home andfamily should be acknowledged andhonoured in the delivery of servicesand in the formulating of effectiveand compassionate approaches tohomelessness prevention.

Endnotes

1. Black C and Gronda H 2011, Evidence forimproving access to homelessness services,Australian Housing and Urban ResearchInstitute, Melbourne.

2. Memmott P and Chambers C 2010,Indigenous Homelessness in Australia: AnIntroduction, Parity, vol.23, no.9, pp. 8–11.

3. Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2014,Information Paper, Aboriginal and TorresStrait Islanders Perspective onHomelessness (no 4736.0).

4. Birdsall-Jones C, Corunna V, Turner N2010, Indigenous homelessness, AHURIFinal Report No. 143, Australian Housingand Urban Research Institute Limited,Melbourne.

5. Phillips R and Parsons T 2011,Homelessness in Mareeba: the nature ofthe problem and what can be done aboutit, Final report for Mareeba HomelessnessReference Group, Rhonda PhillipsConsulting.

6. ibid.

7. Pholeros P 2010, Will the crowding be overor will there still be overcrowding inIndigenous housing? Lessons from theHousing for Health Projects 1985–2010,Healthhabitat, The Child, Youth and FamilyWork Journal, No. 27, Summer 2010:pp.8–18, ABS 2014 op cit.

8. Wesley Mission Queensland 2015, Doing itTough: Queensland Older Women’sExperience of Poverty.https://www.wmq.org.au/ ...urbis-doing-it-tough.../2015-urbis-doing-it-tough, p 8.

9. Adapted from Phillips and Parsons 2011,op cit.

10. Australian Government 2008, The RoadHome: a National Approach to ReducingHomelessness, the Homelessness WhitePaper, Department of Families, Housing,Community Services and IndigenousAffairs, Canberra.

11. Queensland Government 2016, Workingtogether for better housing and sustainablecommunities: Discussion Paper,www.hpw.qld.gov.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/HousingDiscussionPaper.pdf

12. Graham D, Wallace V, Selway D, Howe T,Kelly T 2014, Why are so many Indigenouswomen Homeless in Far North WestQueensland Australia? : A serviceproviders’ Views of Causes, Journal ofTropical Psychology, vol.4, no.9, pp.1–11.

13. McDonald C, Craik C, Hawkins L, Williams J2011, Professional Practice in HumanService Organisations, Allen and Unwin,NSW.

14. Australian Government 2008, op cit.

15. Courier Mail 04/12/2015, Three-strikes rulefor public housing tenants ditched for new‘fair expectations of behaviour’ policy,http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/queensland-government/threestrikes-rule-for-public-housing-tenants-ditched-for-new-fair-expectations-of-behaviour-policy/news-story/aca990d1f33b9271be9f9d5ba4ca59a7

16. Australian Government 2008, op cit.

46

My Money Program:Supporting Pathways toFinancial and Housing StabilitySharon Edwards, Financial Inclusion Program Manager, Shelter Housing Action Cairns

‘…When your life is in crisis, you areonly just surviving not living.’As we know, causes ofhomelessness and barriers tohousing are rarely about onesingle issue. Similarly, when weconsider some of the causes ofpoverty, financial exclusion andfinancial hardship in ourcommunity, it is often extremelycomplex. What we do know is thatfamilies presenting to ShelterHousing Action Cairns (SHAC) ashomeless or at risk of losing theirhome, are also identifying extremefinancial hardship and conversely,those identifying financial hardshipare more often than notexperiencing housing stress.

There are increasing andcompeting demands on how all ofus use our often limited income tomeet the rising costs of living. AtShelter Housing Action Cairns(SHAC) we see the exclusion oflow-income earners from safeaffordable financial products(namely credit). We witness theirdisplacement from social andfinancial safety nets, coupled withthe long-term impacts of financialabuse and predatory fringefinance. Combined with ashortage of affordable housing,this works to create a perilous andprecarious housing and financialsituation.

Access to knowledge, tools and theservices that can support us tomake ends meet on a day to daybasis, avoid financial pitfalls, reducelevels of debt and plan for thefuture (including the ‘unexpected’),are critical in maintaining housingsecurity. To ignore the underlyingfinancial hardship is to risk familiesand individuals recycling back intohomelessness and through ourdoor.

Over the last decade in responseto this SHAC has developed anumber of financial inclusion tools,strategies and programs aimed atalleviating the financial hardshipexperienced by homeless familiesand vulnerable low-incomeearners in Cairns and in thebroader Far North Queenslandcommunity.

This ‘bridging’ of homelessnessand financial inclusion workthrough the provision of intensivefinancial case management andmicrofinance sits alongside ourcrisis housing and supportprogram. This work has proven tobe a very successful model foraddressing both the financialneeds underpinning thosepresenting as homeless orvulnerably housed and the housingissues of those requesting financialsupport. Central to this model isthe My Money Program.

The My Money Program wasinitially and successfully pilotedwith the support of philanthropicfunding to assist families living inSHAC crisis accommodation.Subsequently the programextended as a pilot andco-designed with the QueenslandDepartment of Housing and PublicWorks to provide assistance tothose living in crisisaccommodation, the private rentalmarket as well as those intransitional housing in the Cairnsregion.

In recognition of theoverrepresentation of Aboriginal andTorres Strait Islanders who arehomeless and/or at risk ofhomelessness locally, as well aswomen escaping domestic and familyviolence, the My Money Programtargets the users our service (althoughnot exclusively) in order to assistthese people in need.

Unpredictable expenses

Compounding financial hardship

Increased debt/financial responsibility

Impaired ability to maintain income, gain employment,

pay rent

Increased barriers to

stable housing

Housing loss

Domestic violence

Relocate for medical treatment/

work/education

Loss of employment or

Centrelink income

Rent/living expenses increase

Unexpected life event

CRISIS

The Poverty and Homelessness Trap

47

The following is a composite clientproduced from responses fromparticipants of the My MoneyProgram when first making contactwith the program.

I am a single, Aboriginal or TorresStrait Islander mum (80 per cent)and I do not like where my life isgoing at the moment.(68 per cent)

In the past year I have movedhome between two and five times(89 per cent) and I rely on fringeand payday lenders to managemy budget. (74 per cent)

I have three children who havepoor or very poor attendance atschool. (52 per cent)

I am not confident I can afforda home (64 per cent) andI need emergency reliefvouchers to live. (63 per cent)

I do not have a good relationshipwith money (64 per cent) andnever have spare money to spendhow I would like. (79 per cent)

I don’t like planning for the future.(63 per cent) 1

The My Money Model of Supportseeks to:

improve the ability of families•

and individuals to clearlyidentify and articulate theircurrent financial situation(Acknowledge financialsituation)maximise income entitlements•

and earnings throughengagement with Centrelink,Child Support, Education andTraining, and Job Providers(Improve financial position)explore methods and capacity•

for a family to reduce personaldebt and expenses (Increasecontrol of personal finances)increase knowledge and•

capacity to effectively managetheir personal income (Increasefinancial literacy and control)increased knowledge of•

consumer rights and financialsupport services (Increasefinancial literacy)increase access to affordable,•

long-term sustainable housing(Increase access to secure andstable housing)Identify strategies to reduce•

vulnerability to future financialcrisis (Increase control ofpersonal finances).

However, this work is not undertakenin isolation. SHAC forms part of amuch greater and broader humanservices sector with whom wecollaborate to overcome barriers tohousing — namely, housing andhousing support providers as well asfinancial support services that workacross the continuum of support.

The My Money Program atWorkCase Study: Mary*

Mary is an Indigenous mother offive and having left a violentrelationship was renting a homeprivately. She struggled to pay therent as well as fulfil her familyobligations following the passing ofa family member. As a result, sheand her children were given aNotice to Leave due to rent arrears.Mary found accommodationthrough SHAC’s CrisisAccommodation Program andbegan receiving support via theMy Money Program.

Mary spoke of not feeling confidentin managing her finances andfeeling the pressure to supportother family members who werealso struggling to put a roof over

48

Image from the cover of Parity volume 23, issue 6 — Responding to Homelessness in Queensland Image provided by the 139 Club

their head and feed their families.She struggled to say no to high-pressure door-to-door, telephoneand shopping centre salespeopleand felt sick when looking at herbank accounts and all herdeductions. Mary was alsooverwhelmed at the prospect ofmaking any changes.

A Financial Health Check revealedthe following:

excessive bank fees, largely—

linked to the mistiming ofdirect debits that resulted inher account being overdrawneach weekrental arrears and—

maintenance debt of$5,287.30Ergon Energy debt of—

$1,581.55 with deductions of$200.00 per fortnightpay-day lender deductions of—

$322.65 per fortnightrental contract deductions of—

$317.75 per fortnightphoto company contract for—

$4,990.00 with deductions of$51.41 per fortnightPrivate Health Insurance—

deductions of $56.32 perfortnightFoxtel contract with—

deductions of $134 per monthcharity contract donations of—

$72.00 per monthfines.—

Disposable Income estimation•

Total Income ($2,017.80 p/f)—

– Deductions ($1,585.13)= $432.67 per fortnight. Thisequated to $5.15 per personper day for essential householdexpenses.

Engagement in intensive outreach•

support from the MMP over a fivemonth period resulted in thefollowing outcomes for Mary:

support to respond to—

immediate need for food forher familyadvocacy in lowering private—

rental debt to $4,180.80negotiated agreement with—

real estate agents forrepayments of $50 per weekkeeping client from beingTICA listedopened new concession bank—

account that prevents clientfrom being able to over-drawon account

support to set up correctly—

timed deductions tosuccessfully pay off pay-daylender contracts increasingdisposable income by $322.65per fortnight within one monthof tenancy with CrisisAccommodation Propertyaccommodation.assistance to set up fine—

repayments of $80.00 perfortnight preventing her driver’slicense from being suspended.advocacy to cancel payments—

being made to a PhotoCompany and the return of$500 to Maryadvocacy to lower repayments—

of rental contracts to $211.85per fortnightadvocacy to cancel contracted—

deductions for private healthinsurance, Foxtel and charitydonations increasingdisposable income by $159.32per fortnightSupport to access a No interest—

Loan to purchase a lawnmowerat $30 per fortnight (reducingcosts associated with payingsomeone to do it andincreasing ability to maintainnew property).

Disposable income estimation•

Total Income ($2,025.00 p/f)—

– Deductions ($1,055.85)= $969.15 per fortnight.This equates to $11.53 perperson per day for essentialhousehold expenses.

Key Outcomes: Outcomes as a resultof the interface between housing andfinancial support

‘I told them to get stuffed! I toldthe lady that I had been ripped offby your kind of companies beforeand I don’t want anything fromyou. Then I just straight up walkedaway. It felt good!’

— Mary, who subsequentlyencountered a salesperson for a

photo company when she waswalking through a shopping centre.

Housing Outcome•

Successfully transitioned from—

Crisis Accommodation Propertyinto long-term Department ofHousing property

Maximised Disposable Income•

and Housing Affordability

Disposable income increased—

from $432.67 per fortnight to$969.15 per fortnight.

Reduced Debt•

Cancelation of photo contract—

(estimated $4,400.00 saving)Cancelation of pay TV—

contract (waived debt of$660.00)Fixed private rental debt—

assessment (waived debt$1,065.50)Budgeting and repayments—

cleared Ergon debt of$1,581.55 in time fortransition to new home

Increased Financial Capabilities•

Mary described feeling more—

confident and in controlaround budgeting, managingmoney and choosing safefinancial options.

The My Money Program does morethan just assist people to juggle theirmoney. Gaining control over financesin order to support stability withhousing can mean so much more forthose we work with. Participantsspoke of being better able to meettheir own and their family’s basicneeds. They told of the improvedattendance and engagement of theirchildren at school and anoverwhelming improvement in theirgeneral wellbeing.

‘The kids are happier — there isnow a variety of food in thefridge.’

‘For the first time in my life I havesome left over money and I cantake the kids places.’

‘Before I didn’t even care aboutmy own health … my diabetes,now I buy tablets and see thedoctor.’

‘Now I am at peace — beforesomething was tearing me.. myheart was sore.. Now I don’t haveto worry — I am safe.’

* Not her real name.

Endnote

1. Getting Off the Crisis-Go-Round. MyMoney Program Summary Report. Acomprehensive analysis of the valuecreated when financial literacy support isprovided with crisis housing. Think Impact— Jan 2016.

49

Dignity FirstJessica Vidafar, Operations Manager, Access Community Housing

The Queensland Governmentestablished the Dignity First Fund todeliver innovative responses to helppeople experiencing homelessnesslive with dignity. Access CommunityHousing Company (ACHC) was oneof the recipients of the Dignity FirstFund. We received $67,980 toprovide 350 dignity bags to peopleexperiencing homelessness in theCairns region. The project is aimed toprovide the basic necessities todisadvantaged and vulnerable peopleacross our community.

We are working with key homeless,health and community services todeliver the bags across Cairns. Byproviding people with essential itemssuch as toiletries and basic hygieneproducts, we hope to boost peoples’health and wellbeing. The project hasalready been successful in helpingmany people connect with servicesand programs around health,wellbeing, housing, support andspecialised services. We also havemobile phones available for peopleescaping domestic violence to allowthem the opportunity to connect withfamily, friends and services safely.

The aim of our project is to improveconnectedness across differentsectors and help prevent long-termhomelessness. The bag providespeople with the tools to connect andto, make contact with, relevantspecialised services, from homeless

services for information and advice,health services, food bank vouchers,free meals, free haircuts, vouchers forlinen and clothing items. We hope tocontribute to developing sustainablepathways out of homelessness byinvolving a sector wide responseacross the homelessness and healthsectors, and building partners withinthe community and business sector.

We want to provide people with themeans and access to specialisedservices at their time of need. Weemployed a Pathways Officer to helpus distribute these bags to services,connect in regularly with them andprovide updates.

Homelessness affects people andcommunities across Australia. Thehousing and homelessness sectorscome together in Cairns to helpaddress the issue of homelessnessand to improve pathways to housing.We remain firmly committed to theaim of reducing homelessness andassisting people to sustain successfultenancies. We acknowledge that allcommunity members including youngpeople, seniors, students, familiesand refugees can find themselves atrisk of or experiencing homelessness.This can often last days, weeks,months or years and often has a bigimpact on a person’s mental andphysical health.

The Australian Bureau of Statisticsreleased a revised definition ofhomelessness in 2012 to include alack of one or more elements thatrepresent a ‘home’. These elementsincluded, but were not limited, to asense of security, privacy, safety andstability.

We would all agree that safe,affordable and secure housing withaccess to supports contributes toimproving health and wellbeing

outcomes. We recognise theimportance of an early interventionapproach to homelessness and wecontinue to look for initiatives that willcontinue to build and strengthencommunity reliance and awareness.We want to ensure that youngpeople, seniors and families are ableto access supports and interventionsat their time of need. We want tocreate sustainable pathways out ofhomelessness by providing peoplewith the tools and means to connectwith services.

It has been great to receive supportfrom many businesses and supportservices to stock our bags with basicitems, such as Nick Loukas from AlivePharmacy who donated hygieneitems and sold others to us at costprice. However, to keep our projectgoing we need further communitysupport.

We are delighted to be a part of thelocal Piccones Community BenefitProgram and recently we wereapproved to be a part of the Grill’dLocal Matters program. We have alsorecently started a funding campaignto support our initiative throughGoFundMe Campaigngofundme.com/dignity-bags-for-the-homeless.

Jessica Vidafar (Operations Manager) and

Michael Dalla Vecchia (Pathways Officer)

50

Chapter 4: Key Issues and Themes in the Responseto Homelessness in QueenslandA: Housing and Housing Issues in Queensland

The Brisbane Housing StoryJon Eastgate, 99 Consulting

Both the City of Brisbane and thewider South-East Queensland regionhave experienced steady populationgrowth over a number of decades.Between 2003 and 2013 thepopulation of Brisbane City grewfrom just over 930,000 to 1,130,000,1

and it could reach of 1.5 million by2041. Across South-East Queenslandthe population grew from 2.6 millionto 3.3 million between 2003 and2013, and could reach overfive million by 2041.2

Accommodating this increase willrequire the provision of more than900,000 extra dwellings between

2011 and 2041, including over175,000 in Brisbane City.3

Despite efforts at urbanconsolidation, much of this growthcontinues to be accommodatedthrough low density suburbandevelopment on the outskirts of thecity. This has led to an expandingurban footprint and challengesrelating to the provision of transportand other infrastructure over a wide,sparsely settled urban area. It has alsocreated increased cost pressures onhousing throughout the area andespecially in the inner and middleareas of Brisbane City with their

access to transport, services andemployment.

Like all Australian cities, Brisbane hasexperienced declining housingaffordability in recent decades. Whilethis problem is not as extreme asthose experienced in Sydney andMelbourne, Brisbane saw the ratiobetween house prices* and incomesclimb from 3.8 in 2001 to over six in2008–2010, although it has sincedropped slightly to sit at 5.7 in 2016.4

The impact of this has been a declinein home ownership, with theproportion of households in the

51

Greater Brisbane area owning theirown home outright falling from35 per cent to 26 per cent between2001 and 2011, while the proportionpaying a mortgage rose from30 per cent to 36 per cent.5

This pressure also affects Brisbane’srental market. Both the rise in houseprices and the competition fromhigher income households delayinghome ownership have pushed rentsupwards. This increased rental costaffects all households, but particularlythose on lower incomes.

Impact on Low IncomeHouseholdsWhile lack of affordability affects allhouseholds to some degree, itparticularly affects those on thelowest incomes. In 2016, more thanhalf of the low income tenants in theBrisbane local government area werepaying more than 30 per cent of theirincome in rent 6 — a widely acceptedmeasure of “housing stress” — andover 77 per cent of low income homepurchasers with a mortgage arepaying over 30 per cent of theirincome in loan repayments.7

A recent survey by Anglicare Australia 8

highlighted the impact of this lack ofaffordability on those on the lowest

incomes. They examined all the vacantrental property listings in a singleweekend in April 2017 — 8,423listings in all. Of these, only 99properties were suitable andaffordable for households dependenton Centrelink (income support)payments, while 1,157 properties wereavailable and suitable for householdson a minimum wage. This, of course,does not guarantee that the affordablehousing will go to low incomehouseholds, since they are likely to becompeting for rentals with householdson more secure incomes who will beseen as a better risk.

Alongside this affordability issue isthe fact that private rental housing inQueensland is relatively insecure.Tenants are typically signed up toleases of between six and 12 months,and can be asked to vacate theirproperty with two months’ notice.This means that lower income tenantsmay face periodic risk of becominghomeless as they are forced to findnew housing at short notice in a veryconstrained market.

This level of sustained pressure on thehome ownership and private rentalmarkets filters down into the socialhousing sector. There areapproximately 34,000 social housing

dwellings in Greater Brisbane andover 7,500 people on the waiting listfor this housing, two thirds of whomare in Very High or High Needcategories.9 These high and very highneed households can wait for up to ayear to be housed, and in this timeare generally homeless or in insecureand unaffordable housing. Thiswaiting list data almost certainlyunderestimates the latent demand forsocial housing in the city. TheNational Centre for Social andEconomic Modelling identified that in2011 16.6 per cent of persons inGreater Brisbane were at the highestlevel of risk of homelessness — overhalf a million people.10

The rate of change and growth inBrisbane has had particular impact onin the inner and middle suburbanareas of the city. Growth on thefringes has led to steep rises in landvalues in the areas closest to the citycentre. This has meant that areas thatformerly provided a large stock ofaffordable (if often run-down) rentalhousing are now prime real estatelocations, subject either to renovationby wealthy buyers or redevelopmentfor more intense and higher-valueforms of housing. In the process,lower income residents have beenunder increasing pressure. Thisaffordable housing, and particularlythe stock of boarding houses andcheap flats that made up much of theolder inner city housing, have notbeen replaced in more affordableouter areas, which have mostly beendeveloped with low density detachedhousing. This has led to particularissues for low income singles, and theresponse has tended to involvesharing and the development of aninformal and quasi-boarding housemarket using detached dwellingsoriginally designed for families.

Finally, it is important to drawattention to the persistence ofhomelessness in Brisbane. The 2011census counted over 4,000 peoplehomeless in the Brisbane City area ona single night, including peoplesleeping rough, in crisis housing,staying with friends and relatives or inother forms of temporary or insecureaccommodation.11 This number islikely to represent an underestimateof the total number who experiencehomelessness over the course of anyyear, since people cycle in and out ofhomelessness over time.Brisbane street art

52

Policy ResponsesThere have been a range of policyresponses to this situation, discussedbriefly below.

Planning PolicyAt the macro level, State and localgovernments have responded to thepressure in the housing marketthrough a series of plans. The latestof these, the draft South EastQueensland Regional Plan, wasreleased in late 2016. It attempts toguide the delivery of housing,employment and infrastructure for anexpected two million extra people by2041.12 This plan is the latest in aseries of regional plans stretchingback to the early 1990s.

While these plans have had somesuccess in guiding land developmentand infrastructure provision over thepast 25 years, they have rarelyincorporated any meaningful strategiesto address housing affordability, largelytaking the implicit approach thatincreased supply will keep pricesdown. This approach can yieldperverse results. For instance, in theinner and middle areas of Brisbane thedrive for greater intensification hastended to lead to less, not more,affordable housing as older propertiesare replaced by new, more up-marketapartments or larger high-value homes.Recent publicity has focused around apotential unit ‘glut’ in Brisbane’s innerand middle suburbs as a result of alarge number of units coming onto themarket at the same time.

However, while this may have someeffect on easing prices it will notcome anywhere close to matching theaffordability of the housing theseunits have replaced. At the sametime, the relatively low densitydevelopment of outer areas has ledto a large stock of detached housingaimed primarily at the home purchasemarket, leading to a more disjointedrental market across the region.

Inclusionary zoning, wherebydevelopers are required to include aset proportion of affordable housing intheir residential development plans,has frequently been discussed as aplanning mechanism to generate extraaffordable housing in new orredeveloped areas. In the early 2000sboth the Queensland Department ofHousing and Brisbane City Councildiscussed the use of this mechanism in

areas where planning changes werecreating significant housing valueuplift. However, although thismechanism is used in other Australianstates and overseas, successiveQueensland governments have beenunwilling to legislate for its operationin Queensland. Hence, if housingprovided through the market is notaffordable, the only option available togovernments is to subsidise it directly.

Social HousingThe loss of affordable private rentaland the increasing pressure on lowincome renters has had a hugeimpact on the social housing system.Across Australia, social housing is arelatively small part of the housingmix, making up approximatelyfour per cent of all housing.13

Brisbane is fairly similar proportion,with approximately 4.6 per cent ofoccupied dwellings in Brisbaneoperated by the State housingauthority or funded communityhousing providers.14

Provision of social housing is primarilya State Government responsibility,but since the Second World War itsfunding has primarily been driven bythe Commonwealth through a seriesof agreements with the States, themost recent of which is the NationalAffordable Housing Agreement. Fromthe 1980s onward, real spending onsocial housing has fallen steadilyacross Australia, including inQueensland, and the already smallsupply of social housing has beengradually shrinking as the portfolioages and requires replacement.Within this period there have beenoccasional surges of extra fundinginto social housing. The most recentof these was the Social HousingInitiative which was instituted as partof fiscal stimulus measures in thewake of the Global Financial Crisis.This program constructed over17,000 new social and affordablehousing dwellings across Australia,including 3,600 in Queensland,between 2008 and 2012.15 However,there is no substantial commitment toongoing growth.

Social housing is rented to lowincome households, with rentcalculated as a proportion of theirincome and the shortfall between thisrent and the full cost of provisionabsorbed by the housing authority.

The late 1990s and early 2000s saw asignificant set of reforms inQueensland’s social housing systemto cope with increased demand in theface of limited new supply. Keyelements included:

A shift from a ‘wait-turn’ allocation•

system where tenancies wereallocated based on date ofapplication, to a needs basedsystem where houses are allocatedto those with the most pressingand serious housing and supportneeds.Alongside this reform, a stronger•

operational focus on divertingapplicants who are not ‘high need’away from applying for socialhousing and into programs thatsupport them to access privaterental housing, and a growth inprograms that support this aim.A change from a ‘tenure for life’•

approach to a ‘duration of need’approach in which tenant’seligibility is regularly reviewed andthose whose circumstances haveimproved are encouraged orrequired to return to the privatemarket.A gradual shift from a single State•

Government provider to amulti-provider system withnon-profit housing providersoperating at significant scale, albeitmostly with government fundingand close regulatory supervision.These diverse organisationsoperate within a unified system inwhich there is a single rent policyand a single eligibility, wait-list andallocation system.16

These reforms have been largelysuccessful in re-orienting the systemfrom a generalist housing option to atargeted ‘welfare’ model meeting theneeds of the most highlydisadvantaged households. However,there have been two less desirableconsequences of the change. The firstis that the shift to higher needhouseholds exacerbated the financialproblems in the social housing system,reducing rental income whileincreasing the cost of management.This has led to growing concerns overthe financial viability of social housing.

The second issue is that there is anincreasing cohort of households whoare not in the highest need categoriesbut struggle to afford housing in theprivate market. These now require adifferent policy response.

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‘Affordable Housing’One response to the needs of this‘missing middle’ has been thecreation of what has come to betermed ‘affordable housing’ or‘affordable rental housing’. This ishousing specifically provided to fillthe gap left by the loss of affordableprivate rental properties and theincreasing residualisation of socialhousing. Affordable housing istypically provided through a mix ofgovernment and private funding, letto low income tenants who mayhave access to more income orresources than the base Centrelinksupport (for instance, low-wage orpart-time workers) and rented at adiscount on the market rates.

At the start of the 2000s, theQueensland Government andBrisbane City Council collaboratedin creating the Brisbane HousingCompany Limited (BHCL) as avehicle for this form of housingprovision. BHCL is an independentcompany with a mix of governmentand community shareholders,funded primarily through StateGovernment with a contributionfrom Brisbane City Council andleveraged private sector borrowings.It was originally conceived as a wayof responding to the loss ofaffordable rental housing in theinner city, filling the gap left bygentrification and urbanredevelopment. Since it startedoperation in 2002 it has graduallybuilt up its housing stock so that itnow manages in excess of 1,500affordable rental dwellings.17

Between 2008 and 2013, the stockof affordable housing was furtherboosted by a CommonwealthGovernment program known as theNational Rental Affordability Scheme(NRAS). This program was open toprivate or non-profit housingproviders, and provides an annualsubsidy over a period of ten years todevelopers who build housing andrent it at no more than 80 per centof market value. This programdelivered over 10,000 properties inQueensland, a substantialproportion of which are in theGreater Brisbane area. During thisperiod, a proportion of the SocialHousing Initiative mentioned in theprevious section also went toaffordable housing, further boostingthis sector.

Since the discontinuation of thisscheme in 2013 there have been fewopportunities to expand affordablehousing supply, but the 2017Commonwealth Budget indicatesthat the creation of a NationalHousing Finance and InvestmentCorporation will channel investmentinto this sector.

New Models of Housing andSupportA final development worth noting isthe recent adoption of a number of‘best practice’ models of housing andsupport aimed at housing homelessand highly disadvantagedhouseholds. These include thefollowing.

The increasing adoption of•

‘housing first’ approaches tosupporting long-term homelesspeople with complex needs, and amove away from older stylecontinuum models ofhomelessness service provision.The founding of Common Ground•

housing services in Australia,including a 146-unit complex ininner city Brisbane.The spread of Foyer housing,•

which aims to provide youngpeople with secure housing andsupport to engage in education,training and employment as a wayof breaking the cycle ofdisadvantage.The wider adoption of similar•

supportive housing approachesthrough the housing system.

These models reflect the ongoingpersistence of homelessness and therecognition that it requires a holisticresponse rather than a stop-gap crisisservice.

Looking to the FutureHousing affordability is currently a hottopic in Australian and Queenslandpolitics, with declining affordability inkey markets putting pressure ongovernments to come up withsolutions. The recent Commonwealthbudget included a range of measuresto promote affordability, including aplan to help first home owners savefor a home deposit through theirsuperannuation, plans for a bondaggregator to channel funds intoaffordable rental housing andrenegotiation of the NationalAffordable Housing Agreement.Although these represent significantacknowledgement of the issue, many

have argued that the reforms don’tgo far enough.18 Meanwhile, theQueensland Government has beenworking on a comprehensive newhousing strategy since early 2016.This is due to be released withinweeks, but while there are manyrumours it is not clear exactly whatdirection it will take. All we can say is,‘Watch this space!’* This is the ratio between median house prices

and median annual household income.

Endnotes

1. Department of Housing and Public Works,Queensland Housing Profiles, GreaterBrisbane Greater Capital City StatisticalArea (GCCSA) Compared with Brisbane (C)Local Government Area (LGA), generatedfrom http://statistics.qgso.qld.gov.au/hpw/profiles on 12 May 2017, p.6.

2. Queensland Department of Infrastructure,Local Government and Planning, ShapingSEQ: Draft South East QueenslandRegional Plan, October 2016, p.30.

3. ibid, p.12.

4. http://blog.corelogic.com.au/2016/06/property-price-income-ratio-rising-sydney-melbourne-canberra-flat-falling-elsewhere/

5. Department of Housing and Public Works,op cit., p.10.

6. ibid., p.20.

7. ibid, p.21.

8. Anglicare Australia, Rental AffordabilitySnapshot, April 2017, pp38–44,downloaded fromhttp://www.anglicare.asn.au/ research-reports/the-rental-affordability-snapshot/docs/default-source/default-document-library/rental-affordability-snapshot-2017

9. Department of Housing and Public Works,op cit., pp.12, 13.

10. Department of Housing and Public Works,op cit., p.16

11. Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2049.0Census of Population and Housing:Estimating homelessness, 2011, Table 4.

12. Queensland Department of Infrastructure,Local Government and Planning, ShapingSEQ: Draft South East QueenslandRegional Plan, October 2016,

13. National Shelter, Housing Australia FactSheet, updated September 2014, p.14

14. Calculated from Department of Housingand Public Works, op cit., pp.10, 13.

15. KPMG, Housing Ministers’ AdvisoryCommittee: Social Housing InitiativeReview, September 2012, downloadedfrom: http://www.nwhn.net.au/admin/file/content101/c6/social_housing_initiative_review.pdf

16. Current policy settings can be viewed athttps://www.qld.gov.au/housing/public-community-housing/eligibility-applying-for-housing/

17. http://bhcl.com.au/about-bhc/

18. A summary of the measures can be foundat http://blogs.unsw.edu.au/cityfutures/blog/2017/05/budget-2017-charts-new-social-and-affordable-housing-agenda/

54

Just Cause: A Just Outcome forQueensland Private RentersPenny Carr, Chief Executive Officer, Tenants Queensland

IntroductionRecent Census data shows thenumber of Queensland householdsrenting their home was higher thanthe number of households paying offa mortgage. With declining homeownership rates the under 55 yearolds, Australia is becoming a nationof renters. Many young Australiansare destined to rent for life andapproximately half of the rentinghouseholds in Australia have done socontinuously for ten years or more.

With growing numbers of renters, andan increasing reliance on the privaterental market as a long-term tenure, aserious overhaul of tenancy laws inQueensland, indeed in all states andterritories, is long overdue.

BackgroundThe structure of Australian residentialtenancy laws remain largelyunchanged since the 1970s.

In 1975, Queensland was the firststate to pass legislation concernedsolely with residential tenancies.Previous regulation of rentalrelationships were found within lawspertaining to landlords and tenants ofboth commercial and residentialtenancies, as well as within propertyand conveyancing statutes.

The Landlord and Tenant Act 1948provided relatively strong tenancyprotections including both rentcontrol and security of tenure. TheTermination of Tenancies Act 1970abolished rent control but retainedthe restriction on the landlords abilityto evict tenants on a periodicagreement without providing a justcause stated in the legislation.

Queensland property law reforms ofthe mid 1970s reviewed a range oflegislation, and along with theHenderson poverty inquiry, eventually

led to passage of the QueenslandResidential Tenancies Act (1975)(RTA). Despite separating outcommercial and residential tenancies,the RTA continued to considertenants and landlords as consumersand traders, and legislation as a toolto deliver consumer safeguards whilst

balancing the interests of the parties.Arguable the safeguards were notstrong. Security of tenure clauseswere included in early drafts of theRTA but removed followingconsultation, leaving Queenslandtenants with much weakenedprotections.

Poster art provided by Tenants Queensland

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The RTA still forms the basis fortoday’s tenancy laws thoughsignificant improvements andclarifications occurred over time.Balancing the interests of the partieswithin a consumer trader frameworkpersists as the focus and protectionsremain relatively weak.

Even the strongest consumerprotections, however, fail to considerthe fundamental difference betweenthe parties in residential tenancy.

Tenants are seeking something morecomplex than a simple service; they areseeking a place to make their home.Their key issues are tenure security, thequality and appropriateness ofpremises, and affordability. Despiteevidence showing the health,education and social benefits of stablehousing, housing rights (the right toadequate and secure housing) islacking as a consideration in tenancylaws across Australia.1

Legislative reviews commonly aim to‘balance the rights and interests oflandlords and tenants’ tinkering withcurrent provisions. Despite significantchanges to the Australian housingsystem and the role of the privaterental market, law reform processesfail to consider whether a new frameof reference is appropriate.

Though unacknowledged as such, theprivate rental market is the housingpolicy response by governments tothe needs of low to moderatehouseholds. The laws however, are nolonger fit for purpose, written at atime when renting was a transitionaltenure between family of origin and a(owned) home of one’s own.

Queensland Renters TodayJust short of one in five of Australia’srenting households live inQueensland. The 2016 ABS Census,2

shows that 34.2 per cent ofQueensland households rent, a fullpercentage higher than the 2011Census 3 and well above the nationalaverage of 30.9 per cent.

Queensland has the highestpercentage of renters of any state orterritory (except the NorthernTerritory which has significantly fewerhouseholds overall). In absoluterented household numbers,Queensland is the third largest —566,500 — with an additional 260,000

households in New South Wales(NSW) and 40,000 in Victoria.

The private rental market houses themajority of households living inhousing stress.4 12.8 per cent ofQueensland renting households paymore than 30 per cent of their incomein rent compared to the nationalaverage of 11.5 per cent andQueensland owner-occupiers at6.3 per cent.

In increasing numbers, it is low tomoderate income households, lockedout of the great Australian dream ofhome ownership and increasinglyrestricted in eligibility for socialhousing who rely on the private rentalmarket over the long-term.

Renters’ ExperiencesRenters are getting a raw deal.Numerous reports (for example,Leaking Roofs 5, Better Lease on Life 6

(NATO 2010), Avoidable Evictions…our next move 7 have outlinedtenants’ fear of exercising their rights,the propensity for landlords to use‘without ground’ termination noticesto mask retaliatory or discriminatoryactions and the lack of flexibility andsecurity in tenure.

Earlier this year, Choice, the NationalAssociation of Tenant Organisations(NATO) and National Shelter releasedUnsettled: Life in the Australian RentalMarket,8 a report of a nationallyrepresentative survey of renters’experiences. Again, these commonissues arose. Renters expressed fear

in and insecurity about their tenure,many living with serious repair issues.Further, half were worried aboutbeing listed on a tenancy databaseand the majority felt unable to ask forchanges in their property.

In all Australian jurisdictions,9 renterscan be asked to leave their homewithout being given reasons. When afixed term is ending or when a tenantis on a periodic agreement, the lessormaintains the discretion to end atenancy at their will and convenience‘without grounds’. Fixed terms inQueensland are commonly for sixmonths, sometimes 12, with littleflexibility for starting other than inJanuary and July, or for ‘rolling over’into a periodic agreement.

Within this context, tenants live with aperpetual and underlying threat ofhaving to move and the financial andsocial impacts that brings. This fear ofeviction underpins most other issuesexperienced by renters, often mutingexpression of the rights they do have.Those living in marginal tenures,often struggling with affordability, feelthese issues acutely.

The power differential between lessorsand tenants is stark. Once a tenantmoves into a property, they enter amonopoly-like relationship with theirlandlord. They are not free to movetheir business down the road the nextweek if they see cheaper rent, betteramenity or more favorable terms.When there is a dispute between theparties, the law inadequately protectstenants and their tenure. Tenants oftenmake tradeoffs to avoid receiving a‘without ground’ eviction — thelandlord’s trump card.

Addressing the issue of tenuresecurity is fundamental to improvingexperiences of private rental tenantsand moving toward a level playingfield in the Australian housing market.

Tenancy laws for a ModernWorld — A Just Cause for AllTenancy TerminationsLong-term lease options are theoften-suggested response to thecurrent situation. This is not, however,the position held by NATO.

In Queensland and other jurisdictions,the availability of long fixed termleases already exists. Landlords showlittle appetite to use them, preferring

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Poster art provided by Tenants Queensland

to maintain flexibility over their asset.For tenants, whilst longer lease termsare somewhat desirable, they bringthe risk of high financial liability if thetenant needs, unexpectedly, to move.

NATO and its members continue to callfor the introduction of ‘just cause’evictions (or terminations). Just causeinvolves amending tenancy laws to takeaway the ability to end agreements forno reason, and including in the law allreasonable grounds for terminating atenancy. For a landlord to end atenancy, a reasonable ground mustapply. Fixed-term tenancy agreementswould continue to protect tenants fromall termination grounds except thoserelated to serious breaches of theagreement.

Reasonable grounds are those thingsreasonable within the contemporaryAustralian housing system and wouldinclude the landlord or their familymoving into the property,re-purposing of the premises, majorrepairs or renovation and serious orpersistent breaches by the tenant.

Delivering Just Outcomes forRentersThe underlying principle for just causeevictions is the right for tenants to stayin their homes unless there is alegislated and just cause for them tomove. Delivering on them wouldfundamentally improve the quality oflife for Queensland’s private renters.Implementing them requires a culturalshift. It requires lawmakers to focus onwhat we are delivering to rentersthrough tenancy law, driving outcomesin quality and security. It also seeks asocial good from property investors,not simply a product, in return for thegenerous taxation treatment theyreceive. This is not a big ask.

NATO and other tenant advocateshave long advocated for theintroduction of just cause evictions,arguing it would provide a solid basisfor tenants to pursue other rightssuch as getting repairs done. To date,the calls have be unsuccessful.

However, there is a groundswell ofunhappy renters and surely, it is only amatter of time before they influencepolicy makers.

Both NSW and Victoria are in themiddle of tenancy law reviews.Currently Queensland has a bill in

Parliament introducing a head ofpower for regulating standards inrental properties. A broader tenancylaw review aiming to ‘create a morecontemporary legislative framework’and ‘better protect tenants andlandlords to improve housing stabilityfor people living in the privatemarket’ is likely to commence soon.

A New South Wales GovernmentMinister quoted in Hansard recentlystated, ‘the Government is looking athow it can improve security of tenurefor renters in New South Wales.

In October, standing alongside hisHousing Minister Martin Foley, theVictoria Premier declared hiscommitment to a raft of changes totenancy laws. Some of the proposalssuggest the Victorian Government istaking seriously the need for adifferent and fairer deal for renters.

Whilst not going all the way toimplementing the NATO supportedposition of just cause evictions, it isproposed to limit the use of ‘end of afixed term’ (a without reason evictionby another name) to the end of thefirst term of a tenancy. Following that,a reasonable ground set out in law isrequired.

Another proposal aimed at increasingrenters’ choice to keep pets, requiresconsent from the landlord butprevents them from unreasonablywithholding it. Similar changes forminor modifications are suggested,

though tenants may be required touse a suitably qualified builder. Theeffectiveness of these latter proposalsrest on the success of the former.Without tenure security, few tenantswill take their dispute about keepingFluffy to the tenancy tribunal.

ConclusionFor many years, tenant advocates haveargued for the abolition of tenancyterminations without any grounds, thatis, for Just Cause Terminations. Yet,despite an increasing reliance on theprivate rental market for growingnumbers of low to moderate incomehouseholds, no state or territory hasyet moved to adequately protect thesecurity of renters’ homes.

Property investors received generoustaxation benefits through negativegearing and reduced capital gainsliability. We need to be askingresidential property investors for asocial-good contribution in exchange.

It is just time for just cause.

NB. As we go to print the NSW Laboropposition have announced their supportof having a fair ground for all terminations.

Endnotes

1. National Association of TenantOrganisations NATO 2004, Leaking Roofs,Tenants Union of NSW

2. Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016, CensusQuickStats Queensland.

3. Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016, ibid.

4. Housing stress occurs when a householdpays more than 30 per cent of their grossincome in housing costs and income iswithin the bottom 40 per cent of Australianincome distribution.

5. NATO 2004, op cit.

6. NATO 2010, A Better Lease on Life —Improving Australian Tenancy Law;https://tenantsqld.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/A_Better_-Lease_on_Life_April.pdf

7. Tenants Union of Queensland (2012),Avoidable Evictions…our next move,Tenants Union of Queenslandhttps://tenantsqld.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/Avoidable-Evictions-our-next-move.pdf

8. Choice, National Shelter, NATO 2017,Unsettled — Life in Australia’s private rentalmarket, http://www.shelter.org.au/ sites/natshelter/ files/public/documents/The percent20 Australian per cent20Rental percent20 Market per cent20Report per cent20Final per cent20Web.pdf

9. Except in Tasmania where a ground inlegislation must be provided. However, alandlord may end the agreement using theground ‘end of the fixed term tenancy’ ifthey are within 60 days from the end of thefixed term and the fixed term’s end date.

57Poster art provided by Tenants Queensland

Supplying Affordable Housing:Challenges and SolutionsJamie Muchall, Chief Operations Officer, Horizon Housing

Given the audience of thispublication, it should be unnecessaryto argue that there is a significant lackof affordable and social housingsupply in Queensland and that thislack of supply needs to be addressedin order to reduce homelessness.1

Despite some previous progress inthe ‘golden years’ of communityhousing with the introduction ofNational Rental Affordability Scheme(NRAS) and the Nation Building andEconomic Stimulus program, as astate we still struggle to resolve theproblem of providing sufficientaffordable and social housing in areaswhere it is most needed. This is thenumber one cause of homelessness.2

Unfortunately, the current operatingenvironments both nationally and inQueensland provide additionalheadwinds that make progress harderto achieve than ever before.

The Queensland Government is to becommended for acknowledging theneed for more affordable and socialhousing in its new ten year housingstrategy. However, the strategy fallsshort of providing any significantfunding or programs to deliver theadditional supply beyond an initialinvestment of $180 million each yearover the ten years.3 The QueenslandGovernment suggests that socialhousing is best delivered by thepublic sector and tasks thecommunity housing sector withsolving the problem of affordable andtransitional housing.

However, even if this strategy couldbe successful, we are at the mercy of apolitical environment across Australiathat makes future planning andinvesting challenging. The investmentdecisions and future programs ofcommunity housing providers (CHPs)are deeply dependent or impacted onby government policy, to an extentmuch greater than in the private

sector. Stability or at leastpredictability is therefore essential totraditional social and affordablehousing development. It is anunderstatement to say we do not havethis in Queensland or nationally. Wehave minority governments at boththe Queensland and at Federal levels,as well as a pending election inQueensland that may yield an evenmore tenuous government.

What can be done? One theme isclear — that CHPs cannot afford to bereliant on a single governmentfunding stream in order to achievetheir mission. We simply do not havetime to wait for government to cometo the table. However, there are anumber of potential innovativemodels being trialled or that have thepotential to deliver solutions.

One is collaboration, bringingtogether a range of different partiesto target the issue. Horizon Housingrecently completed its Reserve andHundred Hills development, apartnership that brought together aCHP, the Federal Government, theTweed Shire Council, Stockland, BankAustralia and Foresters CommunityFinance. The project then utilisedcross-subsidisation by delivering 54housing outcomes; 32 second-mortgage affordable house and landpackages for sale, the proceeds forwhich part-funded the construction of22 affordable rental homes that willbe retained by Horizon to be rentedto eligible residents for 75 per cent ofthe market rent. While some in thedevelopment industry are promotingbuild-to-rent as a potential solution toaffordable housing, this is at marketrent; it certainly is not viable whenyou are providing the rentals at adiscount.4 It is, however, possible todo so when you are subsidising thefinancing of those homes with profitsfrom sales in other developments.

Another approach the sector isembracing is innovative funding andproduct solutions, such as those of theLaunch Housing model in Victoria, for-purpose real estate agencies such asEvolve’s Echo Realty and Coast2Bay’sPurpose Real Estate. These have thebenefits of being self-funding and notat the whim of government policyshifts. The downside, however, is theadditional risk it brings to providers;being self-funding they need toconcern themselves with competition,markets, and returns.

Providing social housing at scalethrough these entities, then, is anunlikely proposition. The sector alsohas numerous initiatives underway todeliver new financial products, suchas shared equity and rent to buy.Horizon partnered recently with SocialVentures Australia and HESTA toinvest in Australian AffordableHousing Securities, a for-profitfinancial services company, to provideboth an additional revenue stream toreinvest into housing developmentand as a vehicle for the developmentof new financial models and productsfor affordable housing.

However, these models are challengingto deliver, within a heavily regulatedfinancial services sector that is reluctantto support new ideas. While we shouldwatch these innovations with interest, itis likely to take time to see scale-solutions that are widely adopted.

Perhaps, one green shoot, is thataffordable housing is finally on thenational BBQ agenda like neverbefore. It is important that as a sectorwe nurture this opportunity to bring tothe political arena a wider discussionof social housing supply, homelessnessand affordable housing. The sad realityis that without government fundingsocial housing cannot exist at the scalethat is required.

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Therefore, we need to build thepublic recognition of the value ofsocial housing and promote a desireto direct some of our tax dollars tothe problem, and a will amongst bothsides of politics to budget for thedelivery of new social and affordablehousing at the level that is needed.The advantage of success here is thatsignificant funding can actually beunlocked to deliver large-scaleoutcomes that can make a dent in theproblem.

It would be tempting to suggest thata simply defined problem — notenough housing — would have asimple solution. Nevertheless, as we

know, while the problem might besimply-defined, it has many complexcauses. A range of different solutionswill be required to overcome thechallenges we currently face.However, based on the currentprojects that are underway, I amoptimistic, that this sector has theskills, the capacity, the knowledgeand more importantly, the will, tosucceed.

Endnotes

1. Rowley S, Leishman C, Baker E, Bentley Rand Lester L 2017, Modelling housing needin Australia to 2025, AHURI Final ReportNo. 287, Australian Housing and UrbanResearch Institute Limited, Melbourne,https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/final-

reports/287, doi:10.18408/ahuri-8106901,p35; Australian Institute of Health andWelfare, (2017) Housing Assistance inAustralia 2017, Australian Institute ofHealth and Welfare,https://www.aihw.gov.au/ reports/ housing-assistance/housing-assistance-in-australia-2017.

2. Homelessness Australia 2014,Homelessness in Queensland,Homelessness Australia, ACT.

3. Department of Housing and Public Works,2017, Queensland Housing Strategy2012–2027, Department of Housing andPublic Works, Queensland Government,Brisbane p.1.

4. Affordable Housing Working Group 2017,Supporting the implementation of anaffordable housing bond aggregator,Affordable Housing Working Group,Council on Federal Financial Relations,Australian Government, ACT, p. 12.

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Australian’s First RentalVulnerability IndexPenny Carr, Chief Executive Officer, Tenants Queensland

Tenants Queensland (TQ) launchedthe first ever Rental VulnerabilityIndex (RVI) last May.

Originally conceived as a service-planning tool for TQ’s delivery of theQueensland Statewide Tenant Adviceand Referral Services (QSTARS), itsusefulness will expand over time.

Commissioned by TenantsQueensland and developed inconjunction with the City FuturesResearch Centre at the University ofNew South Wales, the RVI definesrental vulnerability as the vulnerabilityof people to problems that may maketheir rental housing unaffordable,insecure or inappropriate therebyindicating a need for tenant advisoryservices. It combines 13 independentindicators of rental vulnerability,falling under two topics — ‘housing’and ‘people’. Using a principalcomponent analysis, an Index numberbetween zero and one is generated;the higher the number the greater therental vulnerability.

The RVI presents as an interactiveheat map identifying rentalvulnerability at postcode level.Inserting a postcode into the searchfunction reveals the RVI for thatpostcode area. The values for each ofthe area’s housing and peopleindicators are also shown along withother tenancy related data.

The RVI ‘housing’ indicators aredefined by rental stress, tenancydispute applications, numbers of socialhousing dwellings, residential services(boarding houses) and manufacturedhome sites (residential parks).

‘People’ indicators of vulnerabilityinclude tenants with a disability,unemployed tenants, single parenttenants, indigenous tenants, youngtenants (18 to 24 years), older tenants

(65 years and above) and tenants witha low-level of education.

Australian Bureau of Statistics Censusand Queensland Government opensource data have been used to createthe tool. With the release of the 2016Census data, an update of the RVI isunderway. As regular updates follow,trend data will emerge providing asecond dimension to ourunderstanding of rental vulnerability.

In its first iteration, the RentalVulnerability Index shows the highestimpact in regional Queensland,particularly in areas north of the

Sunshine Cost and inland of the GoldCoast. It shows that many vulnerablehouseholds, pushed out to the urbanfringe and regional areas in search ofcheaper housing, are still facing rentalstress.

The RVI provides excellent insights forTQ to better align demand, responseand need for tenant advisory servicesacross the state and will provide auseful tool for many other serviceprovider organisations.

You can find the RVI here:https://cityfutures.be.unsw.edu.au/cityviz/rental-vulnerability-index/

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The Ache for Home: RentalAffordability in BrisbaneLeanne Wood, Research, Social Policy and Advocacy Advisor, Anglicare Southern Queensland

Over the past eight years, AnglicareAustralia has conducted the annualRental Affordability Snapshot, tohighlight the lived experience ofpeople and families on low-incomestrying to find a home in the privaterental market.1 Sadly, what isdistinctive about the Snapshot is thesheer consistency of the results, rightacross the country, over that period.

In short — year after year, the privaterental market has been shown to beout of reach of the vast majority ofpeople in receipt of benefits, or onthe minimum wage.2

In 2017, Anglicare SouthernQueensland evaluated more than8,000 properties in the Brisbanemetro area. Only 99 (1 per cent) couldbe considered affordable andappropriate for households onincome support, with the situationparticularly dire for families onParenting Payment or Newstart.Renting a two-bedroom property inBrisbane can absorb from 64 per centto 76 per cent of the householdincome for a single parent on benefitswith one child.

A single person earning theminimum wage would have to spend59 per cent of their weekly income torent a one-bedroom property at$350 per week; and that same rentwould cost a single person on theaged or disability pension70 per cent of their householdincome. Similarly, a room in a sharedrental would cost a student70 per cent of the Youth Allowance.3

It’s little wonder that ‘room sharinghas become the new flat sharing’, asChristian Tietz suggests in a recentarticle.4 While Tietz’s research refersparticularly to Sydney, it only needs acursory search on Gumtree to seethat the trend exists in Brisbane as

well, with advertisements for innercity apartment room-sharing includinga corner of a living room in a unit‘shared with only three girls’($120/week) and ‘three people in oneroom, two in the other room’ ($175).

This cannot be attributed just to awillingness to sacrifice personal spacefor an inner-city ‘lifestyle’. TheAnglicare Brisbane Snapshot revealedthat the median advertised rent for aroom in a share rental was $165 perweek in 2017. A Brisbane ‘rent map’based on listings on a ‘flatmates’accommodation site shows that sharedrentals near public transport(specifically train stations) are almostall higher than that figure, certainlywithin about a 20 kilometre radius ofthe city.5 It does not take sophisticatedcalculations to work out that a singleperson on a minimum wage or less,renting a room in a shared house andpotentially factoring in transport costs,is facing as precarious an existence asthe room-sharer living on the edge ofhomelessness — lacking a sense ofsecurity, stability, privacy, safety and

the ability to control their living space.6

This is the proverbial choice betweenthe devil and the deep blue sea.

It also raises the issue of ‘appropriate’accommodation. The Brisbanefamilies in the ‘best’ position of allthose surveyed in the AnglicareSnapshot were families of four with atleast two minimum wages, with justover 1,000 properties (12 per cent ofthe total) both affordable and‘appropriate’ for this household type.That of course assumes that thefamilies in question don’t also faceother challenges in finding anappropriate dwelling — thatproximity to work, or availability andcost of transport aren’t issues; andthat no one in the family has adisability. Even owning a cat or dogreduces the number of properties thatare available.

These are not fussy demands. Theyare things that everyday families andindividuals think about and negotiatewhen they are looking for a home.

61Photo provided by Anglicare Southern Queensland

The difference is that people onlow-incomes have far fewer options toconsider, and the Snapshot showsthat some have almost no options atall. This is even without taking intoaccount the further vulnerability ofthose identified in communityconsultation carried out by theQueensland Government.

Finding and sustaining safe, secureaccommodation — a home — is likelyto be even harder for a long list ofQueenslanders, including seniors,young people transitioning from care,people who identify as Aboriginaland/or Torres Strait Islander, peoplewith a disability, people experiencinga mental health issue, familiesescaping domestic and familyviolence, people impacted by drugand alcohol use, those from culturallyand linguistically diversebackgrounds, people exiting custody,returned services people and, yes —even people with a pet.7

Even the Australian Bureau ofStatistics now recognises thathomelessness is not the same asroof lessness.8 Home is where wespend time with those we love, makememories, enjoy our privacy. It’s aspace we can make our own, helpingus find the peace and stability to takeon all the other parts of our lives.

Poet and activist Maya Angelouwrote: ‘The ache for home lives in allof us. The safe place where we can goas we are and not be questioned.’9

It’s a right that an increasing numberof individuals and families are beingdenied.

Endnotes

1. Anglicare Australia 2017, AnglicareAustralia Rental Affordability Snapshot,Canberra, anglicaresq.org.au/news/rental-affordability-snapshot/

2. See also, for example, Copp J 2010,Benefit Recipients Reliant on SharedAccommodation, Parity vol.23, no.6,pp.53–54.

3. Anglicare Australia 2017, AnglicareAustralia Rental Affordability Snapshot,Canberra, p. 39, anglicaresq.org.au/news/rental-affordability-snapshot/

4. Tietz C 2017, Room sharing is the new flatsharing, The Conversation, 6 Oct.,theconversation.com/room-sharing-is-the-new-flat-sharing-84359

5. 2017, Brisbane Rent Map: What it costs torent near a station in Brisbane,flatmates.com.au/widgets/train-maps/brisbane

6. Tietz C 2017, op cit; Australian Bureau ofStatistics, 2012, 4922.0 — InformationPaper — A Statistical Definition ofHomelessness, 2012, www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/ abs@.nsf/ Latestproducts/ 4922.0Main per cent20Features22012? opendocument&tabn

7. Queensland Government Housing StrategyConsultation Summary 2016, p.13,www.hpw.qld.gov.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/HousingStrategyConsultationReport.pdf

8. Australian Bureau of Statistics 2012, 4922.0— Information Paper — A StatisticalDefinition of Homelessness, 2012,www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/ abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/4922.0Main per cent20Features22012?opendocument&tabn

9. Maya A 1986, All God’s Children NeedTraveling Shoes, Penguin Random House.

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Photo provided by Anglicare Southern Queensland

Photos provided by Anglicare Southern Queensland

More Than Housing:More Than a Home:Once I Was Homeless…Kaitlyn Crothers, Tenant Engagement Coordinator, Brisbane Housing Company

For many people, being homelesscan mean a lot more than nothaving a roof over your head.Homelessness, and the threat ofhomelessness, not only disruptshow you live day to day, but also anindividual’s goals and dreams.When you do not have securehousing, necessities like eating awarm meal, finding somewhere tosleep, or even managing existinghealth issues are the daily priority.Finding work, giving back to thecommunity or just achievingpersonal goals can easily becomeout of reach.

Brisbane Housing Company (BHC)is an affordable housing companybased in Queensland, and althoughour purpose is to provide affordablehousing, we understand thataccessing safe, long-term housing isoften just the first step in anindividual’s journey. BHC has beendelivering homes and creatingliveable communities for the past15 years and has proudly been ableto assist more 13,000 households inthat time, with many tenants findingcomfort, empowerment andmotivation in their newfoundsecurity. Here at BHC we know thata home is only the first step in thejourney for many of our tenants.

Seven years ago Glenis was on theverge of homelessness, she wasunemployed and seeking safety andsecurity. The truth is homelessnessand financial instability can happento any of us at any time. Glenisfound BHC in 2010 and was offeredaccommodation in an 80-unit,inner-city complex.

‘For many of us… [it’s] beenlife-changing. It provides us withsomewhere to rebuild, recoup,reconsider our lives and retrainfor the future.’

Like many, finding long-termaffordable housing with BHC hasmeant that Glenis can refocus onher future. Since 2010, Glenis hasflourished in her ambition tobecome a yoga instructor, and haseven taken the next steps inturning what started as a hobbyinto a business. Glenis haspracticed yoga since 2001 and fouryears ago, after attending a publicclass, had the realisation I could dothis! She then started training tobecome an instructor, originallyoffering classes in the communitycentre of her building for a goldcoin donation. Embracing this newdirection and new beginning hasenriched Glenis’ life and broughther great joy.

‘Whether BHC residents or localoffice workers… [I] see howtheir lives have changed.They’ve become empowered…It’s different for everyone.’

Since her tentative beginnings,Glenis has undergone numeroustraining courses, includingspecialist Trauma Sensitive Yogatraining that focuses on peoplewho have suffered trauma, mentalhealth and post-traumatic stressdisorder.

‘Trauma Sensitive Yoga createsa space that is safe for them…[They] find their way home; backto their body… it’s a safe space.They have choice and powerover their own body.’

Glenis’ business as a yogainstructor grew organically and shenow teaches nine classes a week,including weekly classes at twohospitals, filling in for instructors atthe Brisbane City Council staff gymand continuing to offer communityclasses. This year Glenis continued

to grow her vision for her business,with BHC sponsoring her to attenda ten-week business course.

‘I’m excited about the future. I’mlooking at my business in a wholedifferent way…’

After being on the brink ofhomelessness, finding BHC andlong-term housing has given Glenisthe opportunity to create a future ofher choosing and explore thepossibilities open to her, with acommunity of support behind her.

For some, homelessness is the onlyalternative to dangerouscircumstances and a hard choice anindividual makes for themselves.Gerard found himself making thatdifficult choice in 2011 afterspending almost three years in anunstable boarding house. This wasnot the first time Gerard had beenhomeless, estimating that over theyears he had spent at least fiveyears of his life living on the streets.After leaving the boarding house,Gerard spent eight months living inBrisbane’s New Farm Park beforethe devastating 2011 Brisbanefloods took place. Although most ofthe homeless living in the parks hadbeen moved to the showgroundswhere emergency support wasbeing given, Gerard recalls beingone of the last in New Farm Park,only leaving himself when the watergot too high.

‘The floods were just like a warzone. 8pm I woke up and thewater was rising, by 11pm NewFarm had gone under.’

As devastating as the floods were,they became the catalyst for changein Gerard’s life. A week after seekingsupport at the showgrounds, Gerardwas offered a property with BHC.

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More than five years on, Gerard is stillhappily housed with BHC and now akey member of his community. He isinvolved in the local community touchfootball, volunteers regularly with RedCross, runs a very successfulcommunity art group The GreenSquare Community Amazing ArtProject and he continues to supportthe homeless and vulnerable membersof the community as best he can.

‘If I was homeless I couldn’t dothis. [BHC]… it saved me … andhas given me hope.’Gerard startedhis art group in September 2016and after beginning as a smallgroup for the tenants in hisbuilding, it quickly grew to be anall-inclusive weekly program opento all members of the community.He is passionate about creating asafe and inclusive place for theentire community to cometogether and express themselves,including the homeless andvulnerable.

‘When I was homeless I just wantedto find a place and forget society.Lots of people who have beenhomeless just want to lock away.’

Gerard or ‘The Art Man’ as he is oftencalled, has flourished the support oflocal council and politicians and wasthe recipient of the AustralasianHousing Institute’s 2017 Tenant LedInitiative Award, and will berepresenting Queensland at thenational awards in November. Gerardis a proud Indigenous artist and aninvaluable part of his community.

‘You’ve gotta be a leader, to be aleader… I have an urge to help thehomeless, I come fromhomelessness and want to help,[and] encourage.’

Community can take many forms; itcan be found in strangers, familymembers and people with a sharedexperiences, or just individuals wholive in the same location. Howevermany people who find themselveshomeless are all too aware thatcommunity is not always available.Pauline found herself isolated andwithout support when herundiagnosed bi-polar disorder lefther manic and unemployable. Aftera series of devastating life eventsand losses in 2010, Pauline lost herjob and fell off the grid in 2011; shebegan abusing drugs and entered ayear-long psychosis. During thistime she was evicted from herhome, black-listed on TICA,alienated herself from family andfriends and began a volatilerelationship. It was another yearlater, after constant hospitaladmissions that Pauline was finallydiagnosed with bi-polar type oneand PTSD. After struggling for yearsalone, dealing with what shethought was chronic depression,Pauline was able to get supportfrom her father and ex-husband andlive with them as she began herrecovery. For three and a half yearsPauline was in and out of hospitalas she struggled to find the rightmix of medication to support hermental health and come to termswith her diagnosis.

‘Compassion can come fromunexpected places.’

Having support from key members ofher family and being assigned acommunity mental health nurse was aturning point and ultimately what ledPauline to secure long-termaffordable housing with BHC.

In early 2017 Pauline moved into hernew home with BHC and began theprocess of building a new life, onewhere she had support from thehealth care system, awareness of hermental illness and a growingcommunity of friends and family,some of whom have sharedexperiences and are able to respecther boundaries whilst beingimmensely supportive.

‘What people don’t realise aboutmental health is the importance ofenvironment. A stable home is soimportant.’

Now that Pauline has found a senseof community and security in hernew home, she has been able toembrace her penchant for writing.She writes passionate, honest prosewhich explores moments of her lifeand delves into the perpetualstruggle that is mental illness.Pauline is currently applying for aliterature grant, which she hopes willenable her to write series of shortstories about her experiences andjourney with mental health.

‘The transition to housing is lifechanging… In my writing I wantto show the light. I have amazingrelationships now; a family, acommunity.’

Unfortunately, homelessness is notrare, it can be seen all acrossAustralia, and it does notdiscriminate in who it affects. Whilsthomelessness will not be solvedsolely with the increased supply ofsafe and affordable housing, there isno doubt that long-term affordablehousing paired with inclusive andsupportive communities can make asignificant difference in the lives ofthose who need it. Everyone mustchoose how they take their nextsteps in life and BHC will proudly tocontinue to offer our tenantschoices, empowerment andencouragement to embrace life’sopportunities.

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Housing is a Human Right,Not Simply a Human ServiceRoss Westoby, Project Worker, Innovation, Performance and Evaluation and Karyn Walsh, Chief Executive Officer, Micah Projects

People’s lives change by beinghoused. Having a roof over one’shead, a key to your own door, andstable tenure is more than justhousing; it is a home. It provides afoundation for opportunity andstability, and enables people toestablish and rebuild their lives.Without housing, people cannot findsafety, privacy and dignity.

Being homeless or even being underenormous tenancy stress is not achoice and is extremely stressful — ittakes a significant toll on the healthand wellbeing of individuals andfamilies. Living in poverty and in crisiswithout a home or at risk of losingthat home and at the intersection ofcomplex health systems, domesticand family violence, anddiscrimination has devastatingphysical and psychologicalconsequences that can last a lifetime.Only by housing someone in a spacethey can afford, do people dream ofchanging the things that mightprevent them from living a moremeaningful and fulfilling life. But howdo we ensure housing for all? Theexperience of homelessness as a childleaves lifetime memories and canoften have lifetime consequences.

Housing needs to be affordable forlow-income earners and supportivefor those who need services andresources to sustain a tenancy andquality of life. Purchase price growth,rental growth and wage stagnation isat historically high rates andrepresents a major barrier for low andeven moderate-income earners.People on Newstart Allowance,Disability Support Pension and inlow-skill jobs are paying over40 per cent of their wage or theirbenefit, even including the rentalassistance scheme, to sure upanything in the private market.This is not sustainable.

A new report by the AustralianHousing and Urban Research Institutehas found:

‘…the extent of housing need inAustralia, with 1.3 millionhouseholds in housing need in2017 — either unable to accessmarket housing (around 525,000)or able to access the private rentalmarket, but requiring support toavoid rental stress (800,000). Thegreatest need is in New SouthWales, Victoria and Queenslandand the results reveal the extent ofthe affordable housing shortfall,providing evidence to support anincrease in resources for thedelivery of affordable housing, beit direct through government, inpartnership with the private sector,via planning requirements, or bythe community housing sector’ 1

With the exception of the period1945–1956 when public housingburgeoned to meet the needs ofreturned soldiers and their newfamilies after World War Two, andperiods after this in the sixties andseventies, we are now in a period ofrecord low social housingconstructions.2

Currently in Queensland, 26,000people are on the waitlist for socialhousing. Encouragingly, theQueensland Government has recentlycommitted to the construction of5,000 social housing homes over thenext decade.3 Yet, despite thiscommitment, the above factselucidate the sheer magnitude of theissues that low-income earners face,and the number of people on thewaitlist shows that the government isstill showing signs of being extremelyreluctant landlords. The policyposition that views public or socialhousing as being temporary and as astepping stone to private rental, is

misguided and out of step with therealities of the market.

There are three critical issues, issuesthat if fully embraced, could createthe solutions that would endhomelessness and create the stabilitythat people achieve when housed.

Firstly, for those of us working in thissector, there is no dispute that theprovision of social housing is theappropriate solution to the key issueof housing affordability. Whilelow-income earners can only afford topay 30 per cent of their income ontheir housing, the market simplyprevents this from being possible.We need to stop the stigmaassociated with public and socialhousing and respect the diversity oftenants and their circumstances.

Secondly, there needs to be atargeted and coordinated entry intohousing where funded programs andinterventions cut across the multipledomains that affect people’s lives.This enables organisations to guideand match the right housing responseand when needed, the right serviceresponse. Governments cannot go italone, nor can individualnon-government organisations.Homelessness is solvable.

Thirdly, ending homelessness involvesprevention of first-time or episodichomelessness, interim housing torespond to crisis, and permanenthousing with secure tenancy andappropriate support when it isneeded. A coordinated system createsefficiencies and prevents furtherstigma and isolation. Most people whoare homeless, or at-risk ofhomelessness, can be assessed andprioritised according to their need foreither affordable housing or affordablehousing and appropriate supportservices. It is possible to respond

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quickly to these situations and it ispossible to prevent new entries intohomelessness by channelling thesepeople into homelessness preventionservices.

The use of the Vulnerability IndexService Prioritisation DecisionAssistant Tool (VI-SPDAT) connectsdeeply with the Queensland HousingStrategy 2017–2027 and the goal ofthe Action Plan’s for the sector tocustomise packages of support andassistance appropriate to the needsand circumstances of individuals.The VI-SPDAT fulfils this very functionby allowing services to matchappropriate support and assistancebased on level of acuity and need.This aligns with the Action Plan asindividuals can then be diverted intoaffordable housing beforehomelessness takes root and furthercrisis points emerge. At the other endof the spectrum, those with multipleneeds requiring support should beprovided with more intense and wraparound support. These supports maybe short-term or ongoing dependingon whether people require supportivehousing due to high, prolonged andongoing needs.

Rather than assuming that the wholeof public and social housing is forpeople with high support needs,supportive housing should be

allocated to those who need it most.Queensland needs to develop a planthat matches housing with theservices provided by all governmenthuman services departments — aplan that determines whatpercentage of new housing stockshould be allocated to supportivehousing. Such a plan would need toidentify which departments areinterested in providing the investmentfor funding for services and whatoutcomes, alongside sustainingtenancies, is the investment focusedon achieving. For example, dohousing providers require a rentalsubsidy for the provision ofsupportive housing?

Supportive housing is appropriateand applicable to the needs ofmultiple population groups as it isgrounded in strong partnerships thatenable coordination between tenancymanagers and community servicesworkers. To be successful, supportivehousing needs to be grounded inpolicy, programs and practice andprovided on scale that is needed tomeet demand in Queensland.

The discourse on housing needs tobecome one where housing isconsidered the ‘right’ of all people inQueensland, a right either providedby, or funded by the State. Likewise,we need to channel our collective

effort towards developing thepartnerships and collaborationsneeded to provide the planning andinvestment required if we are to haveany chance of creating theopportunities and the stability that isessential for the individuals andfamilies experiencing homelessness.

For too long, stigma and isolation arethe hallmarks of the experience ofhomelessness. What people need issimply a place to call home. WhileAustralia has a history of creatingsafety nets, these are fast being takenaway as increasingly the individual orfamily is being asked to bear theresponsibility for costs andconsequences of structural povertyand inequality.

Endnotes

1. Rowley S, Leishman C, Baker E, Bentley Rand Lester L 2017, Modelling housing needin Australia to 2025, AHURI Final ReportNo. 287, Australian Housing and UrbanResearch Institute Limited, Melbourne,https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/final-reports/287, doi:10.18408/ahuri-8106901.

2. Hayward D 1996, The reluctant landloard?A history of public housing in Australia,Urban Policy and Research, vol.14, no.1,pp.5–35.

3. Department of Housing and Public Works2017, Queensland Housing Strategy2017–2027. Available at:www.hpw.qld.gov.au/housing strategy/Documents/QldHousingStrategy.pdfAccessed 26th Sep 2017.

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Housing and Homelessnessin Rural CommunitiesCheryl Prosser, Business Development Coordinator, Horizon Housing Company Ltd

For over three years, HorizonHousing’s Roma office has managed250 social and affordable housingproperties spread across theMaranoa Region (population 13,000)and the Western Downs Region(population 32,500), as part of our2,400-property portfolio inQueensland. This office is located afour-hour drive from the closestDepartment of Housing ServiceCentre in Toowoomba.

The Maranoa region covers an area of58,830 square kilometres, theWestern Downs an area of 38,039square kilometres. The region ischaracterised by an ageingpopulation and young people aged14 years and under. Both regionsexperience drought, floods, economicboom and downturns, a lack of publictransport, few amenities, high staff

turnover (across most agencies), fewor no vacancies in aged carefacilitates and no detox orrehabilitation facilities.

Our Roma office has a team of threestaff delivering tenancy and propertymanagement services across thisbroad geographic portfolio. Over50 per cent of Horizon tenants livingin these regions identify asIndigenous (45 per cent are youngpeople) and 22 per cent are seniors(our oldest tenant is 93 years of age).An estimated 15 per cent are knownto be experiencing domesticviolence. One key challenge in theplanning, delivery and managementof housing services is the manyassumptions on which services, policyand practice developed in urbansettings are predicated but do notapply in rural/remote settings.

There is a strong historical and familialattachment to Roma for manyresidents. To work in thesecommunities, you must become a partof them. The Roma office is verycommunity focussed therefore severalcore business functions are managedby the Robina Head Office assistingstaff to engage with the communityand their events. Horizon plans a rangeof placemaking and engagementactivities centrally. An Art and Photocompetition in 2016 added a depth ofunderstanding of the rural landscape,with a tenant living in our Romaportfolio winning a prize for herartwork depicting her home nowproudly displayed in our office.

To reduce the sense of ‘professionalisolation’ due to the rural/remotelocation, technology (although attimes unreliable) is utilised to provide

Horizons display at a recent community event in Roma

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professional support, share practiceand importantly secure input toHorizons strategic, business oroperational matters. Regularvideo/telephone conferencing with allHorizon business units ensures therural/remote perspective is capturedacross all elements of our operations.Our monthly staff newsletter is a keycommunication tool (updating all staffon outcomes, challenges and futuredirections) with monthly updates onregional activities to inform ourmetropolitan based staff of theoften-unique challenges of servicedelivery in these settings.

Routine activities such as propertyinspections, tenancy sign ups,vacates, home visits must be wellplanned and organised due toextended travel times and staff oftenhaving to go to the tenants (due to alack of transport). Managing staffleave or unexpected absences canbe a challenge with a small team.On the go problem solving andreprioritising of workloads arerequired skills when working inthese environments.

The housing type, design (and oftenage) unique to the Queensland rurallandscape and the harshenvironmental factors presentchallenges that are often not wellunderstood or recognised by those inmetropolitan locations. The lack oflow set adaptable housing impacting

on the ability to stay in a home andremain independent is commonfeedback across the communities.The housing may be of a type/designthat no longer meets demand orexpectations. Managing a mismatchbetween supply and demand(particularly relevant due to boomand bust cycles) and increasedbuilding costs (around 18 per cent to50 per cent higher in rural/remotelocation than metropolitan areas)impact on the financial performanceand viability of this housing portfolio.

Horizon recently relocated a staffmember to Roma to undertakeproactive asset managementfunctions including propertyinspections and maintenanceaccountabilities. Because thisexpertise is not readily available insmall rural locations, creativelyutilising our in-house skills helps buildour capacity.

Horizon has partnered with localagencies to bid for funds fromgovernment and the corporatephilanthropic sectors. In August 2017,Horizon secured $75,000 in fundingfrom the Queensland Department ofCommunities, Child Safety andDisability Services under their AgeFriendly Grants to initiate a uniqueresearch project across the Maranoaregion to identify the housingchallenges and aspirations of olderpeople (aged 55 years and over)living in the Maranoa region. Thisproject is in partnership withcommunity, local services andproviders and will be a vehicle todrive community consultations aroundageing in place, identify specificimpacts/barriers and then proposeproducts/responses relevant to thehousing needs of those ageing inrural and remote communities.

For the many people and householdswe work with, their community is theirhome and their place is as just asimportant to them as those living inmetropolitan locations.

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Roma House Manager Elise Waugh congratulating Mitchell State Scholl,

a recipient under Horizons Achieve Scholarship

Horizons office in Roma

The Role of NeighbourhoodCentres in HousingSiobhan Delgado, Sector Development Officer, Queensland Families and Communities Association

The Australian NeighbourhoodHousing and CommunitiesAssociation (ANHCA) describesneighbourhood centres as:

‘Neighbourhood Houses andCentres (NH&Cs) are not-for-profit,community organisations. Theyshare a community developmentand socially inclusive approach tothe delivery and provision ofservices, as well as activities forsocially isolated and disadvantagedlocal communities.’ 1

Currently there are 147 funded andunfunded neighbourhood centresacross Queensland. The primarysource of funding for neighbourhoodcentres is from the QueenslandDepartment of Communities, ChildSafety and Disability Supports(DCCSDS). Other sources of fundingare via federal government, localgovernment or philanthropic grants.

In 2017, DCCSDS engagedQueensland Council of SocialServices (QCOSS) to consultQueensland Neighbourhood Centresin gathering material to inform theirInvestment Management Standard(IMS) workshops.

These IMS workshops were designedto ‘help organisations to direct theirresources and achieve the bestoutcomes from their investments.’ 2

QCOSS invited the QueenslandFamilies and Communities Association(QFCA) to partner in this process.QCOSS and QFCA facilitated fivecommunity consultations between Julyand August 2017. A final report for theIMS workshops is in development.

The consultation process includedface to face forums, one tele-link anda survey monkey. Currently DCCSDSfunds 122 neighbourhood centresacross the state. 117 participants

attended the five sessions, includingthe tele-link, representing 73 centres.Sixty seven centres responded to thesurvey with 27 respondents unable toattend the live forums. Theconsultation process engaged 100 ofthe 122 centres, representing81 per cent of Centres state-wide.

The consultations included anoverview of the purpose of IMS, aparticipative mapping process and aworld café activity exploring the valueof neighbourhood centres to theircommunities, the community servicesector and the uniqueness ofneighbourhood centres and thefuture of neighbourhood centres inQueensland.

Neighbourhood Centres andHousingThe mapping process at the liveforums and via the survey monkeyidentified the depth of workundertaken by neighbourhoodcentres. DCCSDS fund centres to

provide information, support andreferral as well as events and activities.Yet, as ANHCA has identified,neighbourhood centres holdcommunity development and socialinclusion at their core and thisunderpins every engagement theyundertake. Funding representativesregularly state that ‘it is not the role ofa centre to deal with challengingissues or crisis interventions’. However,this commentary belittles the coreelements of working within communityand the role of neighbourhoodcentres. This was challengedthroughout the consultation process.

All centre staff and volunteers dealwith daily crisis presentations, andhousing has been identified as one ofthe primary causes of crisis. Fifty fourof the 67 (96.3 per cent) respondentsto the survey monkey identifiedhomelessness as a primary crisispresentation with 70.37 per centidentifying family homelessness as amajor concern. Forty of the 67

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responded to a specific question on‘Housing and HomelessnessSupports’ with completing forms andadvocacy as the main requirements oftheir work. While this was echoedthroughout the consultations lessthan five per cent of neighbourhoodcentres receive funding direct fromthe Department of Housing.

When a person presents with ahousing issue it takes time to work outthe best responses for the individualand/ or their family. People presentingat neighbourhood centres are giventime and attention and often a cup oftea (never underestimate the value ofa cup of tea). Centre staff provideassistance with completing thenecessary housing forms, whetherthey are hard copy or digital, andoften help with the extra requirementsfor proof of identity and the provisionof supporting evidence.

While the Department of Housing doeshave staff to address this work, manypeople struggle to attend a housingcentre due to difficulty in accessingthem or because of an inability torespond to the services offered. Thereality is that very often individualspresenting in crisis struggle torepresent themselves properly. This canin turn cause conflict in dealing withgovernment services. During the IMSconsultation process, neighbourhood

centres were often referred to as Hubs,universal services and/or place-basedservices. Many respondents consideredthem to be an essential service becauseneighbourhood centres are open to allcommunity members and viewed as asafe space.

Vulnerable individuals and/or theirfamilies will often remain connectedto their neighbourhood centre whilethey wait on the housing list or gethoused in other ways. For individualsand families in crisis, neighbourhoodcentres provide emergency relief,food, food parcels and other sundryitems. Centres offer breakfast, lunchesand dinners for the homeless andwhere possible, provide showers andlaundry services.

The face-to-face connection providedby neighbourhood centres reducesisolation, creates connectivity andincreases the capacity of centre usersto access other supports whileremaining within their own community.

Throughout the IMS consultationprocess terms such as ‘poly fila’ and‘connectors’ were used to identifyhow neighbourhood centres bridgethe gaps in service before, during andafter a need is identified. Participantsthroughout the consultations stronglysupported this approach of beingable to work with people across

presentations and without therestriction imposed through programeligibility.

ConclusionOnce the report is complete and theIMS workshops have concluded,neighbourhood centres inQueensland hope to have a clearersense of future funding from the StateGovernment. This consultationprocess has enabled greater unityacross neighbourhood centres andopened opportunities to increase theirvisibility within and beyond the sector.

When asked about the future ofneighbourhood centres, participantswere unanimous about them‘continuing to do what they alreadydo’ for their communities. They wantrecognition for the work ofneighbourhood centres and for theirwork to be valued because of theunique contribution they make to thewelfare of their communities.

Endnotes

1. Australian Neighbourhood Housing andCommunities Association 2011,Strengthening Local Communities; Who weare and what we do, AustralianNeighbourhood Housing and CommunitiesAssociation.

2. http://www.dtf.vic.gov.au/Investment-Planning-and-Evaluation/Understanding-investment-planning-and-review/What-is-the-investment-management-standard

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0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Drug and alcoholproblems

Violentbehaviour

Acute mentalconcerns

Mental health

Domesticviolence

No income

FamilyHomelessness

Homelessness

Q18 Crisis Services (what crisis presentations are you seeing at your centre?)Answered: 54 Skipped: 13

B: Responding to Indigenous Homelessness

Aboriginal and TorresStrait Islander HousingPathwaysDepartment of Housing and Public Works

SummaryA look at the complex challenges thatAboriginal and Torres Strait Islanderpeople face when it comes tohousing, and what the QueenslandGovernment is doing to address thisthrough the Aboriginal and TorresStrait Islander Housing Action Plan.

Indigenous disadvantage iswell-documented and this extends tohousing where Aboriginal and TorresStrait Islander people are four timesmore likely to experiencehomelessness, and four times morelikely to live in overcrowdedconditions than non-IndigenousQueenslanders.1

The Closing the Gap Report 2017details a disappointing lack ofprogress on the Closing the Gaptargets. As a nation, we are on trackto meet only one of the sevenClosing the Gap targets.2

The Closing the Gap targets arefocused on the CommonwealthGovernment’s key priorities, includingproviding children with a positive startto life, increasing access to educationand employment, reducing self-harmand violence and supporting victimsof domestic violence.

Effectively addressing these keypriorities all too frequently meansaddressing issues of inadequatehousing and overcrowding.

Housing is a foundational issuein closing the gap onAboriginal and Torres StraitIslander disadvantage.Adequate housing is essential toimproving Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander health, education andemployment outcomes.

Overcrowding is a key cause behindmany health issues such as scabies

and rheumatic fever. It is nearlyimpossible for families living inseverely overcrowded or inadequatehousing to keep themselves healthy.Simple everyday actions such asbathing, washing clothes andbedding, and removing waste safelyare difficult or impossible when thehousing is inadequate.

Education and employmentoutcomes are impacted through alack of ability to bath, wash and ironclothes, to find a quiet space toundertake homework or study, to getadequate sleep when sleeping roughor sharing overcrowded lodgings.

Queensland is working to improvehousing outcomes for Aboriginal andTorres Strait Islander householdsthrough the Queensland HousingStrategy 2017–2027 (the strategy) by:

developing an Aboriginal and•

Torres Strait Islander HousingAction Planestablishing a new Aboriginal•

and Torres Strait Islander HousingBodyfurthering Aboriginal and Torres•

Strait Islander home ownershipincreasing Aboriginal and Torres•

Strait Islander education andeconomic opportunities.

The strategy will increase access tosafe, secure and affordable housingand provide pathways to achievehome ownership. Housingassistance packages will helpvulnerable young Aboriginal andTorres Strait Islander peoples topursue education, training andemployment opportunities, whilesustaining strong connections tocommunity and culture. The strategywill also address the need fortransitional housing andaccommodation that meets theneeds of both younger and seniorclient cohorts.

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Overview ofAboriginal and TorresStrait Islander housing

According to the AustralianBureau of Statistics (2011),Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander people are:

Four times more likely to be•

homeless compared with non-Indigenous people and this isincreasing — at only 3.6% ofthe population, they accountfor 9% of the totalhomelessness population

Two times more likely to be•

renting (63.3% Indigenouscompared to 32% non-Indigenous)

More likely to be renting•

through some form of socialhousing

More vulnerable to•

homelessness or living inovercrowded situations due toprivate market trends,discrimination and security oftenancy issues

Three times less likely to own•

their own homes (9.4% ascompared to 29.8%)

Four times more likely to be•

living in overcrowded housing(13.6% compared to 3.4%)

Experiencing overcrowding in•

approximately 30% ofIndigenous households inremote or very remote areas

13% of Queensland’s•

Indigenous population live inremote communities

97% of the Indigenous•

population in remotecommunities live in socialhousing

As at Census 2016:

Around 186,500 Aboriginal•

and Torres Strait Islanderpeople live in Queensland,accounting for 4% of the totalQueensland population (upfrom 3.6% at Census 2011)

More than half (60.61%) of•

Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander people were agedunder 29 years.

The strategy highlights ourcommitment to working collaborativelyand innovatively with Aboriginal andTorres Strait Islander stakeholders. Theprinciples outlined in the Departmentof Housing and Public Work’sAboriginal and Torres Strait IslanderAdvancement Framework 2017–2020will form the foundation forpartnerships with Aboriginal and TorresStrait Islander communities:

effective co-design•

inform and empower people and•

communitiesdevelop agreed goals•

inform decisions with quality data•

and evidence.

An example of this approach is thedevelopment of the ten-year YarrabahHousing and Homelessness Strategythat aims to empower the communityto take control of Yarrabah’s futurethrough positive changes that ensureall residents have the option of a safe,secure and functional homeappropriate for their family’s lifestyle.It is a locally-led, place-based andpeople-centred initiative involving allmembers of the community.

In 2017, the Yarrabah Aboriginal ShireCouncil undertook a thorough analysisof housing within the Shire to obtain acomplete understanding of the fullextent of the community’s housingchallenges. The council determinedthat a locally-led and delivered

solution was required, with localgovernment spearheading the positivechanges. Yarrabah’s solution will bedeveloped based on the followingfoundations; it will be people-centred— dignity, place-based — respect andhave an interdisciplinary approach —knowledge.

Work has begun on developing thestrategy and many social issues withinYarrabah can be related back toovercrowding. The Department ofHousing and Public Works will workcollaboratively with the council andlocal community to develop astronger future for Yarrabah.

‘Yarrabah is home. It’s where wegrew up. It’s our people. We feelsafe here, part of something.We’ve got to treasure it, it’s ahaven for our children. I wouldlike a home, something to makemy kids proud of and so they canhave a future.’

— Jason Cameron Fourmile, Yarrabahresident

Endnotes

1. Census 2011, Australian Bureau ofStatistics, Australian Government,Canberra.

2. Closing the Gap Prime Minister’s Report2017, Department of the Premier andCabinet, Australian Government, Canberra.

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Systematic Improvement ofHousing in the AboriginalCommunity of CherbourgPhil Crane and Sean Nicholson*

Acknowledgement toTraditional OwnersThe Cherbourg Aboriginal ShireCouncil respectfully acknowledgesthe Wakka Wakka peoples who arethe traditional owners of the land onwhich we are based, and we pay ourrespects to our Elders past andpresent. We also wish toacknowledge the historical peopleswho were sent here and madeCherbourg their home. With manytribes in our one community, we striveto combine all of our services andskills, and are committed to reducingall inequalities between Indigenousand non-Indigenous communities.

IntroductionThis paper outlines the strategy usedin recent years to enhance the qualityof housing and lived experience forpeople in the Aboriginal community ofCherbourg. Contrary to the commondepiction of Aboriginal communitiesas having low quality housing, thisarticle outlines a strategic approachover the past decade which hasresulted in the enhancement ofhousing stock, associatedinfrastructure and the lived experienceof the residents of Cherbourg.

Cherbourg is located 270 kmnorth-west of Brisbane, covers anarea of 32 square kilometres, andhas a population of approximately1,300 people.1

The history of Cherbourg (orBarambah as it was originally known)provides an important context foroutlining recent housingdevelopments in the community.Barambah was established by theSalvation Army in 1899, and takenover as a Government Settlement in1904.2 People were moved there fromall over Queensland and New SouthWales under the AboriginalsProtection and Restriction of the Saleof Opium Act 1897 (Qld). Between1905 and 1939 there wereapproximately 2,079 documentedremovals of Aboriginal people toBarambah Reserve.3

Traditional languages and practiceswere restricted, permission wasrequired to leave the Reserve or tomarry, and children were removed fromfamilies and placed in dormitories. Theimpact of this history is still felt, withhigher than average levels ofunemployment, poverty, housingstress, incarceration, and mental healthissues, especially youth suicide.4

The Cherbourg Aboriginal ShireCouncil was established in 1985 ‘underthe Community Services (Aborigines)Act 1984 (Qld), when local governmentpowers and responsibilities wereconferred upon Aboriginal councils forthe first time. An Aboriginal reserveheld by the Queensland Governmentwas transferred on 28 August 1986 to

the trusteeship of the council under aDeed of Grant in Trust’.5

Development of Housing inCherbourgThe development of adequatehousing has been a long-standingissue in Cherbourg, heavilyconditioned by the above history.

The first girls’ dormitory building atBarambah was built in 1909 and aboys’ dormitory was completed in1910. The first dormitories atBarambah had no beds ormattresses and the children slepton the floor. Over time, thedormitory system at Barambah wasexpanded to include older girlsand mothers with young children.By the 1920s, the Barambahdormitories were overcrowded. …The establishment of a saw mill atBarambah around 1919 facilitatedthe construction of cottages forAboriginal families and new schooland hospital buildings during the1920s. … The dormitory systemwas gradually phased out atCherbourg in the late 1970s.6

In the 1970s a factory to buildpre-fabricated houses was establishedin Cherbourg. A total of 18 houseswere made and sent to otherAboriginal communities. In 2003 thequality of housing was seen asvariable and inadequate.

Housing in Cherbourg traversesspectra of age, size andcomplexity; older, small simplebrick or fibro structures to morerecently built large Queensland-style homesteads. While the newerhomes are being built many olderones are still occupied but fallinginto disrepair. There is aconsiderable waiting list for newhomes. The newer areas beingdeveloped are located on the hill

73New social housing in Cherbourg

behind the hospital —‘Snob Hill’ as it is referredto by the locals. Many ofthe older houses havebroken windows anddoors, and little in theway of furniture.7

Today housing is managed bythe community through theCherbourg Aboriginal ShireCouncil and is only availableto Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander families andindividuals, with non-Indigenous carersof Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanderchildren also eligible. In QueenslandIndigenous social housing programsare in place for 16 Aboriginal andTorres Strait Islander councils,encompassing 34 Aboriginal andTorres Strait Islander communities,involving the construction of newhouses, an annual upgrade programand provision of maintenance toimprove housing.8

In recent years community housingprograms in Cherbourg have beenfunded from the National AffordableHousing Agreement (NAHA). Dataprovided by Queensland Departmentof Housing and Public Works (DHPW)indicates that in Cherbourg from 1July 2008, 49 new dwellings havebeen completed at a cost of just over$18 million, four Safe Haven dwellingshave been constructed at a cost of$1.59 million, and a 28 Lot subdivisiondeveloped at a cost of $2.4 million. In

addition, ten new dwellings areproposed and currently budgeted forat $3.5 million. Maintenance andcapital upgrade programs aredelivered every year as part of theasset management regime. In2016–17, $2.0 million was spent onmaintenance, and $2.1 million wasspent on capital upgrades of existingdwellings. A manager from Councilsummed up the impact of enhancedhousing in the following terms:

When I first started they built thesame sort of houses and thenCouncil started to give peopleoptions about number of bedroomsand types of construction materials.People developed a stronger senseof belonging as they were givenmore involvement and choice intheir home.

A strategic future-focused approach tohousing associated infrastructure hasbeen adopted, with reticulation being

developed to handle doublethe number of existinghouses in Cherbourg. Thefocus on reticulation includesnew or enhanced watertreatment plants, daminfrastructure, sewer pumpstations, sewerage and waterreticulation mains andstormwater systems. Theseenhancements are designedto allow for future housing toreduce overcrowding and toaccommodate expected

future population growth.

An employment strategy for residentshas been implemented as part of thecommunity housing strategy withIndividual Employment OpportunityPlans incorporated into housingconstruction contracts.

In addition to the above during2015–2016 Council refurbished aderelict building to become theWinifred Fisher IndigenousKnowledge Centre, upgraded 12homes, and improved its attendanceand repair rates and quality inhousing maintenance.9 (CherbourgAboriginal Shire Council, 2016).Council has also employed adedicated Housing Officer and aRents Officer to assist the communityobtain and maintain their tenancies.

The steady investment in housing thathas occurred into Cherbourg over thisperiod is seen by Council to be very

74

Overcrowding status

Cherbourg ILOC Queensland

Households withIndigenous

persons

Non-Indigenoushouseholds

Households withIndigenous

persons

Non-Indigenoushouseholds

number % number % number % number %

Overcrowded:

4 or more extra bedrooms needed 5 1.8 0 — 314 0.4 547 0.0

3 extra bedrooms needed 7 2.5 0 — 438 0.6 1,428 0.1

2 extra bedrooms needed 16 5.7 0 — 1,525 2.1 6,163 0.4

1 extra bedroom needed 44 15.6 0 — 5,317 7.4 32,956 2.1

Total overcrowded 81 28.7 0 — 7,592 10.5 41,094 2.7

Not overcrowded

203 72.0 0 — 61,368 85.1 1,447,547 93.7

Total 282 100 0 — 72,120 100 1,544,844 100

Source: Queensland Government, Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships (2017)

The Ration Shed, Cherbourg

Table 1. Overcrowding in Cherbourg

positive. Key to sustaining thisprogress has been three key factors,additional appropriate housing,positive relationships, and social andhealth support. Of critical importancehas been the funding which hasflowed through NAHA and theQueensland Government forconstruction and maintenance ofhousing stock together with futureproofed infrastructure. Second hasbeen the building and maintaining ofpurposeful and communicativerelationships between the CherbourgAboriginal Shire Council, thecommunity, the Department (DHPW),and their representatives.

Particularly important in terms offrequency of contact is the Councilrelationship with the Building and AssetServices (BAS) section of theDepartment. BAS has direct contactwith the community aroundmaintenance and refurbishment andinspects 100 of the 300 houses in thecommunity each year, meaning eachhouse is inspected and assessed everythree years. The purpose of theinspections is to identify where repairs,upgrades or modifications are required.The third factor seen as critical is thesustained and across agency attentionto the social and health challengesfaced by people associated with theirhousing and risk of homelessness. Awide range of social services operate inCherbourg and numbers of these havedirect relevance for housing andhomelessness. As well as experiencingreduced stress and improved well-being, feedback from local services andresidents to Council is that people alsoenjoy a range of health and socialbenefits due to enhanced housing,such as reductions in communicablediseases and domestic violence.

Challenges in Meeting HousingNeedsChallenges remain, reflected in censussocial and health statistics.Homelessness in Cherbourg includes amix of overcrowding, staying at otherpeople’s places, and rough sleeping,and anecdotally services indicate thelevels of homelessness continues to beproblematic and could be rising.

Overcrowding has been a feature ofCherbourg life for the last century andremains a key challenge forCherbourg. Table 1 indicates thatmore than a quarter of all households(28.7 per cent) in Cherbourg continue

to experience overcrowding, higherthan rates in other Indigenoushouseholds in Queensland(10.5 per cent) and more than 10 timeshigher than the rate of non-Indigenoushouseholds in Queensland.

In Cherbourg it is not unusual for twoor three families, each with manychildren, to live together. These livingarrangements contribute significantlyto associated social challenges ofdomestic violence, mental healthissues, safety concerns (as peopleremove themselves from their home),and health issues related to reducedhygiene and the transmission ofinfections.

Reducing the density of housingoccupancy, requires a combination ofadditional housing stock andimproved ways of matching residentfamilies and individuals to availablestock. Housing development andmatching also needs to be undertakenin ways that appreciate bothcontinuities and changes taking placein traditional family structures.

Changes occurring over time includemore young people wanting to liveindependently, young coupleswanting to reside together, and aresultant need for additional one andtwo bedroom units. One continuitydriving the need for three and fourbedroom homes is the need to beresponsive to Indigenous kinship.The official number of people residingin Cherbourg is almost certainly anunderestimation of the actual numberliving there. Transience is common,with people regularly arriving inCherbourg to spend time with kin,and cultural tradition meaning kin arewelcomed into homes. Challengesregarding who to include on thehousing wait list, and whether toinclude extended family who havecome from other areas, have been thesubject of debate within Council.

Housing development andmaintenance needs to occur inparallel to attending to a range ofstrategies to enhance social andhealth outcomes in the community.Strategies being developed includean additional domestic violenceresponse linked to enhanced alliedhealth inter-agency communication tosupport early intervention, specificinterventions to assist men torecognise and address what triggers

their violence, and development of asuicide prevention strategy.

Our past has been written for us,but our future is in our own handsentirely. Cherbourg AboriginalShire has faced manycomplications and hardships in thepast, but the one thing that cannotbe broken is our resilience anddetermination to move forwardand strengthen our Community.This last year has been filled withsuccessful initiatives to preserveour history, culture and community.Our future is moving full-steamahead to improving our resources,developing our infrastructure,sharing our culture and makingCherbourg a safe, sustainable,strong and inspiring place to live.10

* Phil Crane is Associate Professor of SocialWork, University of the Sunshine Coast

Sean Nicholson is Economic and CommunityDevelopment Manager, Cherbourg AboriginalShire Council

Endnotes

1. Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council 2016,Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council AnnualReport 2015–2016.

2. Ration Shed Museum, ‘About Cherbourg’accessed at http://rationshed.com.au/about-cherbourg/

3. Queensland State Library 2017,Community and Personal HistoriesRemovals Database, QueenslandGovernment, Brisbane.

4. Australian Bureau of Statistics 2012,Catalogue 3309.0 Suicides Australia, 2010,from http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/3309.0

5. Queensland Government, Department ofAboriginal and Torres Strait IslanderPartnerships 2017, accessed athttps://www.datsip.qld.gov.au/publications- governance-resources/justice-resources/cherbourg

6. Queensland Government, Communityhistories — Cherbourg 2017, accessed athttps://www.qld.gov.au/atsi/cultural-awareness-heritage-arts/community-histories-cherbourg

7. Bambrick H 2003, Child growth and Type 2Diabetes Mellitus in a QueenslandAboriginal Community, PhD. Thesis,Australian National University, Chapter 4:Landscapes and legacies: Cherbourg pastto present, accessed athttps://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/ bitstream/1885/46071/31/05chapter4.pdf, p.115.

8. Department of Housing and Public Works,Indigenous Housing Programs, accessed at:http://www.hpw.qld.gov.au/Housing/SocialHousing/CommunityHousing/Indigenous%20Housing%20Programs/Pages/default.aspx

9. Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council 2016,op cit.

10. ibid, p.20.

75

Aboriginal Sociality andKinship in West End Street LifePaul Memmott and Alex Bond, Aboriginal Environments Research Centre, University of Queensland

IntroductionThis article was written by PaulMemmott, a white anthropologistwith a longstanding social scienceapproach to the study of Indigenoushomelessness and Alex Bond, a KabiKabi scholar of Aboriginal culture andhistory in South-east Queensland.

Whilst Memmott is an expert witnesson Native Title and the Director of theAboriginal Environments ResearchCentre at the University ofQueensland (UQ), Bond is a casualtutor of Aboriginal culture in the sameCentre and conducts guided tours ofthe Aboriginal cultural landscape inthe Brisbane CBD for UQ students.

However, whereas Memmott residesas a home owner in West End on acomfortable professorial salary, Bondsubsists (without welfare benefits) onminimal income that he largely raisesby busking, and is himself technically

homeless by mainstream definitions,despite having a profoundgroundedness in the street culturemilieu of inner Brisbane. Our collegialrelationship, diverse backgrounds andour separate residential histories,albeit both living in West End sincethe mid-1970s, puts us in a specialposition to write on the sociality ofthe homeless blacks in West End.

History of Aboriginal People inWest EndElsewhere Memmott and anotherAERC colleague Kelly Greenop havewritten a chapter about the history ofAboriginal people at West End,1 ashas another colleague, Michael Airdin his book ‘Brisbane Blacks’.2 TheGreenop and Memmott explore theimpact of the 1898 Aboriginals Actwhich enabled the appointedAboriginal Protectors to removepeople from the city and send themto closed institutional settlements

such as Barambah (later calledCherbourg), Myora (on StradbrokeIsland) and Deebing Creek (nearIpswich); but which simultaneouslyallowed Aboriginal labourers to bebrought back from those places tothe city when required.

Within this to-and-forth movement,Musgrave Park evolved as a weekendmeeting and socialising point. Whenexemption status was incorporatedinto the Aboriginal Acts, someAboriginal families rented houses orflats in West End. Michael Aird’sinterviews tell of the Aboriginal beatsaround the West End involvingmovements between river fishing andcrabbing spots, various parks, hotelsand sports venues and also across theriver to the Boathouse in WilliamStreet for dancing.

Musgrave Park was also used as ameeting place by key regionalElders who were trying to keepAboriginal culture and Law active,albeit in restricted ways due to thesuppression of the Act (people suchas Willie McKenzie, Charlie Moreton,Janie Sunflower; and after them,Penny Bond, Bowman Johnson andJanie Arnold). After the abolition ofthe Act in 1983, the links of theAboriginal people in West End toCherbourg remained as animportant part of their identity.Musgrave Park increasingly becamea symbolic site of Aboriginal protest,a site of resistance, but also ofpersistence of identity values.3, 4, 5

In 1990–91, Memmott worked as aconsultant to the Royal Commissioninto Aboriginal and Islander Deaths inCustody (DIC) 6 His account describeshow five of the six DIC victims inBrisbane lived in an impoverishedalcoholic manner with much of theirdrinking and socialising focused inMusgrave Park.7

Co-author Alex Bond in central West End conducting a tour of Aboriginal places and settings for

University of Queensland Masters students.

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Memmott was able to establish fromAboriginal consultants that theCherbourg people had ‘defined aterritorial niche in Musgrave Park intowhich outsiders sought permission toenter’,8 albeit this conclusion waswithout careful field interviews.

Memmott wrote in 1991:

Research knowledge is poorconcerning this [S.E.Q.] region. InBrisbane, social organisation ischaracterised by multiple overlappingkin-based communities located innumerous suburbs and largely formedby immigration in recent decades.They are further characterised by highinternal transformation as membersmove across the city or return tohome communities in many parts ofthe State. New arrivals to suchcommunities at first build on kinshipand home town links, but somecommunities also form around arange of types of other social bondssuch as affiliation to sports clubs,government and communityorganisations, [and] Aboriginalresidential locales [West End, Inala].Group membership may also bedictated by lifestyle circumstances, forexample, as in the case of alcoholic,low-income, street groups (the‘drones’). More permanent features ofBrisbane social organisation may bestable matrifocal families with long-term residential links (most membersof the original tribal groups appear tohave disappeared) …. It is clear that ahigh proportion of the Brisbanepopulation, including the streetgroups, are from Cherbourg. It isargued that these people representthe legacy of the State’s institutionalpolicies at Cherbourg which haveresulted in community fracturing anddispersal rather than social cohesionbased on a desired quality of lifestyle.9

However, as we shall see, in 1991,Memmott underestimated thestrength of the Cherbourg socialbonds.

In July 2017, Alex Bond was able toprovide Paul Memmott with thekinship links and structure to draw upa genealogy which incorporated mostof the West End street people withwhom he was in regular contact atthat time, and connect them throughsome four ascending generations to agenealogy previously prepared inCherbourg.

Street Life in West End(Alex talking here.)Reflecting on Street life in West End, Iknow a lot of fringe-dwellers, who areon the fringe of different socialgroups; that’s the common thingamongst them.

Fortitude Valley is similar but a bitdifferent. There is a particular type ofculture in West End. There is moreunderstanding by shop owners fromthe small businessman to the bigones.Those that have been there upto 50 years… understanding of thoseon the social/economic fringe.

West End also has an influx oftravellers (from places like Nimbin,Newcastle, Sydney, Melbourne,Perth, etc.). They pull in for a nightor a week; maybe in a van orhitch-hiking. All different culturescan be found in West End: Irish,Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander,USA, European extraction — aneclectic mix of people. All thatmakes it a glue; it makes it morebearable … that understanding; toexist on this planet. But some can’tlast it; some may leave. They havedifferent issues: drugs, too muchdrinking, mental health issues.Always a flow of people, but alwaysthose who have been there all thetime, who decided to stay after theyhad travelled and travelled to andfro; they felt more welcome in WestEnd. Like people from Rocky, whereit’s a frontier town; but a moreaccepting environment in West End.They get that feeling and like ithere; they want to stay. But95 per cent of them have issues.They were once all deep andmeaningful humans as children, butthen ‘shit’ went down. They had toohard a life and they never came backto normality.

All these people get money fromCentrelink, although there might bethe odd one who does work. Theyget their cheques on different days.That’s how they work it. Might be fourwho team up, to pool money. They’vegot to team up to buy grog anddrugs. Ice is a big problem too; onein four might be on ice. In MusgravePark, they sit there and drink; mightbe a bit of gunja smoked. But if theywant to take ice they go somewhereelse — too much to tolerate, tooagro, on another level. It’s hard workdealing with them socially when

they’re on ice. Then they all go to thestreet vans for free food.

They are homeless, but most havegot some sort of place to stay. Somemight pay to sleep on a couch; mightpay $50 or $100 a week: stay with acousin, auntie or nephew. Some don’tpay anything, and may stay under abridge (William Jolly Bridge, RailwayBridge, or the Go-BetweenBridge).There might be five or sixbridge sleepers sometimes, even ten.The Police don’t hassle them toomuch if no trouble. Many have got abad record with the Department ofHousing, so can’t go there; they’vestuffed up in the past. We need a fewplaces like at Bribie Island, or in thehinterland, to take these people to;they need that space thing, somegrounding, where it’s a safer place inthe bush.

There are a lot of Cherbourg peoplein West End: 95 per cent who gatherin Musgrave Park are Cherbourgconnected, although they could comefrom Inala too. This continuity is stillgoing; my Kabi Kabi people arecoming to Brisbane. The Aboriginalpeople are all connected; even if theywant to be apart, they can’t be. Evenif they’re from interstate, it’s the same.They have got to slot in to the socialgroup network. You can have differentcrews in the Park, they don’t all masstogether. They may be all fromCherbourg, but they’ll have theircircles. But still here we are all‘Musgrave Park mob’ as opposed to‘Valley mob’. Always thisgeographical thing. I’ve tried to breakthis down, even though both mobsare from Cherbourg. There is a cultureof being separate (two sets ofattachments). I try to make a joke of itwhen I mix with the Valley mob. I tryto gloss over it with humour. But it’sthere.

Alex is steeped in this Kabi history(Paul talking now) and he daily makesreference to the network of people inhis mental kinship structure,reminding people on the street howthey are related to one another evenif it means tracing back four or fivegenerations to the 1800s. As ananalytic exercise, the authors made aspreadsheet of some 22 people withwhom Alex socialised on the streetsof West End during July 2017: 16were Aboriginal, four white and twoPolynesian. We then sorted them into

77

Paul’s Indigenous homelessnesscategories (see table). Most of the 22were in the ‘Housed but at Risk’category: 13 resided in hostels orboarding houses, two were couchsurfers albeit within a relatively stablepattern, two were best described asin the ‘dysfunctionally mobile’category taking whatever nightlyoption was available and beingexpected to move on.

Of the remaining, two were ‘roughsleepers’ (‘public-place dwellers’category) and two (both white) wereflat tenants but with irregular tenancyperiods. One of the latter tenants hadup to six people sleeping on the floorof his flat at night.

Various Aboriginal ‘at-risk’ streetpeople were residing in either of thetwo Aboriginal hostels in West End(three cooked meals at fixed times,some rooms with ensuites, otherswithout), or in either of the severalAboriginal boarding houses (rentindividual rooms, shared ablutionfacilities). On the other hand,non-Indigenous ‘at risk’ people wereoften at a Boarding House offBoundary Street, but this neverthelesswas a venue often visited byAboriginal street friends for socialget-togethers. A small number of theIndigenous people also reside inMicah’s Common Ground building.

Were any of these West End streetpeople in the third spiritualhomelessness category? Memmotthas defined spiritual homelessness ina particular way as:

‘a state arising from separation fromtraditional land and/or separationfrom family and kinship networks(often a result of past government

policies) and involving an identitycrisis based on a lack of relation tocountry and family, or confusion overhow they relate to country and familywith Aboriginal and Torres StraitIslander identity systems. Suchfeelings add to the already depressedemotional state of public-placedwellers or those at risk ofhomelessness.’ 11

Bond has amplified spiritualhomelessness in West End as follows:

‘All my mob has got it — but only 10to 15 per cent feel it, they suffermore. Others are ignorant of it. Itmeans I can’t go to my homeland andlive there as someone who hasspiritual connections. Whatcontributes to it, is modern Aboriginalpolitics, especially Native Title, —that tears the spiritual aspect apart.’

ConclusionStreet life of Aboriginal people inWest End does involve all of thetechnical categories of Aboriginalhomelessness as described byMemmott et al,12 ranging from ‘roughsleeping’ to the various forms ofsecondary (or at risk of losinghousing) homelessness and spiritualhomelessness. However, a set ofvalues held by a core of Kabi Kabiand Waka Waka peoples andrevolving around a commondenominator of shared descent andkinship derived from Cherbourg andpreceded by settlement at Manambarand Durundur, acts as a form ofhistorically-transmitted social capitalupon which Aboriginal street peopledepend for daily getting by, withsome sense of shared cultural identity,dignity and pride in what isnevertheless a hard street lifestyle inmodern-day Brisbane.

There is a saying in Cherbourg (Alexspeaking):‘You can go to many places, manytowns and States, but you will alwaysfind a Cherbourg person; Cherbourgpeople travel well. Some are crazybut all are resilient.’

Endnotes

1. Greenop K and Memmott P 2013,Aboriginal identity and place in theintercultural settings of metropolitanAustralia in Peter E and Andersen C (eds)Indigenous in the City: ContemporaryIdentities and Cultural Innovation, UBCPress, Vancouver, pp. 256–281.

2. Aird M 2001, Brisbane Blacks, KeeairaPress, Southport, Queensland.

3. Huggins J and Huggins R 1994, AuntieRita, Aboriginal Studies Press, Canberra,p.78.

4. Aird M 2001, op cit, p.33.

5. Greenop K and Memmott P 2013, op cit,pp.226–23.

6. Memmott P 1991, Queensland AboriginalCultures and the Deaths in Custody victims,in Wyvell, L., Commissioner, RegionalReport of Inquiry in Queensland, RoyalCommission into Deaths in Custody,Australian Government Printer Canberra,Appendix 2, pp. 171–289.

7. ibid, pp.262–263.

8. ibid, p.262.

9. ibid, pp.261–262.

10. Memmott P, Long S, Chambers C andSpring F 2003, Final Report: Categories ofIndigenous ‘Homeless’ People and GoodPractice Responses to Their Needs,Australian Housing and Urban ResearchInstitute, Queensland Research Centre, StLucia. https://www.ahuri.edu.au/ __data/assets/pdf_file/0007/2113/AHURI_Final_Report_No49_Categories_of_Indigenous_homeless_people_and_good_practice_responses.pdf (viewed 5/10/17).

11. Memmott P and Nash D 2014, Indigenoushomelessness, in Chamberlain C, JohnsonG and Robinson C (Eds) Homelessness inAustralia, UNSW Press, Sydney,pp.155–178.

12. Memmott P, Long S, Chambers C andSpring F 2003, op cit.

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Table: Categories of Indigenous public-place dwelling and homelessness 10

Category APublic-place dwellers

Category BHoused people ‘at risk’

Category CSpiritually homeless

A1Voluntary, short-term

B1Insecurely housed

C1Separated from traditionalland/family/kinship networks

A2Voluntary, medium term

B2Sub-standard housing

A3Voluntary/involuntary, long-term

B3Crowded-housing

C2Confusion/lack of knowledge aboutrelationship to country/ family

A4Involuntary

B4Dysfunctionally mobile

C: Responding to Youth Homelessness

Creating Brighter Futures: The Role of YouthFoyers in Providing Pathways toIndependence for Young VulnerableQueenslandersDepartment of Housing and Public Works

Youth Homelessness: TheQueensland ContextAccess to safe, secure and affordablehousing, and support to develop skillsto sustain housing, continues to be amajor challenge for young Australians.According to the Australian Instituteof Health and Welfare in 2017, 43,165young people aged 15 to 24,approached a specialist homelessnessservice alone in Australia in 2015–16,of which 5,225 were living inQueensland. Most of these youngpeople were assisted by specialisthomelessness services that providedmore traditional, temporary,supported accommodation responses,which have achieved mixed outcomesfor young people.

Data and research shows that there isa range of structural and individualrisk factors that make young peoplevulnerable to homelessness.1 Itsuggests that young people do notbecome homeless by choice, and thecauses of homelessness are oftencomplex and varied.

Unemployment, financial issues,poverty, previous experiences of abuseand/or neglect, substance misuse,mental health and family violence arejust some of the issues young peopleexperience that increases theirvulnerability to homelessness. Theextensive research also shows theharmful effects that homelessness hason the social, emotional and physicaldevelopment of young people.

As noted throughout the literature,homelessness is one of the mostsevere forms of disadvantage andsocial exclusion and can haveenduring effects on young people. Itcreates difficulties in all areas of lifeincluding attending school, engagingin further education or training, orsecuring employment. The personaland community costs of youth

homelessness are very high, with thetotal cost to the Australian economy ofadditional health and justice servicesestimated as $747 million in 2015. Thisexceeded the total cost $619 million,of providing specialist homelessnessservices to the 256,000 people (youngand old) during the same period.2 Thisevidence supports the investment inhousing options for young people.

Improving housing outcomes foryoung people experiencinghomeless, or at risk of experiencinghomelessness, is a high priority forthe Queensland Government. TheQueensland Housing Strategy2017–2027 (the strategy) and theQueensland Housing Strategy2017–2020 Action Plan, have a strongfocus on the housing needs of youngpeople, through the development oftwo new youth foyers on the GoldCoast and in Townsville, and theexpansion of the Logan Youth Foyer.

The Youth Foyer ModelThe youth foyer model isinternationally recognised for providingsecure and affordable housing whilealso delivering social and economicbenefits for young people and thecommunity. The Foyer Federation ofAustralia describes foyers as ‘learningand student accommodation centresfor young people who are homeless orat risk of becoming homeless’. Theyare designed for young people, withthe capacity to engage in educationand training, but who are preventedfrom participating due to structural,institutional or personal barriers.

Foyers provide person-centred aroundthe clock, on-site support services thatdeliver case management support totenants to achieve education, trainingand/or employment outcomes. Theyalso assist young people to developthe life skills necessary to maintainsecure housing when they exit. These

important service delivery elementsare central to the design andimplementation of the new andexpanded youth foyers in Queensland.

While youth foyers are a relativelynew approach to preventing youthhomelessness in Queensland, therehas been considerable successachieved throughout their deliveryacross Australia and internationally.Australian foyers were firstestablished in 2001, at Miller Live ’N’Learn in Western Sydney andSouthern Youth and Family Services inWollongong. A key characteristic ofAustralian youth foyers is the strengthof the link between them, andeducation establishments, with somefoyers established on campusesalongside other studentaccommodation — for example, theEducation First Youth Foyer, HolmesGlen TAFE and Waverley Campus.

Analysis of foyer, and foyer-like youthhousing models undertaken bySwinburne University in 2013,identified that Australian foyers werehighly successful at moving youngpeople onto stable and securelong-term housing. Over 80 per centof former residents secured housing,while only six per cent exitedprematurely due to disputes orbehavioural issues.3 The SwinburneUniversity study also found that over50 per cent of former foyer residentsremained engaged in some form ofeducation or training after exiting andsurmised that a considerable numbermay have entered the workforce.However, no firm data was availablefor this assertion.

The Queensland ExperienceQueensland’s first youth foyer atLogan opened in 2009 and provides22 units of housing for young people.It is jointly operated through apartnership model between Horizon

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Housing Company,who delivers theproperty and tenancymanagement services,and Wesley MissionQueensland whodelivers the on-sitesupport services.Testimony fromtenants demonstratesthe value the facilityhas played in helpingyoung people buildconfidence and lifeskills:

Kate‘It’s awesome tolive at the foyer…it’s given me a lotof encouragementand confidence…’

Jai‘Foyer feels like a family… youhave people who are supportingyou every day.’

Lui‘Support is key to get youngpeople into the adult world.’ 4

The Logan Youth Foyer has operatedat or near capacity since it openedand the Department of Housing andPublic Works (the department)anticipates that future demand for theenhanced service will be equally high.

The commitment to expand theyouth foyer model in Queensland isone of a suite of responses theQueensland Government isimplementing to address youthhomelessness. The new investmentin youth foyers will provide youngpeople, aged between 16 and 25,with an opportunity to liveindependently, while receiving thenecessary assistance to becomeconfident, strong andself-supporting. Once complete, thethree youth foyers will jointly providecontemporary housing services to120 young Queenslanders.

Maximising Every OpportunityThe strategy aims to engage with,and build capacity of vulnerableyoung people, by placing them at thecenter of the planning and designphases for the Queensland foyers.Existing tenants from the Logan YouthFoyer recently participated in adesign workshop.

Their views and experiences ofhomelessness, and the supportthey’ve received, are vital to improvingthe functionality of the current serviceand guiding the direction of the newfoyers. Similar events will be heldduring the Gold Coast and Townsvillefoyers development process, whichare expected to be fully operational inearly 2019.

The Queensland Government isencouraging the adoption of bestpractice responses among theorganisations that will providespecialist homelessness services atthe new foyers. We envisage our newapproach will significantly contributeto the continued development of thefoyer movement in Australia.

Investing in these new foyers has thepotential to create a paradigm shiftfrom investing almost exclusively intemporary supported accommodationresponses, to investing in initiativessuch as youth foyers. The introductionof the youth foyers has the ability toimprove the housing andhomelessness service systems inTownsville, Logan and the Gold Coast,by complementing existing, immediateyouth homelessness responses. Thesethree locations were chosen based onthe high levels of need for housingresponses to vulnerable young people.Our investment aims to ensure servicedelivery approaches provide themaximum opportunity for youngpeople to receive support to achieve apathway to independence.

Youth foyers provide quality,self-contained accommodation, with

on-site person-centredsupport, support thatallows young peopleto develop skills,capabilities andconfidence which candecisively break thecycle of homelessness.They provide avaluable opportunityand environment foryoung people to learnand practice what itmeans to be a goodtenant and neighbour.Typically, youngpeople remain in ayouth foyer for up to18 months, but canstay longer if required.During their stay, the

foundations for transition toindependent and sustainable futuresare laid.

It is acknowledged that youth foyerswill not be the housing andhomelessness solution for allvulnerable young people, but thecommitment to establish new foyerswill greatly improve the housing,education and employment outcomesfor many vulnerable youngQueenslanders. The departmentlooks forward to partnering with othergovernment agencies, andnon-government organisations andlocal communities, to deliver andimplement this important initiative.

Endnotes

1. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare2017 Australian Institute of Health andWelfare Specialist Homelessness ServicesCollection 2015–16: QueenslandSupplementary Tables Canberra, ACT,Australian Government: retrieved fromhttp://www.aihw.gov.au/homelessnessspecialist-homelessness-services-2015-16/supplementary Tables.

Chamberlain C and Mackenzie D 2006,‘Homeless careers: A framework forintervention’, Australian Social Work,vol.59, no.2, pp.32–38.

Johnson G, Gronda H and Coutts S 2008,On the Outside: Pathways in and out ofhomelessness, Australian ScholarlyPublishing, Melbourne.

2. MacKenzie D, Flatau P, Steen A andThielking M 2016, The Cost of YouthHomelessness in Australia Study,Melbourne: Swinburne Institute of SocialResearch p.2.

3. Steen A and MacKenzie D 2013, FinancialAnalysis of Foyer and Foyer Like YouthHousing Models, Swinburne University,Melbourne, p.46.

4. Not the resident’s real names.

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First

workshop

Logan Youth Foyer expansion

Garfield Road, Woodridge

Youth to Work: Opportunities toBreak the Cycle ofIntergenerational DependencyThe Department of Housing and Public Works

The Queensland Government islooking at ways of breaking the cycleof intergenerational welfaredependency by ensuring the publichousing system encourages youngpeople to engage in education,training or employment when theyfinish school.

Intergenerational welfare dependencyhas a significant impact oncommunities, families and children.It can set young people on atrajectory of future homelessness andsocial exclusion, restricting theiropportunities to engage in educationand work experience. This can make itmore difficult to gain the employmentthat is essential to support futureaccess to rental housing andultimately home ownership.

People aged under 25 years living inpublic housing, deserve the sameopportunities as all youngQueenslanders. Through theQueensland Housing Strategy2017–2027 (the Strategy), theQueensland Government issupporting children and dependents

of public housing tenants to remain athome while they engage ineducation, training or employment,so they can achieve their aspirationsand dreams, without barriers.

Previously, if you were a young persontrying to get a job and help yourselfinto financial independence — yourmoving into work would impact thehousehold rent calculation — makingit go up after a period of at least sixmonths and potentially impacting thehousehold’s ongoing eligibility forpublic housing. This was not fair anddid not help children and dependentsof tenants into long-term work orcreate pathways out of public housing.The Queensland Government isworking to turn this around. In 2016,Centrelink supplements to assistyoung people take up training andstudy opportunities were made non-assessable for rent purposes, and thisyear the Government will implementthe Youth to Work initiative.

The Youth to Work initiative willsupport residents under 25 years oldin public housing to pursue and

sustain employment by allowing themto have their working incomeexcluded from their household’s rentcalculation processes. This will allowchildren and dependents of tenants tocontribute to their family’s living costs,encourage them to start saving fortheir own future housing needs andopen up new opportunities throughactive workforce participation. Theywill also be offered housing assistancetowards independence, includingloans and financial assistance.

The Strategy is a ten year frameworkdriving key reforms and targetedinvestment across the housingcontinuum, providing pathways forpeople into independentaccommodation wherever possible,whether that be new affordablehousing, the private rental market orhome ownership. This person-centredapproach creates housing pathwaysthat will enable prosperity, createconnections and instil confidence,providing every Queenslander withthe opportunity to fully participate insocial and economic life and breakthe cycle of intergenerational poverty.

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The Mayes Place Tenant HubThe Department of Housing andPublic Works is supporting localresponses that make a difference foryoung people living in publichousing. The Mayes Place TenantHub (the Hub) in Logan supportsplace-based service delivery whichaims to improve tenants’ health andwell-being and create opportunitiesfor them to connect with their localcommunity. Almost half of the153 residents are under the ageof 25, with some of these youngpeople having families of their own.

The Hub’s focus on service outreach,engagement with tenants andresidents, maintenance and securityimprovements and collaborationwith local community agencies issupporting tenants and their familiesto access opportunities to achievegreater economic, social andcultural participation.

The Hub has commenced over40 different activities, linked with15 local community agencies,including employment and training

events, a street library, an ediblegarden and a Wheel of Wellnessprogram. An employment andtraining program, run by YFS,connects tenants to volunteering,barista training and numeracy,literacy and computer skills, as firststeps to obtaining paid work.

The Hub’s operation will bereviewed after 12 months todetermine the impact and outcomesthis program generates for theyoung people participating in it.

Social Bonds forYouth HomelessnessThe Queensland Treasury

The Queensland Government hascontracted with Churches of Christ inQueensland to address youthhomelessness through the YouthCONNECT Social Benefit Bond (SBB).An SBB (or SIB: social impact bond) isan innovative approach to resolveintractable social problems, involvinggovernment, non-governmentorganisations, and private sectorinvestors. At the time of writing,Social Finance reports that 89 socialimpact bonds have launchedinternationally, with a further 70 indevelopment.1

Youth CONNECT aims to supportyoung people aged 15 to 25 yearswho are exiting or have exitedstatutory care and are homeless or atrisk of homelessness. Throughout theprogram, clients will have access tosuitable accommodation and beencouraged to pursue educational,employment, and personaldevelopment opportunities.

ContextYouth homelessness is a complexissue, and demands a multifacetedresponse. In 2015–16, 8,711 clientsaged 15 to 24 years were providedspecialist homelessness services inQueensland.3 Of young peopleexiting statutory out-of-home care inAustralia, around one in fourexperience homelessness.4

The Youth CONNECT SBBcomplements and expands upon theexisting provision of housing andhomelessness services in Queensland,including, for example, Youth Foyers,and supports the objective of theQueensland Housing Strategy2017–2027 that ‘every Queenslanderhas access to a safe, secure andaffordable home that meets theirneeds and enables participation inthe social and economic life of ourprosperous state.’ 5

In practice, Youth CONNECT isexpected to assist vulnerableyoung Queenslanders identifysuitable pathways to independencewhile embracing education andtraining opportunities. Importantly,the SBB enables a person-centredresponse to addressing youthhomelessness. Underlying YouthCONNECT is a ‘housing first’approach which Churches of Christin Queensland notes ‘gives peoplethe safety and security of a home,providing the stable base theyneed to address other aspects oftheir lives.’ 6

During the six and a half yearprogram (commencing in 2017),

around 300 young people areexpected to participate in theprogram, across South-EastQueensland and Townsville. TheDepartment of Housing and PublicWorks will coordinate referrals intothe program, which fall into one oftwo cohorts:

young people aged 15 to 18 years•

exiting the child protection systemwho have had four or moreplacementsyoung people aged 15 to 25 years•

exiting the youth justice system,adult corrections system, or incontact with homelessnessservices, and who have pastexperience with the childprotection system.

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Homeless or at risk of homelessness

Contact with the child

protection system

Youthjustice

supervision

Figure 1: Cohort identification

The selection of these cohorts isintentional (see Figure 1). Two-thirdsof homeless young people have priorplacement in out-of-home care.7

Moreover, young people accessingspecialist homelessness services andchild protection services are morelikely to have mental health issues,drug and alcohol issues, and/or beexperiencing domestic and familyviolence.8 Similarly, young peoplewho have also been under a youthjustice supervision are more likely toneed assistance withsocial/behavioural problems, and bemost likely to experience multipleepisodes of homelessness.

Investment MechanismThe Youth CONNECT SBBrepresents a Payment by Outcomes(PbO) arrangement, whereby theQueensland Government providesfunding to Churches of Christ inQueensland upon achievement ofmeasured and verified outcomes.Youth CONNECT relies on upfrontfunding of $5 million through theissuance of a social benefit bond toexternal investors, who will receive afinancial return and capitalrepayment contingent on theprogram demonstrating success.The Queensland Government is notresponsible for the issue of anyfinancial products issued inconnection with this program nor forany investment in them.

For Youth CONNECT, success isdefined by a client maintaininghousing stability and participating ina combination of education,employment, and personaldevelopment activities.

The introduction of paymentsconditional on performance is a keyto incentivising effective servicedelivery and driving social change.Higher performance means higherpayments, and lower performancemeans lower payments. The SBBinvestment mechanism — one formof impact investment — is emerginginternationally as a new approach toaddressing complex social issues, asit encourages innovation in servicedelivery and taps into a broadprivate capital market. In Australia,in the area of homelessness, theNSW Government has announcedthe Foyer51 SBB and theGovernment of South Australia, theAspire SIB.

A general consensus has arisen acrossthe domestic and international impactinvestment community that there isextensive capital ‘on the table’ but alack of investment opportunities. Inthis way, the QueenslandGovernment’s Social Benefit BondsPilot Program has impacted the localmarket. Even so, SBBs may not suit alltypes of services or organisations andconsideration is needed as to whetherthis specific investment tool is the rightone under particular circumstances.

Social Benefit BondsPilot ProgramThe Youth CONNECT SBB is one ofthree SBBs delivered by theQueensland Government, throughQueensland Treasury’s Social BenefitBonds Pilot Program. The other SBBs— Newpin QLD and Youth Choices —focus on issues facing Aboriginal andTorres Strait Islander People and youthreoffending, respectively. For Newpin,the primary outcome sought is thesafe reunification of children who areliving in out-of-home care to theirfamilies. In Queensland, Aboriginaland Torres Strait Islander children arenine times more likely to be subject toprotective orders than non-Indigenouschildren. For Youth Choices, theprimary outcome sought is a reductionin reoffending behaviour of youngoffenders aged 10 to 16 years.

The pilot program was announced inthe 2015–16 State Budget, intendedto enhance the current serviceoffering and deliver broad socialbenefits to the community. TheQueensland Government initiated anintensive procurement process in late2015, including market soundingevents, expressions of interest,requests for proposal, and a jointdevelopment phase for each of three

proposals. The signing of the YouthCONNECT SBB in June 2017 markedthe contracting of the third SBB,following the signing of the NewpinQueensland and Youth Choices SBBsin March 2017 and May 2017,respectively.

The market sounding process (Juneto November 2017) signalled theQueensland Government’scommitment to extensive stakeholderengagement throughout theprocurement process. Engagementactivities ranged from individualface-to-face meetings withgovernment agencies,non-government organisations, peakbodies, financial service providers andother jurisdictions, to an inclusiveopen-invitation market soundingdiscussion forum (there were 85attendees representing 43 differentorganisations). These interactionswere essential in gauging marketinterest and expectations, definingand refining social problems suitablefor an SBB-funded intervention, andfostering positive workingrelationships between (traditionally)disparate groups (e.g., serviceproviders and potential investors).From these sessions, respondentsexpressed the strongest interest in ahomelessness bond.

During the formal procurementprocess of each bond (from originaltender submission to contractexecution), the role of the QueenslandGovernment was not to prescribe aservice, but rather to understand theefficacy of the service in achieving thedesired outcomes (applying a Theoryof Change logic), and to negotiatepurposeful outcome metrics on whichpayments would be made. With asingular focus on the outcome,

The State of Queensland

Government

Churches of Christin Queensland

Service Provider

Social Outcomes Westpac

Intermediary

External Investors

Investor

Figure 2: Youth CONNECT SBB

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proponents were offered flexibility indeciding how to achieve the outcome.Unlike traditional procurement ofsocial services, the pilot programdemanded extensive rigour inproblem identification and outcomesdefinition and measurement.Accordingly, a deliberate shift in the‘payment point’ from activities andoutputs to outcomes challengedservice providers, governmentagencies, and investors alike.

For the Youth CONNECT SBB, theQueensland Government undertookextensive consultation with seniorrepresentatives of Churches of Christin Queensland (service provider), andSocial Outcomes and WestpacBanking Corporation (intermediaries)(see Figure 2).

While day-to-day service deliveryresponsibilities rest with a serviceprovider, it does not mean thatgovernment remains passive. Notingthe proposed cohort for the YouthCONNECT SBB, the Queensland

Government will actively refer clientsacross multiple governmentdepartments, and closely monitorperformance of Youth CONNECT todeliver measurable positive outcomesfor young people participating in theprogram. This accountabilityframework is common across all SBBs.

The finalisation of the YouthCONNECT SBB was borne out of apartnership between the Departmentof Housing and Public Works andQueensland Treasury, and reveals thevalue of working together acrossgovernment to achieve positiveoutcomes for the community. Similarefforts were demonstrated for theNewpin QLD and Youth Choices SBB(involving various departments). Thecollaborative approach undertakenby the Queensland Treasury for allthree SBBs was externally endorsedthrough the SBB Pilot Programreceiving the ‘Best Cross-FunctionalTeamwork Project’ at the CIPSAustralasia Conference and SupplyManagement Awards 2017.

Endnotes

1. Social Finance 2017, Impact Bond GlobalDatabase,http://www.socialfinance.org.uk/database/.

2. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare2016, Specialist Homelessness Services2015–16: Qld supplementary tableCLIENTS.1, Canberra.

3. Johnson G et al. 2010, Pathways fromout-of-home care, AHURI Final ReportNo. 147, Australian Housing and UrbanResearch Institute, Melbourne.

4. Department of Housing and Public Works2017, Queensland Housing Strategy2017–2027, Brisbane.

5. Churches of Christ in Queensland 2016,Submission to Queensland Government’sHousing Strategy.

6. MacKenzie D et al 2016, The Cost ofYouth Homelessness in Australia:Research Briefing, http://www.csi.edu.au/research/ project/cost-youth-homelessness-australia-final-report/.

7. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare2016, Vulnerable young people:interactions across homelessness, youthjustice and child protection — 1 July 2011to 30 June 2015, Cat no. HOU 279,Canberra.

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Lockhart river family Photo provided by the Queensland Department of Housing and Public Works

Youth Homelessnessin QueenslandDarren Young, Queensland and Northern Territory State Director, Mission Australia

Homelessness can be an isolating,destabilising and often traumaticexperience. For children and youngpeople, whose development is notyet complete, homelessness can beparticularly devastating and its effectslong lasting.

As an organisation focussed onreducing homelessness andstrengthening communities, atMission Australia we are passionateabout preventing and addressingyouth homelessness not only for theimmediate consequences but alsobecause we know that once a youngperson becomes homeless they aremuch more likely to experiencehomelessness again later in life.

With education disrupted and nostable home address, young peoplewho become homeless have a greaterlikelihood of leaving school early andsignificantly higher unemploymentrates than their peers. They lack socialsupports and are at an increased riskof mental illness. The personal andcommunity costs of youthhomelessness are unacceptably high.

At last count, there were more than44,000 children and young peopleexperiencing homelessness inAustralia and census data due later

this year is likely to show that this hasincreased. However, the census datadoes not capture everyone. Many ofthe young people who are spendingtime away from home, often stayingwith family or friends ‘couch surfing’,would not be included and actualnumbers are likely to be much higher.

Mission Australia’s YouthHomelessness Report shows that upto one in seven young people inQueensland could be at risk ofhomelessness, which is in line withthe national picture. Of the 4,109young Queenslanders whoresponded to our Youth Survey in2015, 13.6 per cent or 517 youngpeople had spent time away fromhome in the last three years becausethey felt they could not go back.

Of these young people, around85 per cent spent time away fromhome on more than one occasion,with around a quarter having spenttime away from home more than tentimes. Eight of these young peoplewere away from home for longer thansix months. These young peoplespending frequent and lengthyperiods of time away from homebecause they felt unable to returnmay be at an increased risk ofnormalising their experiences away

from home and falling into moreentrenched homelessness.

As expected, there are clear linksbetween family relationships and therisk of a young person becominghomeless. Over half (52 per cent) ofthe young people who spent timeaway from home reported either apoor or fair relationship with theirfamily, compared to just 13.8 per centof young people who had neverspent time away from home becausethey felt like they couldn’t go back.

Our data also shows that youngpeople who had to spend time awayfrom home were much more likely tobe concerned about family conflict,depression, coping with stress andsuicide.

There are also clear links betweenmental illness and risks ofhomelessness for young people. TheYouth Mental Health andHomelessness Report highlights thatyoung people with a probable seriousmental illness are three and a halftimes more likely to have spent timeaway from their home and nearlytwice as likely to have spent timeaway from home on six or moreoccasions compared to their peers.

The link between homelessness andmental illness among young peopleworks in both directions, as youngpeople who are experiencing mentalillness are at increased risk ofhomelessness, while those who arehomeless are at increased risk ofmental illness.

While there are significant problemsthat need to be addressed, the goodnews is that there are solutions thathave proven to have an impact.

We have called on all governments tocommit to halving youth

85

homelessness by 2020 and thecurrent negotiations on the NationalHousing and HomelessnessAgreements are a great opportunityfor the states and the Commonwealthto set clear targets for reducinghomelessness.

In order to achieve this target wemust act early and address the issuesthat lead to young people leavinghome. We need to actively buildstrong family relationships, ensureschools are equipped to identifystudents who may be in need ofsupport and provide targeted supportand early intervention when it isneeded. Addressing the risk-factorsthat lead to homelessness, includingmental illness, can prevent a youngperson from having to experiencehomelessness.

In Toowoomba and on the GoldCoast, Mission Australia runs theFederally Funded Reconnectprogram. We work with young peopleand their families to reduce long-termrisks of homelessness. To ensure earlyintervention, our Reconnect serviceon the Gold Coast has embeddeditself in local schools to identify youngpeople needing support beforeproblems escalate. The service formspart of the schools’ wellbeing teamand also provides workshops for

students and parents in surroundingschools.

Reconnect has a strong focus onbuilding and enhancing familyrelationships. Michael* was referred toReconnect by his school GuidanceOfficer, who noticed he was strugglingto make positive friendships withother students. Michael’s parents hadseparated some time ago and thatwas having an impact. The programintroduced Michael to new strategiesto help him communicate with hisparents, teachers and fellow students.He also took part in individual andgroup activities outside of school,such as walks, bike riding and ten-pinbowling, to help build his confidencein social settings. His parents werealso supported in building betterrelationships with Michael and withthe school.

Michael’s relationships with hisparents have improved and hecontinues to live with both parentsweek on week off. Importantly,Michael’s self-confidence improveddramatically. He established positivefriendships and approached his youthworker in person to inform that hewas happy and felt that he no longerrequired support. Support from theyouth workers was reduced fromweekly to fortnightly meetings, then

ended when it was clear Michael wasno longer in need of ongoingsupport.

Assisting young people to stay athome whenever possible is vital,however that will not be possible foreveryone. Providing housing that isappropriate and affordable for youngpeople is also necessary when it is notsafe or appropriate for the youngperson to live with their family.

In addition to direct prevention andearly intervention, we need increasedinvestment in social and affordablehousing and supportedaccommodation models for youngpeople. When a young person has asafe and secure home, this provides afirm foundation from which they cangrow and thrive. It allows them tobuild strong social relationships andto study, learn a trade or embark ontheir chosen career.

An increasingly common model ofsupported accommodationinternationally and in Australia is theYouth Foyer approach. This modelassists young people, usually agedbetween 16 and 24, to engage ineducation and employment andgradually to reduce their dependenceon social services. Youth Foyersgenerally have self-containedaccommodation, on-site supportworkers, education programs,variable levels of support where ayoung person can progress to moreindependent living, onsite facilities(for example health services) andsocial enterprises where youngpeople who live there gainemployment experience (such as acafé). Participation in education,training and employment is acondition of the accommodation. Inthese ways and because of their focuson independence, Foyers aredifferent from traditional supportedaccommodation models.1 Youth Foyermodels are yet to be fully evaluatedin the Australian context but offergreat prospects in helping youngpeople transition to independence.

The Queensland Housing Strategy2017–2027 includes a commitment tobuild two new youth foyers on theGold Coast and in Townsville, toprovide housing for young peopleexperiencing homelessness or at riskof becoming homeless, and supportthem to achieve independence. This

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Photo provided by Mission Australia

is a welcome advancement inreducing youth homelessness. We arealso pleased that the Strategycommits to young people in publichousing having greater capacity topursue education, training andemployment opportunities and socialand economic participation.

There is no one-size-fits-all approachthat will work for every young personexperiencing or at risk ofhomelessness. Supportiveaccommodation is also needed forthe most marginalised young peoplewho are not ready for thecommitments of the Youth Foyerapproach, particularly those withalcohol and drug problems, mentalhealth issues and contact with thecriminal justice system. These youngpeople will need intensive casemanagement supports, to respond tothe trauma and hardship of theirexperiences.

With that in mind, we welcome theQueensland Housing Strategycommitment to improved access tosafe and secure housing options forhighly vulnerable young peopleexiting from out-of-home care andinstitutional settings, to support theirtransition to independence. There arealready some good models inpractice that could be expanded andreplicated to meet this objective.

Out of Community Care in Cairns is aresidential program operated byMission Australia for young peopleaged 12 to 17 years with complexsupport needs. We care for up to 12young people a year, with four in eachhouse, and provide an environment

that supports the young person in theiradolescent development as analternative to family based care. Ourteam of experienced workers providecare for 24 hours a day, every day ofthe year, and referrals to this programare through the Department of ChildSafety’s Placement Management Team.

We know young people who haveexperienced out of home care are atheightened risk of homelessness.Specialised programs such as thisone can prevent homelessness whenexiting care by providing moreintensive supports to meet theyoung person’s needs in a person-centred way. There may be manyother issues to work through beforethe young people are ready tocommit to a path of educationalengagement or employment ina Foyer.

The Queensland Government’sHousing Strategy takes some positivesteps towards preventing andaddressing homelessness for youngpeople. However, there is still morethat can be done at both the stateand Commonwealth level to providesupport services and housing toyoung people who need them.

While the States provide many of theservices and programs required, theCommonwealth has many of thelevers that could address housingaffordability and provide some relieffor young people at risk ofhomelessness due to financialpressures. Youth Allowance, Newstartand Commonwealth Rent Assistanceneed to be reviewed and raised toadequate levels so that young peoplecan meet their housing costs andother basic costs of living.

It will take action at all levels ofgovernment to ensure that the onein seven young people at risk ofhomelessness are supported, safelyhoused and do not becomeentrenched in homelessness inlater life. The current negotiationson the National Housing andHomelessness Agreements are thetime for strong commitments bythe Queensland and theCommonwealth government.

Endnote1. O’Shaughnessy M 2015, Somewhere to

stay: models addressing youthhomelessness, accessed January 2016,https://www.churchilltrust.com.au/media/fellows/OShaughnessy_Molly_2014_Somewhere_to_stay.pdf

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Photo provided by Mission Australia

Photo provided by Mission Australia

Youth CONNECT: BuildingResilience to Homelessness inYoung PeopleLeanne Rutherford, General Manager, Children, Youth and Families, Churches of Christ inQueensland

Young people leaving statutory careand transitioning to independenceare among the most vulnerable anddisadvantaged groups in our society.This is evidenced through nationaland international research thatconcludes that this group aresignificantly more likely to experiencehousing instability or homelessness,be unemployed and earn lowerwages, have poorer educationaloutcomes (including early schoolleaving), be involved in the criminaljustice system, experience poorphysical and mental health, and haveissues with substance abuse.1 Whilethe high vulnerability of young careleavers is clearly documented andunderstood, the critical resources andsupports needed to significantly

improve life outcomes and changethe trajectory for this particular groupof young people are historicallylimited and somewhat disjointed.

Churches of Christ in Queensland hascontracted its first social benefit bond(SSB) with the QueenslandGovernment. A Social Benefit Bond isan outcomes-based arrangementinvolving the government, privateinvestors and a service provider.2

Through this strategy, Churches ofChrist in Queensland (CofCQ) will bedelivering the Youth CONNECTprogram addressing the area ofhomelessness specifically for youngpeople who have, or are, transitioningfrom statutory care. Westpac BankingCorporation (Westpac) has partnered

with Social Outcomes to supportChurches of Christ in Queensland, byraising $5 million from privateinvestors to contribute to the YouthCONNECT program in Queenslandover six and a half years.

The CofCQ Youth CONNECTprogram is the first social benefitbond in the world to tackle the issueof homelessness, experienced by asignificant proportion of youngpeople transitioning from statutorycare to independence and adulthood.While they may face the prospect ofmany poor outcomes, there are alsosignificant opportunities to interveneearly and turn the course of theiryoung lives around.3 Youth CONNECTwill engage with young people and

88Photo provided by Churches for Christ in Queensland

support them to build the capacityand resilience they need to create astronger future for themselves and, inturn, help build a better future for thecommunity as a whole.

By definition, resilient individuals areconfident; they are better able toactivate their own strengths and callon personal resources in times ofstress or when faced with adversityand are less affected by negativeinfluences.4 In the context of theYouth CONNECT program, resilienceincludes the measure of positivepersonal resources available within anindividual to support the maintenanceof safe and stable housing, includingpractical life skills, moneymanagement, engagement ineducation, positive social/communityconnection and self-advocacy.

The Youth CONNECT program hasbeen developed based on researchand evidence relating to this group ofyoung people, with the support ofinternal and external professionalexpertise and practice wisdom,particularly from the University of theSunshine Coast. This knowledge andevidence base provides thefoundational program componentsthat are considered essential toeffecting sustainable and long-termpositive change in the lives ofvulnerable young people.

The Youth CONNECT program hasbeen developed with a ‘housing first’approach, and combined with equalemphasis placed on supportingyoung people to develop keyresilience factors of education,employment and communityconnection to successfully changetheir trajectory to achieving sustained‘homefulness’. This is supportedthrough the delivery of acomprehensive case managementframework focusing on therapeuticand practical strategies and actions tobuild resilience factors evidenced tosignificantly improve life outcomesand sustain long-term health andwellbeing well into adulthood, whilereducing the risk of futurehomelessness.5

Young people participating in theYouth CONNECT program will have arange of multiple and complex needs,will have been in the out-of-homecare system, will be (or be at risk ofbeing) homeless, and require

intensive support to increaseresiliency factors for improvedlife-long wellbeing and decrease therisk of current and futurehomelessness. Participants willengage in the program for up tothree years, be supported with accessto safe, affordable and stablehousing; education, training andemployment opportunities; willdevelop formal and informal supportnetworks and engage in personaldevelopment activities such asparenting, mental health and drugand alcohol programs.

For young people accessing YouthCONNECT the development ofresilience to homelessness will bedemonstrated through the followingkey indicators:

maintaining safe and stable•

housingparticipating in work-readiness,•

educational engagement andqualificationsemployment stability•

undertaking personal•

development activity engagementfor improved health, wellbeingand social connectedness.

Over the six and a half year period ofthe bond, Youth CONNECT willengage 300 young people aged 15to 25 years who have been inout-of-home care and are at risk ofhomelessness. The program willcommence at the end of 2017 toimprove housing pathways to eligibleyoung people in the surroundingareas of Townsville, Logan andIpswich.

Endnotes

1. Cashmore J and Paxman M 1996, Wardsleaving care: A longitudinal study,Department of Community Services,Sydney; Crane P, Kaur J and Burton J 2014,Homelessness and leaving care: theexperiences of young adults in Queenslandand Victoria, and implications for practice,Homelessness Research Collaboration,Department of Families, Housing,Community Services and IndigenousAffairs, Canberra, ACT; Mendes P 2009,Young people transitioning from state out-of-home care: Jumping hoops to accessemployment, Family Matters, no.83,pp.32–38. Retrieved from Young peopletransitioning from state out-of-home care:Jumping hoops to access employmentMontgomery P, Donkoh C and Underhill K2006, Independent living programs foryoung people leaving the care system: Thestate of the evidence. Children and YouthServices Review, no.28, pp.1435–1448.Retrieved from https://www.spi.ox.ac.uk/uploads/tx_oxford/files/Independent livingprograms for young people leaving thecare system — The state of theevidence.pdf.

2. Queensland Treasury 2017,https://www.treasury.qld.gov.au/growing-queensland/social-benefit-bonds-pilot-program/

3. Gaetz S and Scott, F 2012, Live, Learn,Grow: Supporting transitions to adulthoodfor homeless youth, a framework for thefoyer in Canada, The homelessness hubreport series, report no 10.

4. Stein M 2005, Resilience and young peopleleaving care: Overcoming the odds, JosephRowntree Foundation York, UK.

5. Bromfield L and Osborn A 2007, ‘Gettingthe big picture’: A synopsis and critique ofAustralian out-of-home care research, ChildAbuse Prevention Issues No. 26, AustralianInstitute of Family Studies, National ChildProtection Clearinghouse Melbourne,Retrieved from http://www.aifs.gov.au/nch/pubs/issues/issues26/issues26.html.

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Photo provided by Churches for Christ in Queensland

Sustaining Young Tenancies:An Innovative Program toPrevent HomelessnessDr Nicola Brackertz, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) and Adam Barnes, Brisbane Youth Service

How can we better sustain thetenancies of young people living insocial housing?This was the question posed byBrisbane Youth Service (BYS), andsocial housing providers from theUnder 1 Roof consortium in 2015.Housing providers were clear thatthere was a gap in the servicesystem regarding support foryoung tenants in social housing.They believed young people’stenancies were at greater risk offailure than other cohorts overall,putting young people at increasedrisk of homelessness, andsuggested that the perceivedlikelihood of tenancy failurenegatively affected allocation ofavailable properties to youngpeople.

BYS established a working groupconsisting of Bric Housing,Brisbane Housing Company, andThe Department of Housing andPublic Works (HPW), as well as TheDepartment of Communities andthe Queensland University ofTechnology. This group metregularly over a period of fourmonths, providing advice andfeedback regarding availablepractice evidence and frameworksto inform service model design. InDecember 2016 BYS submitted aproposal to HPW focused onimproving outcomes for youngtenants. Tenancy sustainment andHousing First principles werecentral to the proposal.

In August 2016, the pilotSustaining Young Tenancies (SYT)project was funded by HPW. Thefirst tenant was referred andsupported in September 2016.Program design and developmentcontinued alongside tenancysupport, in an environment ofpractice reflection and learning.

How is SYT different from otherservices?

SYT offers housing specificsupport to young people oncethey have achieved a socialhousing tenancy. This sets SYTapart from most other services,which focus on getting youngpeople into housing, but offerlittle housing related supportthereafter.

Collaborative, transparent andnon-adversarial partnershipsbetween SYT and housingproviders lie at the heart of themodel. Housing providersinformed the service modeldesign by identifying what workswell or otherwise when workingwith support agencies. Theyidentified frustration with whatthey experienced as previousadversarial relationships withsupport agencies, as well as poorcommunication, and supportperiods being closed prematurely.

The relationship triangle betweenyoung people, housing providersand SYT is the shared space thatis critical to continued positivetenancy outcomes. From housingproviders’ perspective, a lack ofengagement from young peopleand limited life skills oftencontribute to tenancy failure. SYTsupport facilitates young people’sengagement with housingproviders, educates them abouthousing processes (such asinspections and reviews), teachesthem about tenancy rights andresponsibilities as well asproviding practical support inother life domains. The goal isthat ultimately young people willbe able to navigate on their ownbehalf as regards their housingand other systems.

What are the core elements ofthe SYT model?

IntegrationThe SYT model invests heavily inthe partnership between supportstaff, young tenants and housingproviders. A collaborativeframework needs to be deliberatelyactioned day to day to reinforceand strengthen project integration.

Referral, service delivery tools andshared housing and supportprotocols help to enable awrap-around approach and keepeach party connected to theobjective of sustaining tenancies.The scope and complexity of thework requires consistent andtransparent communicationstrategies to identify issues andprogress toward solutions.

Strategies that support regular andpurposeful communication withthe relevant housing provider havebeen key to the program’ssuccess. A shared housing andsupport plan is developed andreviewed via regular engagement,with roles for young people,support providers and thelandlord, as needed.

Early InterventionEarly intervention prior to housingcrisis offers the best opportunityfor sustained tenancy outcomes.SYT actively encourages housingproviders to refer young peoplefrom sign up, regardless ofpresenting indicators. Initially,referrals were few and at the crisisend of the spectrum. It took sometime to establish trust withreferring agencies and to promotethe activation of early interventionreferrals at sign up or beforebehaviour agreements, notices toremedy or to leave.

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Housing providers can find itchallenging to identify potentialtenancy issues prior to the tenancybeing at risk. Tenancy management isoften structured around respondingto breaches of a tenancy agreementso that the landlord will simply not beaware of potential issues until ayoung person is experiencing housingcrises. Referral of young people whoare already at immediate risk ofeviction can limit availableinterventions to support tenancies toend well and divert exits to chronichomelessness.

Mobile SupportSYT provides assertive, outreachbased support to tenants. Casemanagement is focused on facilitatingyoung tenants’ experiential learning.It occurs alongside young people intheir homes and as they negotiate thesystems most important to theirsuccess. Mobile support allows staffto work with young people as theytransition between tenancies as wellas to participate in education andtraining, and formal (for example,specialist mental health) and informal(for example, sporting clubs) supportnetworks.

BrokerageBrokerage is critical for this targetgroup. Young people often begintenancies without capacity to managethe financial costs of their tenancy,including furnishing their property,paying essential bills or buying food.Brokerage assists with transition fromcrisis to stability, alongside plannedsupport. Brokerage also assists youngpeople to access education andtraining and other specialist services ifrequired, including medical andmental health services.

Needs based supportSupport periods ending prematurelycontribute to tenancy failure. SYTprovides support in accordance withneeds and strengths of youngpeople, allowing for flexible supportthat focuses on outcomes rather thannumber of support periods(throughputs).

Planning for independenceSYT has a focus on ensuring thatyoung people transition and exit fromthe program well, continue to be ableto sustain their tenancy and do notbecome homeless. If a young personis unable to sustain their tenancy,

wherever possible, SYT works toensure they have other appropriatehousing.

Tenancy outcomes are affected byoutcomes across psychosocialdomains in a young tenant’s life,including social connection,relationships, health and wellbeing,and the ability to navigate systems.The SYT team has recordedsignificant improvements in youngpeople’s tenancy outcomes alongsidepositive changes in their mentalhealth, wellbeing and relationships.Sustaining tenancies has involvedstrengthening young people’s abilityand confidence to manage futurecrises without formal support. Forsome, this involves facilitating youngpeople’s improved connection andimproved skills to self-manageinformal supports

Transitions focused work takes time tomanifest results and can bechallenging to deliver. The SYT teamassists young people to considerchanges they have made, every sixweeks. A standardised tool guidesthe reviews, which are facilitatedinformally. These tools assist to keepthe work focussed and clearlyunderstood. This helps the youngperson to acknowledge the changethat they are achieving over time andprepare for independence fromformal support.

The SYT project has established toolsto support the case managementprocess with young people andhousing partners. A screeningassessment and progress reviewshave been integrated into casemanagement practice, providing thebackbone for shared housing andsupport plans. The tools help youngpeople to set goals and acknowledgethe change that they have made.They also enable housing providers toinform and acknowledge progressfrom their perspective. Housingproviders offer regular feedback ontheir assessment of how the tenant isgoing at that point in time.

Working alongside young peopleSYT’s approach to working with youngpeople is a critical success factor inthe program.

SYT is a voluntary service; thisdifferentiates it from other servicesand empowers young people, manyof whom have previously onlyexperienced mandated services andcase management. Young peopleinterviewed for the programevaluation have indicated that SYTbeing voluntary gives them a sensethe service is there for them andworks to support their best interests.This contributes to young people’spositive attitude towards SYT and itscase workers and facilitatesengagement.

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Photo provided by Brisbane Youth Service

SYT employs a holistic and relationalapproach to working with YP, with astrong focus on guiding therapeuticrelationships and role modelling. Keyelements in the working relationshipbetween SYT and YP are persistence,reliability, intimacy and respect.Young people interviewed for theevaluation frequently identified theirrelationship with the SYT workers asone of the best aspects of theprogram, as it gave them someonetrusted to turn to for the advice andsupport that was generally lacking intheir lives.

The vast majority of tenants who arereferred to SYT are enthusiastic aboutreceiving support. For some, areferral initiated by their landlord, orshame about the state of their

tenancy can be obstacles to beovercome. SYT uses a model ofpersistent and respectful outreach.This is a critical success factor inengaging young people either atintake or when they disengage fromthe program.

SYT uses a model of casemanagement which is strengthsfocused, goal directed and regularlyreviewed. Regular review of caseplans against goals allows support tobe responsive to young people’schanging needs. Regular review ofgoals and progress allows youngpeople to reflect and acknowledgetheir progress and growth helps themto take responsibility for their actionsand the solutions to the challengesthat present in their lives.

Outcomes AchievedEarly findings from an evaluation ofthe SYT program, which is currentlyunderway, indicate that as a result ofworking with SYT, housing providersare more likely to allocate housingto young people. The majority ofyoung people are now referred toSYT at intake into housing or at thefirst sign of trouble, facilitating earlyintervention.

At 12 months of operation,91 per cent of young peopleparticipating in the SYT projecthave sustained their housing orhave moved to more appropriateaccommodation; they haveimproved their communication withhousing providers; have increasedconfidence in their abilities tomanage their housing and lives; andare better able to navigate thesystem. At the end of the supportperiod with the SYT programhousing providers rated 77 per centof young people’s tenancies as‘doing great’ or ‘doing well’. Thosewho noted concerns and gavelower ratings indicated that theoverall situation was generallybetter than it could have beenbecause of the SYT programinvolvement.

As part of a psychosocial evaluationwhen finalising support, SYT youngpeople identified most change inthe areas of life skills, mental andemotional wellbeing and in meetingbasic needs (housing and financialstability). These were closelyfollowed by improved connectionwith formal or informal supportsand participation in employment,education, other meaningfulactivity. Young tenants identifiedthe following aspects of SYT asmost helpful to them: learningabout tenancy; learning tonegotiate systems; mobile supportfrom workers; connection to othersand the professionalism of theprogram.

While it is too early to drawconclusions about the long-termimpact of SYT on outcomes foryoung tenants, the availableevidence indicates that SYT fills animportant gap in the delivery ofhomelessness prevention and earlyintervention services for youngpeople and contributes towardsbreaking the cycle of homelessness.

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Image provided by Brisbane Youth Service

We are not all the same:Exploring Differencein Young People’s Experiences ofCouch Surfing Versus Sleeping RoughRhianon Vichta and Katie Hail-Jares, Brisbane Youth Service

‘Couch surfing is usually the start tothe slippery slope of youthhomelessness’ 1

Recent surveys of young Australiansshow more young people couchsurfing than ever before, although notall classified themselves as homeless.2

Envisioning couch surfing as a form ofextended sleep-over with a friend hascontributed to the perception thatcouch surfing is a secondary andpotentially less concerning form ofhomelessness;3 or even not a form ofyouth homelessness at all.4

While young people couch surfingmay experience a degree of instabilityor reduced comfort, the assumption isthat it is considerably safer andhealthier than sleeping rough. Thereis considerable research that supportsthe highly negative impacts of roughsleeping including violence, poorphysical and mental health, socialisolation, substance abuse andjuvenile crime.5, 6 When framed bythat research, couch surfing seemslike the preferable option, promotingless risk and less exposure to harm.

But does couch surfing live up to thisassumption? Commonly referred to as‘hidden homelessness’,7 couch surfingis seen as a type of secondaryhomelessness in census data andother homelessness definitions.8 Todate, there has been a considerablelack of research on couch surfing andlittle attention given to understandinghow the experiences of couch surfingyouth differ from other homelessyoung people, specifically thosesleeping rough.9

Here, we share the preliminaryfindings from a comparative analysisof Brisbane Youth Service (BYS) clientdata collected at intake and exit fromsupport. Analysis is focussed on thequestions:

How do rough sleeping youth•

differ in terms of demographicsand personal histories from otherhomeless young people?How do couch surfing and rough•

sleeping youth differ from eachother?How does housing status impact•

engagement with services?

In the 2016–17 year, 808 clientrecords were coded for statisticalanalysis. Bivariate statistical analysisallows researchers to know if thedifferences between two groupsarose by random change or becauseof a factor of interest (such as housingstatus). Of those 808 participants, 105(13 per cent) were sleeping rough and226 (27.8 per cent) were couchsurfing. We first compared eachgroup of interest to all others andthen ran an additional analysis to lookfor differences between these twogroups.

Analysis showed a number of keyemergent themes:

Young women are significantly morelikely to be couch surfing and lesslikely to be sleeping rough.Within the whole sample, female-identifying young people accountedfor just over half (53.8 per cent) of allyoung people seeking BYS support,however almost 70 per cent of thosecouch surfing identified as femalecompared to just 40 per cent ofyoung people who are roughsleeping.

LGBTIQ+ young people are less likelyto be sleeping rough than their cis orstraight counterparts and are slightlymore likely to be couch surfing.Nearly a quarter (23.5 per cent) ofyoung people who come to BYSidentify as LGBTIQ+. Among thosesleeping rough, though, theproportion of LGBTIQ+ youth drops

to 17 per cent. Comparably, amongcouch surfers, the proportionincreases to 26 per cent.

Reported drug use is about the samebetween couch surfers and youth whosleep rough.Contrary to popular stereotypes, onlyslightly more rough sleepers reporteddrug use in the past three monthscompared to those who were couchsurfing (55.1 per cent vs.45.1 per cent). Those sleeping roughreported similarly elevated rates ofinjecting drug use (45 per cent vs.35 per cent). Compared to all otheryoung people, though, rates ofsubstance use among youth who weresleeping rough were higher. Youngpeople who were sleeping rough alsoreported significantly higher rates oftobacco use (81 per cent) comparedto all other participants and couchsurfing young people (63.9 per cent).

Young people who are sleepingrough are more likely to identify theircurrent substance use as a problem.While drug use rates themselves weresimilar, 29 per cent of youth who weresleeping rough said their currentsubstance use was a problemcompared to less than a fifth(18 per cent) of couch-surfers. Yetnearly identical proportions of bothgroups (48 per cent of couch surfersand 50 per cent of those who sleeprough) reported that their substanceuse had been a problem in the past.

Young people who were couchsurfing rated their mental health morepoorly than all other participants andmore poorly than young roughsleepers. When presented with ascale ranging from very poor (one) tovery good (five), couch surfers, onaverage, rated their mental health ata 2.6, compared to an average of 2.8overall. Remarkably, mental healthratings by young people sleeping

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rough were at 3.1, higher than therest of the young people coming toBYS, as well as higher than those whocouch surf. Furthermore, couchsurfers were significantly more likelyto have attempted suicide orexperienced suicidal ideation in thepast (39 per cent) compared to roughsleepers (28 per cent). Though notstatistically different, they were alsomore likely to report a history ofself-harm (14 per cent vs.11 per cent).

Though not statistically different,couch surfers tended to have contactwith BYS services less often thanyouth sleeping rough.Couch surfers accessed BYS serviceson average 15 times between2016–2017, compared to 21 times foryouth who identified that they weresleeping rough at intake. With 15

annual visits, couch surfers have oneof the lowest engagement rates of allyouth; only young people currently inan institution or in stable private orpublic housing had lower rates ofcontact with BYS.Young people who were couchsurfing at intake reported morepositive housing outcomes when theyexited from services.Tracking down homeless youngpeople to measure their outcomesafter accessing support is inherentlycomplex and challenging.10

In 2016–17, outcomes were able tobe measured for 40 per cent of youngpeople who disengaged from support(206 individuals), and closure rateswere statistically equivalent for youngpeople who were rough sleeping(64 per cent) and those who werecouch surfing (71 per cent). Wherehousing outcomes were able to be

measured, couch surfers tended tohave more stable, independent andlonger term accommodation.19 per cent of young people couchsurfing moved into a private rental,14 per cent into community/publichousing, 10 per cent were living inshared or student accommodationand 31 per cent moved to live withfamily. Just 7 per cent were continuingto couch surf and 5 per cent hadconverted to sleeping rough.Conversely, among young peoplewho were sleeping rough at intake,10 per cent were continuing to sleeprough after accessing support, usuallybrief support only, and 15 per centhad begun couch surfing. A similarproportion of young people movedinto community/public housing(12 per cent), however only one youngperson who was sleeping rough wasable to secure a private rental, and

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%

Sleeping Rough BeforeCouch Surfing Before

Intitution

Privaterental

Homelessnessaccommodation

Family

Shared/studentaccommodation

Public/communityhousing

BoardingHouse

CouchSurfing

SleepingRough

2%

10%

13%

14%

3%

4%

14%

12%

12%

2%

23%

31%

15%

8%

13%

6%

0%

6%

Housing Outcomes (% of young people assessed)

Figure 1: BYS Outcomes Data 2015-2017: Housing Outcomes for Young People Couch Surfing vs Sleeping Rough at Assessment.

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the most common outcome was foryoung people sleeping rough tomove to live with family (35 per cent).

Application to ServiceContrary to common perceptions,couch surfing does not appear to bea substantively ‘healthier’ option formany young people. The high ratesof suicidal risk, low self-assessment ofmental health and lower likelihood ofidentifying a current substance abuseissue (despite similar rates of use)among couch surfers are red flags forservice providers. Together theyindicate that this living situationshould not be seen as a preferable oracceptable ‘stop gap’ form ofaccommodation, but rather should beconsidered a differently, but still as asubstantially disadvantaging form ofhomelessness.11

At this point, we can only theoriseabout the reasons for the differences.It may be that more vulnerablegroups of young people tend tocouch surf rather than sleep rough. Itmay also be that the couch surfingexperience impacts on mental healthin ways that are not the same forthose who are sleeping rough. Inmany ways, our preliminary findingssupport a harm reduction approachto working with different forms ofhomelessness.

Young people should be recognisedas active agents in their own lives,and in some circumstances, thepsychological aspects of sleepingrough may be a preferred alternative,for some young people, to thestresses of negotiating a couch tosleep on, or the influencing impact ofthe other people living in thosehouseholds.

Furthermore, the lower levels ofservice engagement among couchsurfers may indicate that they areeither less likely to self-identify as inimmediate need of homeless support,or may be inadvertently regarded byworkers as being a lesser priority forhomelessness intervention.Consideration should be made ofsector and professional language thatincludes couch surfing as a form ofproblematic homelessness. With ourresults suggesting that traditionallyvulnerable populations, such asLGBTIQ+ youth and young womenhave higher rates of couch surfing,

targeted service responses to thesepopulations is especially crucial.

Further research is stronglyrecommended to better understandthe subjective experiences of youngQueenslanders in the context of theirdifferent homelessness experiencesand pathways.

Endnotes

1. This quote was part of a 2013 SalvationArmy campaign to raise awareness aboutyouth homeless. See coverage of the event here:http://www.bluemountainsgazette.com.au/story/2545029/couch-surfing-the-start-to-homelessness/

2. Terui S and Hsieh E 2016, ‘Not HomelessYet. I’m Kind of Couch Surfing’: FindingIdentities for People at a Homeless Shelter,Social Work in Public Health, vol.31, no.7,pp.688–699.

3. McLoughlin P J 2013, Couch surfing on themargins: the reliance on temporary livingarrangements as a form of homelessnessamongst school-aged home leavers,Journal of Youth Studies, vol.16, no.4,pp.521–545.

4. Curry S R, Morton M, Matjasko J L,Dworsky A, Samuels G M and Schlueter D2017, Youth Homelessness andVulnerability: How Does Couch Surfing Fit?,American Journal of CommunityPsychology, vol.60, no’s.1–2, pp.17–24.

5. MacKenzie D, Flatau P, Steen A andThielking M 2016, The cost of youthhomelessness in Australia research briefing,Australian Policy online: http://apo.org.au/system/files/53029/apo-nid53029-75531.pdf

6. Larsen L, Poortinga E and Hurdle D E 2004.Sleeping Rough: Exploring the DifferencesBetween Shelter-Using and Non-Shelter-Using Homeless Individuals, Environmentand Behavior, vol.36, no.4, pp.578–591.

7. McLoughlin P J 2013, op cit, p.521.

8. Mackenzie D and Chamberlain C 2008,Youth homelessness in Australia 2006Hawthorn, Counting the Homeless 2006Project, retrieved from:https://www.dss.gov.au/ sites/default/ files/documents/05_2012/youth_homelessness_report.pdf.

9. Curry S R, et al 2017, op cit.

10. Vichta R 2017, Why is it so hard? TheChallenges of Collecting YouthHomelessness Outcomes Data, Parity,vol.30, no.3, pp.24–25.

11. McLoughlin P J 2013, op cit.

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Brisbane street art

The Recovery Orientation Model in Action:How Meaningful Change Can, and Does,Happen for Homeless Young PeopleJacqui de la Rue, Brisbane Youth Service

A wide set of sector reports (forexample, Australian Institute ofHealth and Welfare National Reports2013,1 2014 2) all suggest that mentalhealth has become a central healthissue for Australians, aged 12 to 25.Much of these reports do not addresshomelessness, but the followingpoints from the 2013 National MentalHealth Report,3 are important to thecurrent discussion about howhomeless young people accessservices:

Young people were less likely than•

other age groups to seekprofessional help; only 31 per centof young women and 13 per centof young men with mental healthproblems had sought anyprofessional help;Young people are most likely to•

talk to friends or family membersas the first step in seeking support,and finally;Young people experienced•

multiple barriers to accessinghealth care, including negativeattitudes of staff towards youngpeople, and anxiety andembarrassment about disclosingpersonal issues.

Homeless young people face theseexact same issues, and experienceadditional concerns, includinginvolvement with multiple servicesectors, living with significant mentalhealth conditions, substance misuse,and exposure to trauma and violence.This is reflected in the Cost of YouthHomelessness in Australia Study 4

which compared the quality of life ofyouth who were identified ashomeless, with those who werehoused. Their results found that:

63 per cent of the homeless youth•

who were surveyed had beenplaced in some form ofout-of-home care by the time thatthey had turned 1853 per cent reported that they had•

been diagnosed with at least onemental health condition in theirlifetime39 per cent reported police•

coming to their home because ofviolence between parents on oneor more occasions, with14 per cent experiencing policecoming to their house more thanten times.

Given these complex and interactingissues, innovative mental health

approaches are needed to increaseaccess to services that are timely,appropriate, youth-friendly,affordable, and support meaningfulrecovery.

The purpose of this paper is todiscuss the Recovery OrientationModel, used in an on-site counsellingservice for homeless young peoplewho experience a dual diagnosis(meaning a mental health concernand a substance misuse issue). Resultsdemonstrate that young peopleexperienced individual levels ofchange (as measured through theDASS-21, K-10, and a suite of drugand alcohol measures), but foundmaintaining change very difficult. Thispaper suggests that youth basedmental health approaches need toinclude clinical indicators of change(such as reduced depression andanxiety) as well as addressing theimpact of social determinants ofhealth (such as housing, gainingmeaningful employment, andimproved access to services).

The concept of recovery became thebench-mark standard for Australiannational mental health policies in

Principle 2 —Real choices

(based on the strengthsthat are already there)

Principle 1 —Outcomes that are

unique to the person(young people decide on themost relevant goal for them)

Principle 3 —Attitude and rights

(what is importantto the young person)

Principle 5 —Strengths-based partnership

(YP — life expertPractitioner — expertise,

knowledge and skills)

Principle 4 —Respectful engagement(taking their concerns seriously)

Principle 6 —Evaluating change

(Use qualitative and quantativemeasures to track how change

happens)

Figure 1: The Recovery Principles in PracticeReference: The national framework for recovery-orientated mental health services: A guide for practitioners and providers, 2013.

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2013, resulting in the National MentalHealth Recovery Frameworkpublications.

The key idea is that recovery can, anddoes, happen,5 and that rather thanbeing a logical progression throughset stages, recovery is an individualjourney,6 and is not concerned withachieving a certain state of being‘recovered’.

In practice, the recovery model is anover-arching framework with sixpractice principles (see Figure 1) allfocused upon valuing the livedexperience of the person, and thegeneration of recovery-based goalsthat is meaningful and relevant to theperson.

For young people then, recovery isabout taking control of their own livesand nominating goals that may, ormay not, be related to traditionalclinical indicators of ‘wellness’.7 Thatis, young people may not nominaterecovery goals that practitioners wantthem to, or expect them to. Table 1demonstrates this reality for homelessyoung people referred to the on-sitecounselling service at Brisbane YouthService (BYS). Although dual diagnosiswas evident in 95 per cent of all of thereferrals to the program (n=458), only35 per cent actually nominatedalcohol and drugs as the main reasonto seek counselling. Instead, youngpeople nominated multiple reasons

(75 per cent nominating five or morereasons for referral), and selected:ways of coping better (85 per cent),depression and anxiety (75 per cent),relationships (70 per cent) and dealingwith anger (60 per cent) as morerelevant that alcohol and drugs(35 per cent). In fact, all of the issuesare inter-related, and ultimatelydemonstrates how living with a dualdiagnosis impacts wellbeing on manylevels.

For service providers, the recoveryapproach is about working from astrengths-based collaboration, andresisting the urge to pathologiseyoung people.8 The framework doesthis by shifting the therapeutic focusaway from asking young peoplewhat is wrong with them (themedical model), to asking what hashappened to them. Hence thepractice style is more respectful,non-judgmental, free of jargon, andcarries a sense of hope that changecan occur for a young person —despite what has happened to them.

So how does this frameworktranslate into observable servicedelivery outcomes, and how doeschange actually occur? Figure 1showed that measurement ofchange using a combination ofevidenced-based tools (such asthose found in CognitiveBehavioural Therapy, or Acceptanceand Commitment Therapy), andqualitative measures (such as theMost Significant Change Story) isparamount to tracking progress.

Of the 458 young people referredto the BYS counselling service (seeTable 1), 221 engaged in on-goingand regular therapy over 12 to 18months. Depression Anxiety andStress (DASS-21) scores revealedthat young people reportedreduced depression and anxiety,

Table 1: The Referral Trends to BYS on-site counsellingservice, for dual diagnosis (n=458, 2012-2017).

Reason for referrals Key referral combinations (by gender)

Alcohol and drugs (35 per cent)Dealing with anger (60 per cent,)Feeling better about myself (30 per cent)Goal setting for the future (70 per cent)Relationships (70 per cent)Depression and anxiety (75 per cent)Ways of coping better (85 per cent)

How many options did young peopleselect at referral?

one option: <5 per cent (n=23)•

2-4 options: 20 per cent (n= 92)•

5-7 or more: 75 per cent (n=343)•

Females(n= 247, 54 per cent):Relationships, Goal setting,depression and anxiety; ways ofcoping better, feeling betterabout myselfMales(n= 196, 43 per cent):Dealing with anger, feelingbetter about myself, ways ofcoping better, goal setting.Transgender(n=15, <3 per cent):Ways of coping better, dealingwith anger, feeling better aboutmyself, relationships, goalsetting.

Brisbane street art

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however, no reduction was notedon the stress scale (which containitems about responding tosituational anxiety). These resultssuggest that individual changeswere in-fact subject to on-goingstressors found in the externalenvironment (for example, ‘I am stillhomeless’ or ‘I am still in thatdomestic violence relationship’).The Most Significant Change (MSC)approach was then used to helpidentify how change happened foryoung people, and in whatsituations or contexts.

So, while this evidence shows thatfor 20 per cent of young peoplefound change difficult, the other80 per cent of young peoplereported improvements in theirthinking, feeling, problem solvingabilities and their sense ofself-awareness (see Figure 2).

In conclusion, it seems fitting toconclude this paper with quotesfrom young people who received arecovery-based service:

‘I’ll be honest, I did not want tocome to see the Psych’s here. Butthen I noticed some of my mates,and the changes they made. So Isaid I’ll only go once. That was ayear ago. I’m still coming along.It wasn’t as bad as I thought itwould be.’

— M, ATSI, 22

‘[This has] helped me with myproblems and provided me withsomeone I could talk to. Theytook what I said seriously. I feltheard.’

— F, 16

Endnotes

1. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare2013, Alcohol and other drug treatmentservices in Australia: 2012–2013, Drugtreatment series, No. 24, AustralianInstitute of Health and Welfare, Canberra.

2. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare2014, Alcohol and other drug treatmentservices in Australia: 2012–2013, Drugtreatment series, No. 21, AustralianInstitute of Health and Welfare, Canberra.

3. Department of Health and Ageing 2013,National Mental Health Report 2013:Tracking progress of mental health reformin Australia 1993–2011, Commonwealth ofAustralia, Canberra.

4. McKenzie D, Flatau P, Steen A andTheilking M 2016, The cost of youthhomelessness in Australia: ResearchBriefing, Report prepared by Swinburne

University Institute for Social Research, theUniversity of Western Australia, CharlesSturt University, the Salvation Army, MissionAustralia, and Anglicare Canberra andGoulburn.

5. Gordon S and Ellis P 2013, Recovery ofevidenced-based practice, InternationalJournal of Mental Health Nursing, vol. 22,pp. 3–14.

6. Drake R and Whitley R 2014, Recovery andsevere mental illness: Description andanalysis, Canadian Journal of Psychiatry,vol. 59, no. 5, pp. 236–242.

7. Shera W and Ramon S 3013, Challenges inthe Implementation of Recovery-OrientedMental Health Policies and Services,International Journal of Mental Health,vol.42, no’s 2 and 3, pp.17–42.

8. Gordon S and Ellis P 2013, op cit.

Table 2: The lived experiece of how change happens for young people

Change scale (N=221) Change story title (MSC) quotes by young people

I did not make the change 20 per cent ‘I thought change would be easier’

‘It might be bad for me, but [drugs] help me cope’

‘When I’ve sorted out [other things], I will deal with the drugs’

I changed for a few weeks/months 15 per cent ‘My friend kicked his/her habit, why didn’t I?’

I made the change, but I don’t always stick to it

40 per cent ‘I have some relapses, I’m still learning all this new stuff.’

I made the change, <6 months ago, sticking to it

20 per cent ‘I tried it out, I didn’t get it all right, and I learnt as I went on’

I made the change, >6 months ago, sticking to it

5 per cent ‘I kept it up, I gave myself permission to fail and then keep going.’

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Much betterImprovedThe same

Coping

Emotions

Thinking

Solveproblems

Self aware

0.8

6.7

2.5

1.6

6.1

4

1.6

7.5

3

3.3

6.1

2

2

4.4

3

Figure 2: How change happened

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On the Road toIndependenceKylie Dodds, Children, Youth and Families, Churches of Christ Care

What happens to a young personwho has become homeless becausethey are escaping family anddomestic violence and family andrelationship breakdown? Whathappens to youth ageing out of fostercare?

The ability to begin livingindependently at a young age withlimited life skills and resources ischallenging to overcome for youngpeople. However, with stablesupported accommodation, youngpeople can begin to build afoundation towards independence.

Churches of Christ Housing Services(CofCHS), Ipswich Independent YouthServices (IIYS) and the Department ofHousing and Public Works (DHPW)created and piloted the ‘SupportingPeople in Share Housing (SPin)transitional program in early 2015.

The SPin model was a local responsein the Ipswich Local Government Areathat addresses the barriers faced byyoung single people on low tomoderate incomes including; lack ofrental history, the concerns andperceived risk to private landlords ofleasing to young people and the lack

of one bedroom housing stock in theIpswich area.

CofCHS’ manages the houses under aunique rent-setting model whichentails three separate young peoplerenting under individual tenancyagreements in the one house. Theyeach pay a weekly fixed rent thatincludes utilities and service charges(that is, electricity, gas and internet).The rent is set at a rate that canattract the maximum possibleCommonwealth Rent Assistance(CRA). This model achieves bothaffordability for the young people and

Photo provided by Churches for Christ Housing Services Ltd

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financial viability for the communityhousing provider. This unique modelenables the young people to providea rental history to meet future privatelandlord criteria and the housingprovider is able to recoup operatingcosts. The inclusion of internet helpsthe young people to budgeteffectively and provides them withincreased disposable income thantraditional rent models due to theability to attract CRA. The fixing ofrents ensures that rents do not varywith increased income levelstherefore removing any disincentiveto youths to gain employment or savetowards the cost of private rental.

The SPin model provides a safe havenand home environment for youngmales and females aged between 16to 25 years with each propertyhousing up to three youths. Since itsinception, the pilot program hasexpanded from one to three homesand has assisted 18 young peoplewith 100 per cent of clients exiting tosecure and sustainableaccommodation.

Dean and Daniel are two of the manyyoung people CofCHS’ and IIYSsupport in their collaborative SPinprogram. SPin has enabled Daniel andDean a safe stable home combinedwith the support of experienced casemanagers to provide them with apathway to independence.

The partnership between CofCHSand IIYS is central to the success ofyoung people (like Dean and Daniel)overcoming barriers to independenceand realising their aspirations. Withassistance from the Department ofHousing and Public works, CofCHSprovide safe, affordable, transitionalaccommodation and IIYS provide thespecialist support services to helpyoung people get back on their feetand living independently. Taking aperson-centred approach, IIYS staffassess each person’s needs and thentailor services to meet those needs.The IIYS case manager’s and youngperson’s work together to developpersonal plans, providing the clientwith specific and manageable goalsto work towards.

At such a young age both Dean andDaniel’s family and living situationshad broken down and they didn’thave anywhere to go or did not feelsafe in the place they were staying in.They came to (IIYS) at different timesbut with the same need to find somestability and get support to startafresh.

Daniel moved from his smallhometown to Brisbane at the age of18. He lived with his grandfather fornearly two years and started studyinga course in digital media andinteractive gaming at Evocca College.However, when conflict started at

home, he decided to move out withfriends from college. They did notknow at the time but the primarytenant of the new property was adangerous addict. The stresses ofliving there were too much for Danielto attend college, as he would oftenstay awake all night fearing for hissafety. Through some old friends andcaseworkers, he eventually found IIYSwho offered him a safe place to liveand a new start.

Life had also been tough for Dean.He was only 11 when he left home.Dean constantly moved around andwas in and out of homelessness.

IIYS broker, monitor and support therelationships between the sharehouse members. Dean and Danielwere matched well to the sharehouse and making friends was easy.Dean says it only took an hour ofliving under the same roof beforethey became friends’. It is clear tosee what a great friendship Danieland Dean have formed — theybounce off each other inconversation and break out in fits oflaughter. They make a good teamand work in well together to ensurebills are paid on time and thehousehold chores and cooking isshared equally between them.

The SPin program is where Dean andDaniel’s lives are starting to take anew positive direction by providingthem with the guidance andopportunity to gain experience andskills to manage the pros and cons ofshare housing in a supportedenvironment. IIYS have supportedtheir transition into a new sharehouse arrangement in the privaterental market and the pilot programhas provided the young men with apathway out of homelessness.

With stable supportedaccommodation, Dean has been ableto address some issues, sort throughhis finances and is looking for work inthe hospitality industry as a bartender. Daniel has identified his keeninterest in pursuing a career inInformation and CommunicationTechnology and is working towardsfinalising a course in ICT. The IIYScase workers will continue to supportthe Daniel and Dean as theytransition to a private rental, helpingthem to take the steps towards thelives they deserve and aspire.

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Photo provided by Churches for Christ Housing Services Ltd

Creating Digital Pathways Out of Homelessness:Digital Technology Design for Young People,Wellbeing and Engagement with SupportRhianon Vichta, Brisbane Youth Service (BYS) and Dr Karleen Gwinner, Adjunct Research Fellow, Latrobe University, Health Sciences

Improving young people’sengagement with, and pathwaysthrough, the homelessness servicesystems is a priority for theQueensland youth and homelessnesssectors. Young people accessinghomelessness services are oftenhighly transient and theirengagement with support iscommonly unpredictable,opportunistic, sporadic andcrisis-driven. This can negativelyimpact homelessness serviceproviders’ capacity to provideconsistent support to enable youngpeople to achieve sustainable longerterm change. With the ever-increasingmigration of contemporary cultureinto the digital space, there is agrowing need to better understandthe potential role that onlinetechnologies such as interactive appsand websites can play in bothenhancing young people’sengagement with support and

promoting better wellbeing outcomesfor highly vulnerable homeless youngpeople.

As early adopting and frequent usersof web-based technology, youngpeople see the internet as a valuablesource of help and information.1

Nascent research supports the use ofdigital technology (digitech) topromote young people’s health andwellbeing.2 Apps and internet sitesthat support self-tracking of dailyactivities and goals are evidenced topromote empowerment and moreactive engagement with wellbeing inthe broader population.3 Mobilephone based technologies have beenfound to be particularly effective foryoung people experiencing mentalillness.4, 5 However, we know lessabout how digitech can be used withand by young people who arehomeless for physical and mentalhealth and wellbeing. The

homelessness sector, and particularlyyouth homelessness services, need tolearn more about the role digitechplays in vulnerable young people’slives, and how we, as serviceproviders, can potentially useinformation and communicationstechnology to achieve betterengagement and more effectiveoutcomes.6

In a recent service user consultation,BYS asked young people about howthey currently use digital technologyin relation to their own wellbeing.Through a creative visioning processthe consultation examinedinnovative approaches to usingtechnology to promote youthwellbeing, how young people useapps and websites for their ownbenefit, and explored ways toimprove their connection withsupport when they need it. A seriesof interactive workshops, with

Figure 1. What is wellbeing — visual and text based interpretations from workshop participants

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twenty young people aged 16 to 25years old, yielded insight into thetype of commitments and practicesthat may enable meaningfulengagement with ‘at-risk’ youngpeople in future development ofdigital technology support tools.

Insight into young people’sperspectives of wellbeingemphasised, unsurprisingly, thatbeing homeless directly impactedtheir capacity to access resources to‘be well’; and that addressing theimpact of homelessness was ‘reallyimportant for your wellbeing — like tobe clean, having clean clothes, food,sleep, medical attention’.7 Youngpeople understood wellbeing as ahuman right, in that they had a rightto the basic necessities in life thatunderpin wellbeing. Recognising thatyoung people who experiencehomelessness are highly likely to have

been exposed to disenfranchisement,inequity and injustice, the participantsparticularly emphasised the criticalrole that a sense of fairness and beingtreated with respect played in bothexperiencing wellbeing, as well as, intheir engagement with supportservices. The centrality of respect,integrity and self-determinationoffered a different perspective to thedominant wellbeing frameworksadopted in youth services andliterature.8, 9 Respect, integrity andself-determination were consistentlyconveyed as themes into youngpeople’s actual and potentialengagement with technology.The findings of this researchemphasised the need to centretechnology design around structurallyand procedurally supportingrights-based principles asfundamental to young people’swellbeing and responses to the tools.

The basic principle of respectingyoung people’s rights and autonomyextended into a clear need for designflexibility to allow young people toself-define and evolve their ownwellbeing goals and interactions withsupport through technology. Findingsfrom the consultation clearly showedthat young people’s conceptualisationand enactment of wellbeing waspotentially contradictory. Youngpeople described happiness, healthand safety as all fundamentallyimportant elements of wellbeing.However, their chosen pathways tohappiness did not always align withhealth or even safety (Figure 1).

Young people’s drive for happinessmay potentially result inhomelessness and compromisedhealth. While there is researchhighlighting the weak and sometimescounterintuitive relationships between

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an individual’s objective lifeconditions and their subjective senseof well-being,10 service providers donot usually think of young people’sgoals as conflicting. That is, thatprogress in one aspect of wellbeingmay be associated with loss ordecreases in others. Where theirgoals in relation to change were notcompatible, young people were clearthat they needed to be free to choosetheir own pathway and not be boxedinto imposed or adult perspectives onwhat they ‘should’ be doing.Technology design needs to,therefore, be flexible enough to allowyoung people to creatively expressand navigate their own individualisedself-identified priorities. Thiscontra-indicates the format ofself-tracking against pre-set orpre-determined wellbeing goals.

The integration of digital tools thatpromote youth wellbeing and supportthe effectiveness of worker–youngperson support processes shouldreinforce interactions that extendtenets of self-determination and theyoung person’s control. It should benoted that self-determination doesnot equate to self-help. To satisfyself-determination principles youngpeople require access to informationto be informed, to opportunities forlearning and to participate in ongoingdialogues. They need to besupported in choosing and attaininggoals, and young people identify theimportant role played by relevant andencouraging feedback.

Young people in the consultationstrongly affirmed that engagementand support through digitech mustprimarily be built on trustedpersonal interactions. This wasparticularly important for use ofdigital tools in homelessness servicedelivery. Young people wanted toknow that they could use apps ortools to communicate with someonethey knew, and who knew their story.Online privacy was acknowledged asimportant and necessitated knowingthey had a trusted relationship withthe workers who sit behind the appor website to support theirwellbeing and housing needs. Whileyoung people’s capacity for agency,self-care and joint responsibilitywere prioritised, these were in thecontext of a critical need to buildand have a meaningful and trustedrelationships.

It could be argued that worker andagency support is of utmostimportant when there is limitedstable healthy parental (or carer)involvement in the young person’slife and in which they do not havethe social capital scaffolding(intimacy and belonging) associatedwith family. This provokes aconclusion that digital technologydesigned to be used by highlyvulnerable homeless young peoplecan be used to enhance but, notreplace personalised support. Digitaltools must be designed to be anindividualised personal dialoguethat sits within a therapeuticrelationship, as opposed to being awidely disseminated source ofgeneric or standardised advice orinformation.

Overall the findings from theconsultation indicated that the designand integration of digital tools shouldbe simple, engaging, creative andthrough multi-modal interactiveplatforms, available both online andoffline. When embedded within anestablished therapeutic relationship,an app or website can facilitatecreative self-development andenhanced pathways ofcommunication with trusted support.Further exploration of intentionallyintegrating inter-sectoralcollaboration is recommended tochallenge traditional boundaries ofservice delivery and increase thepotential reach of young people’snetworking, knowledge production,conversations, and innovativeexpression. Digital strategiessupported through inter-sectoralnetworks could potentially crossboundaries to enhance protectivefactors, increase access to resources,build awareness, support advocacy,and provide practical ways for youngpeople to exercise control, expressionand choice for their wellbeing. Thismay require agencies and services tothink differently about how they canshare and expand resources and openup new opportunities to engage withyoung people across varied sites.

There is a clear need foropportunities for young peoplethemselves to engage with supportand enhance wellbeing throughonline pathways that allowself-expression to flourish in thecontext of client-led informationsharing platforms. This requires

thinking ‘youthfully’ about howinformation and communication canmeaningfully be exchanged in adigital space, beyond basic referralpathways and generic, broad scaletips or information.

The full consultation research report isavailable at http://brisyouth.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/YouEngageTechnical-Report_Final.docx

Endnotes

1. Mission Australia, in association with BlackDog Institute 2015, Young People’s MentalHealth over the Years: Youth Survey 2014,Mission Australia, Sydney.

2. Boydell K M, Hodgins M, Pignatiello A,Teshima J and Willis D 2014, UsingTechnology to Deliver Mental HealthServices to Children and Youth: A ScopingReview, Journal of Canadian Academy ofChild and Adolescent Psychiatry, vol.23,no.2, pp.87–99.

3. Charlesworth K, Jamieson M, Butler C Dand Davey R 2015, The future healthcare?,Australian Health Review, no.39,pp.444–447.

4. Forchuk C, Reiss J, Eichstedt J, Singh D,Collins K, Rudnick A, Walsh J, Ethridge P,Kutcher S and Fisman S 2016, The Youth-Mental Health Engagement Network: AnExploratory Pilot Study of a Smartphoneand Computer-Based Personal HealthRecord for Youth Experiencing DepressiveSymptoms, International Journal of MentalHealth, no.45, pp.205–222.

5. Blanchard M 2011, Navigating the DigitalDisconnect: Understanding the Use ofInformation Communication Technology bythe Youth Health Workforce to ImproveYoung People’s Mental Health andWellbeing, Journal of Adolescent Health,vol.48, no.2, p.83.

6. Blanchard M, Metcalf A, Degney J,Herrman H and Burns J 2008, Rethinkingthe Digital Divide: Findings from a Study ofMarginalised Young People’s ICT Use,Youth Studies Australia, vol.27, no.4,pp.35–42.

7. Gwinner K, Melrose P and Moffatt A 2017,Digital Wellbeing, Youth EngagementConsultation Project: Technical Report.Brisbane, Australia, Kids Helpline, andBrisbane Youth Service, doi:10.13140/RG.2.2.27148.92805, p.51.

8. Australian Research Alliance for Childrenand Youth (ARACY) 2013, Report Card: theWellbeing of Young Australians, retrievedfrom: http://www.aracy.org.au/projects/report-card-the-wellbeing-of-young-australians

9. Sharma R 2017, Global Youth WellbeingIndex, Retrieved from:http://www.youthindex.org/ sites/ default/files/ 2017-Global-Youth-Wellbeing-Index.pdf

10. Sagiv L and Schwartz S H 2000, Valuepriorities and subjective well-being: directrelations and congruity effects, EuropeanJournal of Social Psychology, no.30,pp.177–198.

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The Ethical Dimension ofFundraising in theHomelessness SectorLaura Watson, Brisbane Youth Service

Is there ever truly an ethical way ofpresenting someone’s suffering andmisfortunes?

When speaking for others, sharingand ‘benefiting’ from someone’sown words, what ethicalguideposts should we navigate by?

There is ongoing debate regardingthe appropriate representation ofrecipients in charity campaignmaterials that are intended toaccurately define and representsocial problems while alsomaximising fundraising success.Discomfort at the use of potentiallyexploitative images and narrativeslay at the heart of this debate. It isnot uncommon for those workingclosely with vulnerable people tobe concerned about the use oftheir clients’ personal stories forfundraising purposes. Even where aperson is happy to have theirexperiences shared, it can stillmake others feel uncomfortable.

The issue for professionals taskedwith both accurately depicting theissues around homelessness (orother social issues) and generatingsufficient philanthropic sentimenttowards those in need, is that aperson’s decision to make a gift is,above all else, an emotional one.The proof is in the science. Ourbrains are biologically wired toprocess the concrete — that is,people, not statistics. People giveto people not to organisations orprojects. While we understand andvalue statistics to measureoutcomes and success, they maynot touch on our emotions enoughto make us want to give. Therefore,if you are not targeting donors onan emotional level then you are notraising as much money as youcould, and in turn, doing adisservice to those whom your

organisation exists to serve.Research has shown that peopledonate more when they canidentify with one person in need asopposed to reading huge abstractnumbers of the overall scope of theproblem.1

People connect with a cause andidentify with individuals throughstorytelling — it is the single mostpowerful communications tool wehave available. Stories make ourcause relatable, tangible andtouching.2 So, how do we tell greatstories in a way that does notexploit the hardships experiencedby vulnerable client groups withinthe homelessness sector?

We need to ask ourselves, not onlywhether a communication strategy‘works’ for fundraising, but alsowhether we are empoweringsomeone by helping them tell theirstory, rather than objectifying andfurther marginalising them on apublic scale. As charities are oftenthe prime mobilisers of theunderstanding of many socialissues, it is important for ournarratives to enhance rather thandamage the public’s understandingof the issues around homelessness,and their perceived ability to makea difference in the lives of thosewho are at risk or experiencinghomelessness.

One UK study explores the views ofyoung people experiencinghomelessness regarding therelated images and stories thatappeared in major charitycampaigns aimed at raising moneyto fund homelessness services.3

The study found that the youngpeople, insofar as it does not affectthe financial bottom line, wouldprefer the use of storytellingtechniques that explain how

recipients come to be in a positionof need and how they can turntheir lives around. The studydiscovered that they prefer the useof images and narrative that elicitfeelings of empathy rather thanmerely sympathy, and they hopefor marketing that generates agenerous response as a result ofrecognition of common humanityrather than through emotions suchas guilt or pity.4

Maybe then, the challenge forfundraisers in the sector is to evokeemotion in donors withoutnecessarily centering a campaignmessage on the most distressingand upsetting aspects of the livesof those we support. It is aboutartfully weaving positive elementsof hope, courage and resilienceinto the stories we share with oursupporters. Compelling, authenticstorytelling and providing donorswith an insight into the lives ofthose in which they hope to havean impact is crucial to maximisingfundraising success. Being able todo so in a respectful way thatprotects people’s dignity is the keyto remaining on the right side ofthat fine line between telling agood story and exploiting thehardships and adversities of avulnerable client group.

Endnotes

1. Kogut T and Ritov I 2005, ‘The ‘identifiedvictim’ effect: an identified group, or just asingle individual?’, Journal of BehaviouralDecision Making, vol.18, no.3, pp.157–167.

2. Network for Good 2014, Storytelling forNonprofits, Network for Good, WashingtonDC, (eBook) p.3.

3. Breeze B and Dean J 2012, ‘Pictures of me:user views on their representation inhomelessness fundraising appeals’,International Journal of Nonprofit andVoluntary Sector Marketing, vol.17,pp.132–143.

4. ibid.

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Creating Community: Developing aGroup Work Model for Young Womenwith an Experience of HomelessnessLaura Christie, Brisbane Youth Service Centre for Young Women

In response to a lack of safe spacesfor young women to both connectand access supports, Brisbane YouthService Centre for Young Women hasdeveloped a unique group programopen to women aged 12 to 25 yearswho have had an experience ofhomelessness. With the goal ofcreating a ‘community of intent’ thismodel draws from perspectives,frameworks and approaches such ascommunity cultural development,intersectionality and trauma-informedpractice.

Brisbane Youth Service Centre forYoung Women (CFYW) worksalongside young women aged 12 to25 years who are homeless or at riskof homelessness. Through atransitional housing program,outreach and centre-basedsupports, CFYW strives to meetyoung women ‘where they are at’and tailors individual support plansthat best suit each young woman’sself-identified needs.

Through our support work, weidentified that social isolation is a keyand recurring theme experienced invarying degrees by all young womenaccessing our program. As supportworkers we also acknowledge thatsocial connection is a major link insupporting young women throughhomelessness and a key elementneeded for an individual’s increasedsense of wellbeing and safety. Withthis knowledge in mind, consultationswith young women commenced andpaved the way for our group program— Connect, Create and Celebrate…

ConnectNot only connecting young womensocially, but connecting them throughtheir shared lived experiences ofmental health issues, drug andalcohol use, domestic, family andsexual violence and homelessness.

CreateCreating resources for young womenand for the broader community.Allowing space and time to learn newskills and participate in activities suchas photography workshops or yogaand mindfulness.

Celebrate:Working from strength-based andtrauma-informed approaches —providing space for women tocelebrate individual and collectiveachievements no matter how great orsmall.

Collective practice wisdom andextensive group work experiencewithin the team provided us with somedirection around ‘best practice’ groupwork approaches when working withyoung people, and in particular youngpeople who have an experience ofearly trauma and homelessness. This iswhere the concept of ‘purposefulinformality’ has proved a usefulframework for guiding our thinkingaround creating an appropriate groupwork space, understanding that moredidactic and worker-led approachescan hinder young people fromexperiencing meaningful connectionto facilitated groups.

As suggested by Laguerre,1

purposeful informality is at its coreinformality that is purposeful andplanned. This approach to workingwith communities seeks to breakdown class, ethnicity and genderbarriers, transforming members fromgroup participants to meaningfulmembers of an informal community.Purposeful informality appears tobenefit young women by allowingthem to build relationships within aspace that does not impose rigidstructures and rules and helps tofacilitate relationships that wouldusually occur in more natural socialenvironments.

This approach also grounds the groupinformally in the space, works throughchallenges of group processes andsupports the exploration of retaining‘humanness’ within groups that arecreated in organisational spaces.

An example of purposeful informalityat work is when the young womenattending our group program createdtheir own set of expectations orguidelines outlining what they needfrom their community here at CFYWto feel safe. They called the documentCreating Community and theircollective expectations are as follows:

not putting people down•

no judgement•

accepting other people•

don’t talk over each other•

what happens in group, or is•

discussed in group… stays ingroup!respect each other•

openness, honesty and trust•

listening to each other•

participation•

respecting what each woman•

brings including mood, children,pets etcshare personal experiences and•

offer support and safetydon’t leave people out —•

belongingacceptance and inclusion•

enjoy yourself!•

hope, faith and encouragement.•

This approach is also illustrated in thefollowing case study that describesone young woman’s experience ofconnecting in with group work here atCFYW.

Jacinta’s* storyJacinta, a young woman in her early20s, first connected with CFYW togain support around her experienceof domestic violence, poor mentalhealth including self-harming

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behaviours and a significant eatingissue. Jacinta has experienced earlycomplex trauma and abuse, and hasspent much of her young adult life inand out of hospital mental healthwards. Jacinta shared with her CFYWworker that she often felt sociallyisolated and without friends.

With the support of her worker,Jacinta was introduced to theConnect, Create and Celebrategroup. Initially Jacinta sat on theperiphery of group, quietly colouringin mindfulness mandalas and sittingalone. In line with the concept of‘purposeful informality’, group workat CFYW allows group members thetime and space they need to enterthe group at their own pace. Over ashort period of time howeverJacinta’s engagement in the groupbegan to shift.

We noticed that Jacinta began to joinconversations with other youngwomen and participate in activitiessuch as photography workshops anda picnic in the park. An important partof creating community is feeling asense of belonging and trust and thiswas highlighted when Jacinta startedsharing her own values, beliefs andideas around the oppression anddiscrimination that can occur withinsociety. As a result of Jacinta’sconnection to the group, friendshipsdeveloped that continued outside theCFYW context.

These friendships provided supportto Jacinta during times of hospitaladmissions and more broadly onnights out, weekends away and other‘usual’ social activities that youngpeople engage in.

Over the past six months’ manydifferent young women have attendedgroup; this aligns with the transientnature of youth homelessness andhighlights the importance of flexibleservice delivery that allows youngwomen to enter and exit the group asthey please. By providing a regularand ongoing safe place for youngwomen to connect, Jacinta reportsfeeling secure attending the groupregardless of what group membersare in attendance.

Centre for Young Women alsoborrows from the multifacetedapproach of ‘Learning by Observingand Pitching In’ (LOPI).2 Our group

work draws on the facets of LOPI inthe following ways:

Community organisation of learningYoung women play a pivotal role ingroup development, preparation andevaluation. Young women arewelcomed in and provided withopportunities to contribute accordingto their interests and skills. Space andtime is taken to reflect on what thegroup collectively and individuallyneeds.

MotiveThe inclusive nature of groupprocesses mean that young womenfeel valued, open to contributing andwanting to belong.

Collaboration and flexibilityPurposeful informality encouragesblending of ideas and values. Youngwomen are invited to participate anddirect the group at a level they feelcomfortable. Creating communitywithin the group setting encouragescollaborative engagement. Withflexible boundaries and ‘leadership’,young women walk alongside eachother in group processes.

Goals / transformational participationTransformational learning, increasedskills in empathy, responsibility andvaluing contribution leads to anincreased sense of belonging. Thereis a dual focus on contributing andbelonging to the group community aswell as gaining information and skills.

LearningYoung women share livedexperiences and peer support isinterwoven with a critical analysis ofwider social systems. The groupmakes connection to the ‘personal ispolitical’ and this process is facilitatedorganically by young women andgroup workers.

CommunicationCommunication is recurring theme inthe group’s Creating Communitydocument. Communication is alsocreated through shared narratives.Through this building of sharedlanguage young women areencouraged to take ‘leadership ‘roleswithin the group.

AssessmentAssessment focuses on an evaluationof the support provided. Evaluation iscollected through ongoing informal

feedback, revisiting creatingcommunity document and visionboarding.

Through Participatory Action Learningand evaluation processes youngwomen were supported to identifythe kinds of outcomes they hoped forthe group. Vision boards were utilisedto capture these outcomes and youngwomen articulated and expandedupon the following themes:

friendship•

connection•

learning•

support•

fun.•

After each group session, youngwomen were invited to add to thevisions boards a small reflection,picture, word or statement thatcaptured what they gained fromgroup that week. They then addedtheir reflections underneath theappropriate theme. For example, onthe ‘Connection’ board women haveposted reflections such as ‘embracingeach other’s company’, ‘acceptanceand acknowledging each other’sfeelings’ and ‘connection throughmutual personal experiences’.

These themes are revisited every fewweeks or as group members changeto ensure that the outcomes still fitwith the hopes of the group.

Group work and ‘creating community’is a fluid, ongoing and vibrantprocess. The needs of a group ofpeople are ever-changing and shiftingand so consistent assessment andevaluation is needed to ensurecohesion and meaningfulparticipation for all members. Thisresponsibility should not lie solelywith group facilitators or workers, butwith the group community as a whole.If there is a meaningful sense ofbelonging and engagement, then thisshould occur almost organically andhopefully young women can carry thisexperience of having positiveconnection with them into their livesand into their experiences in thebroader community.* Not her real name

Endnotes1. Laguerre M 1994, The Informal City,

Palgrave Macmillan, pp.18–19

2. Rogoff B 2014, Learning by Observing andPitching In to family and communityendeavours: An orientation, HumanDevelopment, no.57, pp.69–81.

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Using Art Therapy as a Tool forRelationship Management inSupported Residential Settings forHomeless Young PeopleKristin Penhaligon and Tara Harriden, Brisbane Youth Service

A large proportion of the work in aresidential supportedaccommodation program, isworking with young people to getthem ready to live independently.The young people have spentvarying amounts of time indifferent stages of homelessnessand many have a history oftrauma, abuse, neglect, mentalhealth issues (either theirs or theirparents’), substance use (theirs ortheir parents’) etc. As we cater foryoung people of all gendersbetween 15 and 18 years, thereare different levels of emotional/mental maturity, communicationskills, intellectual abilities etc.Having to meet new people, makefriends and integrate into anunfamiliar living environment canbe quite a daunting prospect forsome young people.

Young people who find themselves insupported accommodation, with ayouth worker present 24–7, often feelas though they have little control andhave been thrown into a space wherethey have to live with people withwhom they have nothing in common,except their experiences ofhomelessness.

Young people start on their journeywith us, learning the skills for startingand maintaining relationships,meeting people, initiating andcontinuing conversations andshowing a general interest andconsideration for others when living ina shared space together. All of thesefactors can contribute to whetherrelationships and/or the dynamic inthe house, flourish or not. Due to thetransient nature of young peopleaccessing our programs, young

people who stay here for longerperiods of time, or are repeat serviceusers, may have to meet and learn toget on with a number of varyingpersonalities throughout their stay.

We have been applying art therapymethods at various stages of ouryoung people’s stays with us to buildand enhance relationships — betweenthe young people living in the houseas well as between our young peopleand our youth workers. Art therapy isthe use of art-making as acommunication tool in settingsmediated by a professional arttherapist and it has developedsubstantially since its early days in the1940s. Art Therapy has been shown tobe an effective tool in the preventionand treatment of mental ill-health withmany different applications forenhancing wellbeing and self-esteem.

107Brisbane street art

There is ever-growing neuroscientificevidence to support claims that arttherapy can improve cognitive andsocial functioning for children, youngpeople and adults alike. There ismuch research to support earlytheories that art-making increasescognitive capacity, positive affect andfeelings of self-efficacy,1 lowersfeelings of anger 2 and even promotesself-control. In our residential settingwe have observed an ongoing levelof interest in generalised artpresenting the question… would arttherapy be a useful tool inrelationship management?

Many of our young people do nothave experiences of following rules,or sharing — they are quiteindependent and forthright and yetmany of them do have experience ofbeing protective of others, so canactually be quite supportive of oneanother when given opportunities todo so. We have found art therapy isvery useful in residential care settingsas it can be used for everything fromteaching and practising relaxationskills, to goal setting, to behaviourand relationships management, andcan be applied to working on issueswith individuals and/or groups. Oncethe art-making is complete, having anartefact to talk about often aidspeople in group settings and in one-to-one situations, to talk more openlyabout their feelings or mattersaffecting them by discussing thecreative piece and its symbolism —whether it is a drawing, sculpture,photograph or any other type of

creative work — rather than talkingdirectly about themselves.

With all this in mind, we recentlyoffered an art therapy session whereresidents from three differentsupported accommodation programscould meet to participate in CopticBook-Binding. Art therapy activitiescan provide a non-threateningopportunity for young people to getto know about one another and theiryouth workers, and to begin todiscover commonalities that will movethem toward feeling a sense ofbelonging and connection.

Participation in art can aidcommunication by reducing theawkwardness of conversations withothers through providing a thirdentity in the conversation for peopleto focus on. For example, sometimesyoung people are able to focus onthe art materials and process, thusavoiding the intensity of eye contact,for example, while discussingsensitive issues. As the two groups ofyoung people had not met previously,one of the aims of Coptic BookBinding art therapy activity was forthe young people to begin buildingrelationships with one another.

All young people required someone-to-one assistance from the arttherapist, and this attention heled tobuild self-esteem. Book-binding is noteasy, so most people had to ask forhelp from one another at some stageof the process — this is also animportant skill for our young people

to practice: asking for help andsupport when you need it. Youngpeople from two of our threeresidential supported accommodationprograms attended this book-bindingworkshop, with all participantscompleting the activity taking threehours in total, to complete a finishedpiece of work.

While art therapy usually privilegesthe process over the product, in thebook-binding workshop, one of theaims was for each of the youngpeople to leave with a journal theyhad each made for themselves. Thebook-binding activity was chosenparticularly because it would end witha definite product which meant theywere able to feel a sense ofaccomplishment and pride in havingmade their own book. They will feelthis sense of pride each time theywrite in their book, or show it toanother person.

Art therapy is currently being utilisedon a one to one basis with residents,as part of our evaluation processes tohelp capture most significant changestories, and in case reviews and groupwork. The goal is:

voluntary participation•

engagement in the processes (with•

each other and the worker)following key•

instructions/directionscomplete a finishing a piece of art•

reflective on their experience of•

the process/finished productobserving the dynamics between•

resident in a group setting.

The inclusion of art therapy into ourresidential program assists youngpeople with their emotionalregulation and encourages deeperreflective skills. We will continue totrial the use of various modalities ofart therapy to support ongoingrelationship management and youthparticipation to inform and enhanceour service delivery response.

Endnotes

1. Kaimal G and Ray K 2017, Free art-makingin an art therapy open studio: changes inaffect and self-efficacy, Arts and Health AnInternational Journal for Research, Policyand Practice, vol.9, no.2, pp.154–156. doi:10.1080/17533015.2016.1217248

2. Walsh D 2012, A sense-able approach toart therapy: promoting engagement for achild with developmental difficulties,ANZJAT: Australian and New ZealandJournal of Arts Therapy, vol.7, no.1,pp.26–41.Brisbane street art

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Breaking the Cycle ofHomelessness in NorthgateLaura Holdstock, Service Coordinator, The Lodge Youth Support Service Inc.

Youth homelessness services have anunparalleled opportunity to engagewith clients during a pivotal period ofgrowth and personal development.The type of contact young peoplehave with support services during thistime can significantly impact whetheror not a young person is equipped tosuccessfully transition intoindependent living. This is the beliefof The Lodge Youth Support ServiceInc, a youth shelter in Northgate,Queensland.

The Lodge is a not-for-profitorganisation providing 24-hoursupported care for young homelessand at-risk young people aged 16 to25 and has been providing services toyoung people experiencinghomelessness since 1972. The Lodgeaccommodates up to four young

people at any time within its main,suburban home setting, with anadditional single bedroom unitavailable for one young person.

The service is committed to providinga nurturing environment that fosters asense of belonging and assists youngpeople in their personaldevelopment, while facilitating theirparticipation in activities throughwhich the skills and resources forindependent living can be acquired.

Young people at The Lodge areencouraged to participate in a rangeof activities both at the service and inthe community, focusing on buildingskills in areas including cooking,nutrition, physical recreation,budgeting, managing relationshipsand time management. The program

is supplemented by regular individualcase management sessions in whichyoung people are encouraged toidentify personal goals regardingissues such as mental health,education and employment and arethen supported by youth workers toachieve these.

The Lodge has proven to yieldpositive results when it comes tobreaking the cycle of homelessnessby focusing on personal developmentand building living skills, with six outof eight residents moving on toindependent accommodation in thelast financial year. Additionally, manypast residents continue to seek andreceive support from the service aftertheir departure from the service, withfollow-up case managementoccurring on a needs basis.

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Case Study: TabethaTabetha was referred to the service byher high school at age sixteen afterrunning away from an inappropriatehome environment. She and herfamily had moved residences a totalof 43 times in her lifetime, her motherfrequently absent for long periods oftime, leaving Tabetha responsible forcaring for her younger brothers andas a result unable to attend school.

Speaking of her arrival at The Lodge,she explains the realisation of whatlittle she had — with no savings, nojob and only the essential belongingsshe was able to retrieve from herfamily home. She identified that shehad only learned the basic skills tosurvive and care for her siblings,cooked and ate mostly frozen meals,and had limited knowledge when itcame to tasks such as cleaning,budgeting and making appointments.

Tabetha immersed herself fully in lifeat The Lodge, learning how tosuccessfully complete these tasks andpositively engaging in the social sideof the service. She explains theopportunity to engage in recreationalactivities every weekend wasparticularly favourable given her lackof opportunity to do this previously.Like many residents, she describes thesocial aspect of ‘The Lodge family’ asinvaluable to her experience, knowingsupport and even just someone to talkto is always close by.

Tabetha resided at The Lodge for 12months, during which time shesuccessfully graduated from TheLodge’s living skills program andgraduated Year 12. Tabetha thentransitioned into The Lodge’sone-bedroom unit in the nearbysuburb of Nundah, where she was ableto put her newly acquired living skillsinto practice while still receiving thesupport of The Lodge. During her timewith The Lodge, Tabetha acquiredpart-time employment at a populartourist attraction and commenced adouble degree in Forensic Scienceand Criminology at Griffith University.After a successful six-month lease inthe unit, Tabetha was supported tosecure a private rental house-sharewhere she currently resides.

Today, Tabetha is still in contact withThe Lodge, has volunteered her timeto help current residents with their

study and is open about sharing herstory about youth homelessness inorder to raise awareness of the issue.As she explains, ‘home isn’t whereyour family is, it’s where you make it,’and having moved home more than40 times, The Lodge and itsstructured program provided her withthe normality that ended the whiplashshe experienced from a life ofconstant, uncertain change.

Kelsha’s StoryGrowing up I moved from school toschool and never really settled in.After a family breakdown I foundmyself homeless for the first time at12 and since then I have slept on thestreet, in parks, with friends, atshelters and on and off with my fatherover the past five years. I am nownearly 18 years old.

Being so young and sleeping on thestreets and in parks means you neverknew when something bad couldhappen. I have had my belongingsstolen; I have been threatened andon many occasions have seenviolence. I was always at risk of beingunsafe. This is how I and many otheryoung people have to live. ThankfullyI was able to create my own family onthe streets, people who looked outfor me, provided me food and keptme safe.

After losing most of my connectionswith my community, friends andeducation I found myself trying

marijuana at the age of 13 and thenmoved on to stronger substances.

In January 2017 while on the streets inBrisbane I met another young personand he linked me into Brisbane YouthService. At the time I wasn’t wellphysically and mentally. I felt like mybody had been in the wars and I wasready to make some changes.

Brisbane Youth Service has supportedme with my mental health, housing,physical health, harm reduction,education and so many other thingsin the seven months I have beenlinked in here.

They gave me a chance in Windsorhouse, I stayed there for around twomonths and I loved it. It felt like I hada home again and this is a feeling Ihadn’t felt in such a long time. It feltso good. I had somewhere to go, Ihad food to eat, a shower and a bedwhich was for me. After a short timeat Windsor house I made amazingfriends and wanted to start sorting myeducation. Brisbane Youth Servicehelped me enroll into school andsince then I have been going well andam looking to graduate this year.

Since January I have come a long way.I have recently secured a one-bedroomapartment and I am working onbecoming fully independent. I amdetermined to stay focused on mygoals and completing my educationwhich will lead me into creating astable a strong career for myself.

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D: Domestic and Family Violence

‘Now it’s my time’ of Being an Expert in One’s Own LifeLeanne Wood, Research, Social Policy and Advocacy Advisor, Anglicare Southern Queensland with Carol Birrell, Service Manager, Homelessness Services Women and Families, Anglicare SouthernQueensland

Among the responses in a recentAnglicare survey of ‘youth voices’ 1

was a blunt comment from a youngwoman called ‘Jess’.

‘Couches’, she wrote, ‘are not along-term living arrangement’.

Embedded in the story she shared ofexperiencing homelessness werefamiliar themes of isolation, anxietyand lack of dignity — having‘nowhere else to go’ but being‘allowed to stay a few more days outof pity’.

Jess’s story is clearly not unique. Onany night of any week, an estimated4,000 women are homeless inBrisbane. The unmet demand fromwomen and children fleeing a rangeof challenges including domesticviolence, family breakdown,transitioning from prison or a mentalhealth unit, drug misuse, loss oftenancy, couch surfing, andhomelessness is overwhelming.

As part of our commitment toaddressing this need, AnglicareSouthern Queensland has

substantially expanded ourHomelessness Services Women andFamilies (HSWF) programs over thepast couple of years. The 2015–2016financial year marked the first full yearof operation for our new $6.4 millionAdult Women’s Program, which offerstemporary supportedaccommodation for single women;and our Young Women and Childrenprogram, which provides temporarysupported accommodation forpregnant or parenting young motherswith children under four years of age.Residents maintain their

Photo provided by Anglicare Southern Queensland

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independence while being supportedby 24-hour staffing arrangements.

The new premises nearly doublecapacity across Brisbane’smetropolitan area. The fit out of the24 rooms became a communityinitiative, drawing teams frombusinesses, schools and the widercommunity to design and decoratewelcoming sanctuaries for theresidents that are a naturalconsequence of our belief in theinherent worth and uniqueness ofeach woman, and her right to qualityaccommodation and service provision.

The new building also includesspacious community areas andmeeting rooms designed to support aholistic, wrap-round model of service.Based on Housing First principles, thepremises ensure that the women’sbasic need for safety is met. In thatsafe environment, we are then able toaddress, in partnership with thewomen, the underlying factors thatmay have contributed to theirexperiences of homelessness andattend to more in-depth, therapeuticneeds.

The Road Home: A National Policy forEnding Homelessness 2 highlightedsome of the diverse causes ofhomelessness and the cyclic patternthat sees adults and children who areexperiencing homeless becomefurther at risk of poor physical andmental health, disrupted education orhigh unemployment, exposure toviolence, higher rates of imprisonmentand a loss of stability and connection

in their lives. Hamilton et al 3 writeabout such multiple, interactingcauses and contextual factors ascreating a ‘web of vulnerability’, whererisk factors interplay and accumulateover time to result in homelessness.Other studies indicate the negativeimpact of cumulative trauma andadversity on people who are homelessor at risk of homelessness.4

Based on this kind of evidence, HSWFhas adopted a traumainformed/recovery orientedframework to guide our model ofservice.

Trauma-informed practice is, as theterm implies, where workers aresensitive to the impacts that traumahas on a person’s psychological,physical and emotional self; andadapt their practice to cater for suchimpacts. Trauma is often experiencedas disempowering, a lack of safetyand control over one’s own life; andso individuals’ responses to crisis andtheir adapted coping skills (whichmight include self-harming or suicidalbehaviours, substance misuse,unhealthy relationships, and/oraggressive and unsafe behaviours)make sense in this context.

The core of trauma-informed practiceis establishing a sense of safety, sothat the women who use our servicescan address the other issuesimpacting on their wellbeing.Ensuring that the environment isphysically safe, and that ourinteractions with the women and theirchildren are welcoming, consistent

and reliable, aims to build a sense ofemotional safety and trust, andreduces the possibilities ofre-traumatisation. We believe thathealing happens in positiverelationships and recognise theimportance of community andconnection; but also strongly supportthe women’s right to control, choiceand autonomy over their own lives.

This belief is also consistent with asecond element of our service model,recovery-oriented practice, which isunderpinned by the conviction thatpeople have the capacity to maketheir own choices about theirrecovery and wellbeing. Our workerssupport the women to build on theirunique skills and strengths to exploreopportunities, and make real andinformed choices about what theywould like to achieve: they are theexperts in their own lives.

Voluntary feedback from some of thewomen who have transitioned fromHSWF into long-term housingsuggests that the trauma-informed/recovery-oriented approach is helpingindividuals to reclaim their lives. Inthe 2016–2017 FY, 73 per cent ofresidents successfully transitionedinto the next stage of longer-termaccommodation; and their exitfeedback was typified by words suchas courage, reassurance, motivation,support and respect.

As one excited resident noted,despite her nerves at moving on:‘Now it’s my time. I need to move onso other people can be helped byAnglicare.’

Endnotes

1. More information on the Youth Voicesproject can be found at:anglicaresq.org.au/youth-voices

2. Commonwealth of Australia 2008, TheRoad Home: A National Policy for EndingHomelessness, Department of Families,Housing, Community Services andIndigenous Affairs, apo.org.au/node/2882

3. Hamilton A B, Poza I and Washington D L2011, Homelessness and Trauma GoHand-in-Hand’: Pathways to Homelessnessamong Women Veterans, Women’s HealthIssues, vol.21, no.4, Supplement, pp.S203–S209, www.whijournal.com/article/S1049-3867 per cent2811 percent2900090-9/fulltext

4. Wu N S, Schairer L C, Dellor E and Grella C2010, Childhood trauma and healthoutcomes in adults with comorbidsubstance abuse and mental healthdisorders, Addictive Behaviors, vol.35,pp.68–71.

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Photo provided by Anglicare Southern Queensland

Intimate Partner Violence andHomelessness: Young WomenLost in the IntersectionalityRhianon Vichta and Ashleigh Husband, Brisbane Youth Service

While considerable attention hasbeen paid to domestic violence (DV)as a primary cause of homelessness,there has been a historic lack ofdiscourse and awareness acrosscommunity services systems aboutthe intersectionality of intimatepartner violence and homelessness.The commonly used term ‘domesticviolence’ defines intimate partnerviolence by its occurrence within a‘home’ context, rather than situatingit within interpersonal relationships,whereas the term ‘Intimate PartnerViolence’ (IPV) is arguably moreinclusive of violent experiences thatoccur outside of the domestic space.

Low visibility of IPV as it occursoutside of the domestic spacecontributes to a lack ofintersectionality which in turn canresult in highly vulnerable people,particularly women, being leftstranded in the gaps betweenproblem-specific service systems. Thisissue is further exacerbated for youngwomen, with young women whoexperience IPV while homeless facingmultiple barriers to accessing supportfrom services that lack the resources,capacity and risk-tolerance torespond to the co-occurringconcerns. Despite the complexity ofthis work and the challenge of siloed

problem-driven funding parameters;there is much opportunity to improveintersectional and interagencypractice to respond to the mutuallycompounding vulnerabilities of thesechallenging issues.

Service Provider ExperiencesWitnessing, perpetrating orexperiencing violence is a day-to-dayreality for young people living on thestreets, with young people commonlyreporting being physically assaulted,threatened with weapons androbbed.1 Living in temporaryaccommodation or sleeping roughelevates risks; and experiences of

Meeting and interviewing people living in Boarding Houses during 500 Lives 500 Homes Campaign Registry Fortnight. Photo: Robyn McDonald

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violence may often prolong periodsof homelessness. The findings of the500 Lives 500 Homes homelessnesssurvey of Brisbane showed thatalmost half (45.5 per cent) hadexperienced violence since becominghomeless.2

Brisbane Youth Service (BYS), as aholistic youth service provider, has adeveloping awareness of youngpeople not only being impacted byco-occurring homelessness and IPV,but facing unique systemic andstructural barriers to accessingsupport and safety.

Approximately 55 per cent of theyoung people accessing BYS eachyear are currently homeless. While itis important to note that youngpeople frequently under-reportexperiences of violence during earlycontact with services; one in four ofthese young people report that theyare currently experiencing eitherfamily violence or relationshipviolence. One quarter of youngpeople acknowledge that they haveused violent, threatening or

intimidating behaviours themselvesand 40 per cent of young people tellworkers, at first assessment, that theywant help with violence-relatedissues.

While there is a strong pattern ofviolence preceding homelessness(70 per cent of young peopleaccessing BYS report pastexperiences of violence); BYS seesclear evidence of co-occurringviolence and homelessness, withyoung people who are homelessreporting experiences of relationshipviolence at significantly higher ratesthan those living in public, private orfamily housing situations. Almost60 per cent of young peoplereporting current or past relationshipviolence are currently homeless and58 per cent of young people whoreport as homeless also report past orcurrent experiences of relationshipviolence. While reporting rates arelower overall for current (15 per cent)relationship violence compared withpast relationship violence(44 per cent), rates for young peoplewho are homeless are still significantly

disproportionately high compared torates reported by young people whoare in stable housing. Youth workersat BYS report young women are oftenturned away from both homelessnessaccommodation services anddomestic violence programs.Rejected referrals are often identifiedas too risky or as falling outside offunded service parameters.

Young Women’s ExperiencesABS and IVAWS data shows thatyoung women experience intimatepartner violence up to three times therates of older women.3 Support toprevent longer-term cycles ofviolence is particularly crucial foryounger women; as is awareness thatyoung women are particularlyvulnerable to the health andwell-being disruptions resulting fromhomelessness. There are, however,multiple barriers to young womenaccessing support. Young womenreport difficulty accessing safe spacesand legal protection mechanismswhen one or both parties have nofixed address.

Young women coming to BYSdescribe unique complexities of IPVduring homelessness, including thedichotomous role perpetrators holdas both inflictors of harm andinadvertent protectors from otherhomelessness related risks. Youngwomen experiencing homelessnessdescribe forming relationships withmen who are feared in theircommunities in order to haveprotection from other forms ofviolence such as sexual assault. WithIPV experienced by young peoplewho are homeless being often highlyrecurrent, severe and including acts ofsignificant physical violence such asbeing beaten, burned or stabbed,4 itis critical that the dual issues of safetyfrom violence and safe housing areconcurrently addressed.

When sleeping rough, young womenreport being unable to find safespaces away from violent partners.Safety during homelessness mostoften depends on supportive socialnetworks, meaning young peopleexperiencing IPV may be forced tochoose between relationship violenceand the potential dangers associatedwith being cut off from theircommunities of safety. Further, IPVrisks extend beyond the immediatehomeless experience to be a critical

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barrier to young peoples’ capacity tomove out of homelessness.

IPV impacts the ability to maintainsupported accommodation and othertenancies, once attained, due tounauthorised visits by formerpartners; potential property damageand police involvement; risks to othertenants; as well as the impact oftrauma on mental health and capacityfor self-care and propertymaintenance. The mutuallyreinforcing cycles of homelessnessand IPV highlight the critical need forintersectional intervention toconcurrently address both issues; sothat vulnerable young woman do notcontinue to fall through gapsbetween domestic violence, youthaccommodation and child safetyservices. The immense impact of suchsystems gaps on individual livescannot be underestimated.

What Can We Do?It can be accepted that homelessnessand youth support workers willfrequently witness IPV in both thebehaviours and stories of peopleaccessing support. Service providersacross all sectors can engage inwhole-of-person conversations thatovertly recognise the power andcontrol dynamics of IPV inrelationships and pro-actively seek toidentify co-occurring violence andhomelessness concerns.

Service providers have a criticalopportunity to consistently maintain apractice culture which not onlypromotes awareness of the complexdynamics of IPV, but which directlychallenges and holds young peopleaccountable for the unacceptability ofviolent and controlling behaviours. Astrengths-based perspective will seeworkers acting from the belief thatpeople have the power to changetheir use of violence in relationships.While frequent exposure to violenceputs workers at risk of becomingdesensitised to IPV and thus complicitin normalising violence,organisational training and reflectivepractice opportunities can ensure thatcognisance of the complexity, risksand impact of IPV underpin servicedelivery frameworks and practices.

A trauma-informed practiceapproach provides a strongfoundation for workers supportingyoung people experiencing and

using violence.5 Given theimportance of intervening to breakcycles of violence early, even whenyoung people using violence havebeen victims of violence in their ownlives, workers should be skilled inholding empathy and engagementwith the young person using violencewithout excusing their behaviour.With consideration of potential safetyrisks, organisations can adopttargeted practices, including:

routinely conducting separate•

assessments for couplespresenting togetherensuring adequate internal•

communication mechanisms are inplace around violence risksprioritising separate engagement•

with both people who areexperiencing violence and thosewho perpetrate itproactive psychoeducation•

programs around healthyrelationshipsstrategically developing•

collaborative interagencyrelationships between youth,violence and homelessnessservices.

Greater awareness of IPV andhomelessness needs to provokestrengthening of intersectional policyand cross-sector service responses.Policy and practice frameworks thatfail to recognise and accommodatethis intersectionality not only falselysegment the complexity of vulnerableyoung people’s experiences; they cancompromise the quality of service andoutcomes from well-intentionedservice delivery agencies.

Strategic interagency collaborationcan enhance service capacity torespond to the co-occurring issuesand thus avoid or reduce incidencesof young women being bouncedbetween homelessness and violenceservices. Cross-cutting the theme ofinteragency collaboration is theprinciple of bringing violence-relatedservices to the spaces occupied byyoung people who are experiencingor at risk of homeless. Targeted IPVawareness interventions withinhomelessness services; as well asexpansion of pro-active outreach andstreet-based services may buildopportunities for service connectionwith young people for whomcontrolling violent relationships limittheir capacity to independentlyaccess support.

The importance of focussing on bothinteragency collaboration or‘joined-up’ practice, and collectiveimpact in both homelessness andviolence services is widelyrecognised.6 Developing collaborativeinteragency responses is consistentwith both the ‘The road home: anational approach to reducinghomelessness’ goal of improving andexpanding services and with TheNational Plan to Reduce Violenceagainst Women and their Children2010–2022.7, 8 Specialised research isneeded to better understand andcontextually respond to thereciprocally compounding complexityof IPV and youth homelessness,recognising that the risks andcomplexity is often greater than thesum of the parts. With awareness andenhanced sector capacity, we candevelop specialist responses thatmore effectively meet the needs ofhighly vulnerable young women.

Endnotes

1. Jordan L 2012, Spaces of trauma: youngpeople, homelessness and violence, YouthStudies Australia, vol.31, no.3, pp.11–17.

2. 500 lives 500 homes 2014, EmergingTrends VI-SPDAT Youth, retrieved from:http://www.500lives500homes.org.au/resource_files/500lives/500-Lives-Youth-Factsheet.pdf

3. Australian Bureau of Statistics 2011, Censusof Population and Housing: Estimatinghomelessness. Retrieved from:http://abs.gov.au/ ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/2049.0Main per cent20Features22011

4. Boris N W, Heller S S, Sheperd T andZeanah C H 2002, Partner violence amonghomeless young adults: Measurementissues and associations, Journal ofAdolescent Health, vol.30, no.5,pp.355–363.

5. Blue Knot Foundation 2012, PracticeGuidelines for Treatment of ComplexTrauma and Trauma Informed Care andService Delivery, retrieved from:http://www.blueknot.org.au/ABOUT-US/Our-Documents/Practice-Guidelines

6. Crane P and Livock C 2012, Joined-uppractice: five areas of exemplary practicefor social workers and educators tore-engage homeless youth, Youth StudiesAustralia, vol.31, no.2, pp.44–52.

7. Commonwealth of Australia 2008, The roadhome: a national approach to reducinghomelessness, retrieved fromhttp://www.homelesshub.ca/resource/road-home-national-approach-reducing-homelessness-australia

8. Council of Australian Governments 2011,National Plan to Reduce Violence againstWomen and their Children 2010–2022,retrieved from: http://www.dss.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents /05_2012/national_plan.pdf

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‘Homelessness is not who I am,it doesn’t define me as a personor a mother, it is not my identity’Deb Blakeney, In-Place (Nambour, Queensland)

Supporting women who haveexperienced domestic and familyviolence is complex, not only becauseof the impact violence and traumahas on someone, but because thesupports needed often involve timelyand responsive access to a widerange of agencies and systems.

The following case study provided uswith an opportunity to outline someof the issues and strategiescommonly faced by women andchildren seeking support from ourservice. This is by no means acomprehensive outline, but rather away of presenting the importance ofongoing attention to themulti-faceted role and engagement ofspecialist support services such asIn-Place with people experiencinghomelessness, and the diversity ofservices and systems that have a roleto play in pro-actively seekingpositive and equitable outcomes.

About RachelRachel (not her actual name)self-referred to a regional Queenslanddomestic and family violence sheltervia the service. She fled to escapeviolence perpetrated by the father ofher three children, and had beenhomeless for the past year, mostlyliving in her car. The childrenremained in the care of their father.Rachel was also experiencing furtherviolence by a new partner.

During the initial engagement with,and assessment of Rachel’s situationby shelter workers, it is apparent thatRachel has a strong commitment toher children, an engaging sense ofhumour, and has survived significantsustained hardship and trauma. AsRachel’s situation is explored with her,a range of complex personal,situational and systemic issuesbecome apparent that limit herhousing options. These are:

Financial stressRachel is currently on Newstartpayment with a high level of debts,and is ineligible for the DisabilitySupport Pension whilst her medicaldiagnosis is pending. Her low incomereduces her access to requiredmedical and mental health supportsand required medications/equipment.

Physical health issuesThese include a heart condition,migraines and regular falls/fainting.The falls/ fainting have resulted inregular hospital admissions in recentmonths, with significant diagnosticmedical investigations through thepublic health system still ongoing.Her medical conditions mean she isunable to drive, which in turn limitsher daily living including shopping,access to relevant appointments andcontact with her children.

Experiences of gendered trauma,violence and abuseRachel has experienced sexual andemotional abuse from an early age. Asa child she was sexually abuse by astep-father, though this did not result instatutory child protection intervention,nor was it addressed through the legalsystem. Much has occurred since thenRachel says. At present her ex-partnercontinues to exhibit controlling andcoercive behaviours in relation tocontact with the children.

High level mental health issuesand illnessThese include multiple diagnoses andmultiple hospital admissions forassessment and treatment. Rachel’shomelessness has significantlycontributed to a lack of consistencyand access to health care.

Responding to RachelCase management support wasprovided to Rachel by a social worktrained Key Worker, utilising a trauma

informed and recovery basedframework for practice. Goalplanning with Rachel identified acluster of support activities asneeded. Whilst these all areinter-related, to some extent thenon-housing aspects of working withRachel are experiences of:

Gendered trauma, sexual assault andabuse

Trauma counselling and support•

for domestic and family violenceexperienced.Linking Rachel to ongoing•

specialist support services in thecommunity. This includedadvocacy and liaison withspecialist legal supports and legalaid for representation in relation toproperty and child related matters.Community inclusion support for•

Rachel to participate in activitiesthat she identified would be usefulfor her recovery.

HealthSafety planning with Rachel•

identifying management of mentalhealth concerns, includingdevelopment of personalstrategies and the provision ofappropriate linkages to specialistservices and supports. Thisincluded on-call arrangementsprovided to address safety/riskneeds presenting in relation tophysical and mental healthconcerns.Access to supportive clinical•

health services including a regularGP and clinical psychologist forprimary health and mental healthconcerns.Advocacy with health care•

providers to ensure safetyconcerns around steps in unit atthe shelter were addressed,including Vital Call.Ongoing assessment of mental•

health, and referral to community

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mental health specialists andnon-government mental healthproviders.

FinancesEmergency relief provided in•

relation to urgent food, medicaland transport needs allowingenhanced access to medical andmental health supports, whilstother service arrangements withcommunity transport and healthproviders were also put in place.Advocacy regarding Centrelink•

payments — applying for CrisisPayment, Disability SupportPension, and gathering evidencefor Centrelink to meet eligibilityrequirements.Assistance from a range of funding•

sources to help Rachel move fromshelter to permanent housing,including assistance with removalcosts, and furnishing of her newhouse with essential items.

Responding to ComplexityA number of collaborative processeswere necessary at both our SpecialistHomelessness Service (SHS) andbetween the service and otheragencies/systems to adequatelyacknowledge complexities andexplore options. These were the useof a team management approach atthe shelter to support Rachel’scomplex behaviours, andmanagement of duty of care to otherresidents, and a high-level caseco-ordination approach with otherservice providers to maximise howthe various services and systemsprovided coherent and consistentcare to Rachel. The use of a caseco-ordination approach, avoidedcounter-productive duplication incase management, and contributedto future goal planning with Rachelthat she experienced as appreciative,complementary and clear and whichplaced her at the centre of her ownfuture planning.

HousingEngagement with Rachel about thetransition to permanent housingstarted early on in our support of her,reflecting her own clear desire forsomewhere safe and accessible forherself and her children. The SHSshelter provided a place for this to benegotiated from over an establishedperiod of time, for responses to keyareas of need to be developed, andfor new supports to be embedded. In

respect of housing, liaison andhigh-level communication with theQueensland Department of Housingand Public Works (DHPW) was central.Features of this engagement were:

Early regional liaison between theSpecialist Homelessness Service andContract Officer/Principal ContractOfficer, Housing and HomelessnessServices, Central Queensland andNorth Coast region at DHPWregarding ongoing safety and riskconcerns as well as identification offuture housing requirements.

Local liaison between the SpecialistHomelessness Service andMaroochydore Housing Service Centreto transition Rachel to appropriatehousing that met her medical needs.Application for cooling fans wasprocessed efficiently by DHPW, withinvolvement of the OccupationalTherapist, and consideration given tothe complexities of Rachel’scircumstances.

High-level of communication wasevident between different areas ofDHPW to secure an appropriatehousing pathway for Rachel.

As the prospect of change of housingand the transition from crisis housingsupports were distressing for Rachel,a Request for Absence was grantedby DHPW allowing her to transitionwith high levels of supports in placeand a greater sense of personal safetyand wellbeing.

The period of time over which thenegotiation of housing took placewas five months.

Rachel was excited by the prospect ofbeing approved for a house thatallowed her to start planning forreunification and ongoing overnightcontact with her children.

Outcomes for RachelDrawing on feedback from Racheland observations/data from staff andother agencies, Rachel’s situation hasbeen enhanced, and herhomelessness addressed through theperson-centred case managementapproach utilised. Contributingfeatures of this are:

Increased understanding and•

agency. Rachel has identified thatshe now has a betterunderstanding of the nature of

domestic and family violence, andthe tactics of power and controlthat were perpetrated in herrelationship with her ex-partner.This has enabled Rachel tostrategise for her ongoing safety;to start to address the traumacaused by the current violence,and to understand the impact ofthe violence from previousintimate and family relationships.Rachel now has an established•

safety plan around her mentalhealth that has reduced thefrequency of professional mentalhealth input to manage herdistress. In turn this has increasedRachel’s control and self-reliance,and ability to live independently inthe community;There is enhanced safety and•

security for Rachel and herchildren as a result of strategiesdeveloped, and the services tosustain this have been engaged.Rachel is now engaged with LegalAid support for legal matters, andcontact with Rachel’s children isrecognised as part of this;Rachel now has permanent,•

appropriately located socialhousing in an area close to schoolsand transport, as well as to majorhealth facilities;Rachel’s housing now has•

appropriate features, in this casecooling modifications as a result ofDHPW assessing Rachel’s medicalneeds. Rachel’s new housing alsohas Vital Call established toreduce safety concerns she hasand to ensure that she can accessmedical assistance when needed;Appropriate ongoing case•

coordination and support hasbeen developed to enhance thesustainability of her housing andcommunity. Driven by Rachel, thissupport will assist her to connectto her new community andmaintain established links, as wellas continue to plan for physicaland mental health safety. Theongoing support is beingprovided with a mental healthlead, together with a plan for theHomestay early interventionservice to address indicators whenthe tenancy might be at risk.Clinical governance has been•

established in relation to Rachel’songoing mental and physicalhealth needs;Rachel is now seeking to engage•

in training and employment

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opportunities in the future. This issomething she was not able toenvisage when she was firstreferred to the SHS. Rachel waspreviously employed in thedefence forces prior to becominga mother, and she says that shehas many skills that she would liketo build on. Services will beengaged to support this realityinto the future;Advocacy with Centrelink around•

DSP eligibility, and liaison withmedical and mental healthpractitioners to gather evidencefor need continues.

ConclusionsWithout sustained support whichappreciates the past trauma andcurrent situation of Rachel, there islittle opportunity for her to play anactive role in establishing a sustainedand safe housing base for her own lifeand her connection with her children.Chronic homelessness for individualsand families, and intergenerationalcycles of homelessness are fuelledthrough insufficient attention to thecomplex interplay of personal,situational and systemic factors thatface people such as Rachel. Specialist

homelessness services, includingthose supporting women who haveexperienced domestic and familyviolence, have a critical role to playnot only in supporting people realisetheir goal of sustainable safe housing,but in connecting and facilitatingbetween services, localities and socialsupports in ways that help avoid thedisjointed, disengaging andinefficient service delivery that can beexperienced without this.

High-level case co-ordination andcommunication between services,and within services/systems is vital forpeople with complex needs totransition to, and sustain permanenthousing that meets their holisticneeds. This high level of supportrequires specific and additionalfunding to services as the pull onexisting resources is significant andthis can be at the detriment ofsupporting other clients. Teamapproaches, as well as key workerrelationships, are vital to ensureconsistent use of evidence basedpractice approaches that place theperson at the centre of managingtheir own lives and moving towardssustainable independence.

It is vital that issues creating chronichomelessness are appreciated ascomplex and require a multi-faceted,pro-active and systemic approachover long periods of time, involving arange of service providers andsystems in providing early as possible.Honesty, genuine collaboration andtransparency are the keys to buildingrelationships, with the personaccessing the service, and with otherservice providers.

Identifying problems early inco-ordination relationships and withinthe support relationship allows forenhanced navigation of risks andconcerns and managing transitionsbetween housing types and locations.Providing a continuum of care, and a‘whatever it takes’ approach to aperson’s individual needs, allows forenhanced housing and supportoutcomes. Sitting with complexityand going ‘outside the box’ to meetpeople where they are at, will allowopportunities for the person’s growth,recovery and inclusion.

* Real names have not been utilised for thiscase study, written consent has beenprovided by service participant for inPlace touse case management details

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Artwork provided by In Touch

E: Consumer Perspectives

Digital Story Project, Council toHomeless Persons QueenslandDeborah Blakeney, President Council to Homeless Persons Queensland (CHPQ)

The Council to Homeless PersonsQueensland launched the stateHomelessness Week in August 2017,to coincide with Homelessness Weekco-ordinated nationally byHomelessness Australia. The purposeof the week was to raise awareness ofthe experiences of peopleexperiencing homelessness, as well ashighlighting the many ways in whichcommunities are actively innovatingto address the core structural driversof homelessness.

As part of this week, CHPQ held apublic forum at the Queensland StateLibrary, inviting the community tolisten to the journeys of people whohave navigated complex systems toachieve stable housing. The narrativeswere collected from a range ofstorytellers who had accessed a rangeof Specialist Homelessness providersin Brisbane. The storytellers, whilstthey came from a diverse range ofcultural backgrounds, andcircumstances, held a common beliefthat they had important messages toconvey. The messages weremultifaceted, providing significantopportunities for other peopleexperiencing homelessness, toservices delivering supports, and topolicy makers and governments whomake decisions that impact onpeople who are socially excluded.

The participants in the project alsoidentified that their stories helped tokeep hold of the things that wereimportant in their lives and assistedthem to stay resilient and maintainhope throughout their experiences.

The service providers whoparticipated, reported that the storiesof the people seeking to accesssupports had a particularly valuablerole to play in helping workers,services and funding bodies gainsome insight into the experience and

impact of homelessness. The storieswere also seen as platform to gain agreater appreciation of what it takesto walk beside people in ways thatare trauma safe and respectful ofpeople’s dignity and human rights.

The primary themes that werehighlighted in the digital stories werevery powerful. The themes that wereraised in the stories, allowed for arobust and rich discussion in thepublic forum during HomelessnessWeek, and the unearthing of mythssurrounding people who experiencehomelessness.

The people who participated in thestories identified the followinginsights into their circumstances.

Imposed homeless identitiesStorytellers highlighted that they feltthat the homeless identity was all of‘who they were’, and that this identityhad been imposed upon them by ‘the

system’ along their journeys of beinghomeless. The homeless identity hadbecome a way of defining andshaping their realities. The storytellersalso spoke of ways that they hadresisted the internalisation of thisimposed identity. One participantnoted:

‘…it’s about time those workersditched the Victorian era withthose attitudes and the way ofthinking like ‘we’re just helping outthis poor black fella….you feel likeyou are being made to grovel andbeg just to keep your familytogether and safe.’

Complex system navigationand lack of knowledge of earlyintervention services andsupportsDigital story telling participantsshared their stories of not beingaware of services and supports, orfinding it difficult to navigate the

Deb Blakeney from CHP Qld, and Phil Crane from University of the Sunshine Coast,

at the 2017 CHP Qld Homelessness Week event which showcased the digital stories video

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service system. Participants spokeabout how this complexity impactedon their safety, self-esteem and senseof agency to change theircircumstances.

One storyteller recounted anexperience that spoke to theprofound consequences of thissystem complexity:

‘Without having ever beenhomeless before, I wasn’t aware ofany of the services or what wasavailable in terms of resources ormonetary assistance to maintainthe rent, didn’t know it existed. I’dalways worked so I probably foundmyself on the street the week afterChristmas and the next 13 monthson a bit of journey.’

The taking of ‘personalresponsibility’ and ‘need foragency to get out of thesituation’, rather than a linkbetween the personal andpoliticalStorytellers often focused theirnarratives on their individualstrengths/resilience that they utilisedto exit homelessness, encouragingothers in similar circumstances to ‘pullthemselves out’ of their situation ofhomelessness. These commentsoperate in the context of thesignificant discourses operating in oursociety that suggest that the causesof homelessness relate to anindividual deficit or something that isinherently ‘wrong’ with the person, orthat the person who is homeless is toblame for their situation. They also sitwithin a context of the systemicbarriers that prevent people fromaccessing affordable, accessible andsafe accommodation.

‘I probably could have rung mumand said I haven’t got the rent,and I that at that point in my life,because I was in my mid 30’s, Irealised it was time to takeresponsibility for my actions or Iwould never learn, so I didn’tappeal for help.’

Desire for fullparticipation/citizenshipIn multiple ways, the storytellersspoke of their desire for socialinclusion, with an emphasis on beingfree from discrimination, exclusionfrom socially valued activities andprivileges. Additionally, some

storytellers spoke of their desire tohave their experiences recognised asvalued knowledge, that couldcontribute to planning and decisionmaking at the community level.Storytellers desired respect from thecommunity, and the service systemand that their voices could be acentral part of social developmentand addressing injustices andbreaches of human rights.

Whilst storytellers all spoke to thevaluable role that formal servicesplayed in the transitioning fromhomelessness to achieving sustainablehousing, some also spoke of thebarriers that existed within the servicesystem and what it would take fromtheir perspective to achieve change.

‘We need someone to stick by usuntil we can get our ownsustainable housing and we don’talways fit into the unrealistictimeframes you give us. We’re allindividuals living complex lives.We all have different needs, so wecan’t fit into your neat little serviceboxes no matter how hard you try.It’s not that we don’t want or needservices, we need you to meet uswhere we’re at. We need peoplewho live in the real world….people who have had their ownexperiences of homelessness andunderstand’.

Impact of homelessness on‘spirit’ and deficit basedapproaches to determiningeligibility for servicesThe impact on ‘spirit’ was a constanttheme recounted by the storytellers,as they re-told the personal identityconstructions that were shaped bytheir situation of homelessness.

‘from the other side of the lookingglass that the people around mewere still seeing me, but seeingme I guess in an altered state, indecline, and that I becameself-conscious about that, and asyou do with heightenedself-awareness orself-consciousness, I think like a lotof guys you try to adopt some sortof anonymity. So, when I was inNew Farm park for the first fewweeks and when I had nowhereelse to go and eventually tookmyself off to the other parksaround the city and I guess justsort of disappeared into the

crowd. It suddenly dawned on methat the guys that I was aroundhad been there that long that theycouldn’t find the way back and Iwas in danger of going the sameway, so it suddenly took on a newurgency.’

Participants also highlighted thedeficit-based approaches to beingable to access services and supports.The deficit-based approaches withinthe service system were highlightedas having a detrimental effect onidentity construction of the personexperiencing homelessness.

‘We don’t need band aidresponses or being pushed fromone organisation to the other. It’snot helpful, it can actually be spiritbreaking’.

Hopefulness for the future, andacts of resistance to exclusionand marginalisationThe storytellers all expressed theirindividual acts of resistance to theircircumstances, which acted as atestament to their own expertknowledge of how to navigatechallenges and to navigate systemicbarriers. These stories expressed ahopefulness for the future despite thesignificant trauma that had been acentral part of the experience ofhomelessness.

‘I’m now living in a housingcommission place. This has beenthe longest I have ever stayed inone place. I have been happilymarried now for 28 years and I’man advocate for the people of theStolen Generation and I have founda way to help deal with my day today stressors through doing art.’

‘I’m currently a university studentstudying social work and doing adiploma in counselling. Mymission in life is to makesomething of myself. I’m hopingto get a placement working withpeople affected by homelessness.I wonder what some of theworkers of some of thehomelessness services that wehave accessed over the yearswould think of me now. I’m proudof everything my mother has donefor our family even when we’vehad nothing, she has always triedand that to me is the mostimportant thing’.

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‘I’ve a lot of skills about how tosurvive when your homeless, I’vehad to teach this to other people.’

Intersectionality of disadvantagehighlighted as a barrier toaddressing homelessness —such as race, class, gendersexuality and abilityPrejudice, discrimination and stigmawere identified throughout the storiesas structural barriers to achievingchange within personal circumstances,particularly as it related to accessingsustainable housing.

As an example, racism washighlighted by one of the participantsin the projects as a visible mechanismof white privilege that signified herand her family as the ‘other’ andwhich resulted in chronic andintergenerational homelessness.

‘People would see that you wereblack and they would know youwere black or boot you outbecause of the prejudice. Oncea fella said to my husband, ‘InAmerica we have black scum likeyour wife ‘strung up’, myhusband told him, ‘well you’renot in America now’. Lookingback, I guess my parents had thesame problems with that sort ofprejudice as me.’

‘My step-father had so manyproblems towards me becausehe couldn’t accept my sexuality.My father was very abusivetowards me, the police had beeninvolved in the circumstancesnumerous amounts of times andthey thought it was in myinterests to get out of thesituation and into youthaccommodation’

‘If I could end homelessness, Iwould take the stigma away for astart, because you just never knowif it’s going to be you next, youreally don’t. I’d build peoplehouses, but I’d give people thesupport when they went into thosehomes, because sometimes youstill got those issues…’

AcknowledgementsCHPQ would like to thank all of thestorytellers who participated in theproject and acknowledges theirstrength, resilience and courage.

CHPQ would also like to thankCourtney Hagan (inPlace) for herassistance with this article, particularlyin transcribing of the stories.

The stories are available for viewingon the CHPQ website atwww.chpq.org.au

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F: Health and Homelessness

Supporting Homeless and VulnerablyHoused Patients: Royal Brisbane andWomen’s Hospital Service ModelChristen Reid, Emergency Department Homeless Liaison Social Worker, Department of Social Workand Psychology, Metro North Hospital and Health Service

The Hospital Emergency DepartmentHomeless Liaison Officer (HEDLO)role is an innovative service modelwhich, since December 2009, hasbeen funded under the AustralianNational Partnership Agreement onHomelessness (NPAH). HEDLOfunding is provided to four South EastQueensland hospitals. At eachhospital, the HEDLO roleimplementation is reflective ofassessed individual patient and areaneed. At Royal Brisbane and Women’sHospital (RBWH), the HEDLO role isan identified social work positionwhich targets individuals experiencinghomelessness or who are at risk ofhomelessness. These patientscommonly present with complexpsychosocial needs that may not berecognised by medical staff. The roleof the HEDLO social worker is toidentify and respond to thesepatients’ psychosocial needs andprovide support during theirEmergency Department presentation.

The RBWH HEDLO social worker isavailable to patients of the EmergencyTrauma Centre (ETC), the PsychiatricEmergency Centre and the Short StayUnit between 7am and 3:30pmweekdays. Outside of these hours, theETC is staffed by RBWH social workerswho are available 24 hours a day.However, the ETC social work servicecan provide only a limited service tothis patient group because ofcompeting priorities.

The HEDLO project is funded to service430 patients across the four hospitalsites per year. Notably, the RBWHHEDLO social worker far exceeded thisfigure by providing a service to 518patients during the 2016/2017 financialyear. This figure excludes patients whoare homeless as a result of domesticviolence as the ETC social workers haveprimary responsibility for serviceprovision to this group.

Prioritising early identificationThe HEDLO social worker prioritisesearly identification of homeless orvulnerably housed patients duringtheir Emergency Departmentpresentation. Each morning, thesocial worker scans the ETC waitingroom and talks to medical staff toidentify patients who may require theHEDLO service. Reviews of patients’recorded addresses and currentpresentation notes are thenconducted to identify those patientswith no fixed address or who may beresiding in unstable accommodation.Data for the 2016–2017 financial yearrevealed that 37 per cent of HEDLOreferrals were generated as a result ofthe HEDLO early identificationscreening process. In turn, earlyidentification enables rapidcommencement of service provisionand discharge planning with thesepatients to address their specificpsychosocial needs.

Upon initial engagement with apatient, the social worker completes apsychosocial assessment with aprimary focus on supportive andappropriate discharge planning.Pivotal to the social worker’sframework for practice is the HousingFirst principle, which focuses onsecuring stable accommodation upondischarge from hospital and linkingpatients in with support services toassist with identified stressors andtenancy support. Over the past12 months, the HEDLO social workersecured accommodation for69 per cent of patients who did notrequire hospitalisation. Given thelimited accommodation options forpatients with multiple complex needs,this represents a notableachievement.

Ongoing challenges to addressinghomelessness include limited crisisand affordable housing, lack of

finances, and difficulties withproducing identification. Thesechallenges are likely to be moreformidable for patients withcomplex health and social needs.An ongoing concern is the inabilityto find suitable accommodation fora significant proportion of thesepatients. Over the past 12 months,this represented 16 per cent ofHEDLO patients. These patientswere assessed as not requiringhospitalisation and were dischargedto no fixed address. A further 15per cent of patients weredischarged to an unknown location,due to factors such as decliningsupport or leaving before treatmentwas completed.

Liaison Service andPartnershipsThe HEDLO social worker deliversin-service training and offers aconsultation service to RBWH staffregarding inpatients who arehomeless and require support fordischarge planning and continuityof care. Persons experiencinghomelessness are significantlyover-represented in the hospitalpopulation and homelessness is anidentified barrier to discharge.Feedback from staff indicates thatthis specialist liaison service hasreduced social barriers to dischargeand ensured expedited supportivetransition to accommodation.

An integral part of the HEDLO roleis forging strong partnerships withgovernment and communitypartners. The HEDLO social workerregularly attends communityhomelessness forums and liaiseswith support services to improvereferral pathways. This enablespatients to be rapidly referred or re-linked with casemanagement/support services upondischarge.

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Murray’s storyThe HEDLO social worker works in atime-pressured environment wheresame day discharge is given highpriority. However, Murray’s storyexemplifies the need for protractedengagement with patients whopresent with multiple complex issues.

Murray suddenly relocated toBrisbane from interstate andimmediately presented to RBWH toseek mental health treatment andaccommodation as he had no fixedaddress. In addition to homelessness,the HEDLO social worker identified arange of complex issues including asignificant mental health historyrequiring medication, a history ofoffending behaviour, and previousinvolvement with the criminal justicesystem. Murray had no form ofidentification and described a longhistory of interstate transience. Hereported that his funds weremanaged by an interstate PublicTrustee Office and it became

apparent that he would requiresupported accommodation due hisinability to self-manage care.

With Murray’s consent, the socialworker obtained collateralinformation from the interstateservices that were previouslyengaged with him. These discussionsrevealed that Murray was required toreport his relocation to theQueensland Police Service to avoidre-incarceration. Of further concern,the Public Trustee advised they wereunaware of Murray’s interstaterelocation and Murray was continuingto pay for his now-abandonedaccommodation.

In collaboration with Murray andthese agencies, the HEDLO socialworker was able to:

secure same day supported•

accommodationarrange transport to his new•

accommodation

ensure the Public Trustee•

re-directed his rental paymentswork with Murray to identify•

strategies to address his tendencyto relocate on impulseschedule an appointment for•

Murray with Queensland PoliceService to verify his new addressto comply with reportingrequirementsrefer Murray to various specialist•

services for ongoing mentalhealth, tenancy and social support

The Link Between Housing andHealthThe HEDLO social worker provides anessential service within the innerBrisbane City to RBWH patients whoare in crisis, homeless or vulnerablyhoused. Early intervention, timelydischarge planning and forging linkswith community supports are crucialto securing stable accommodation forthese patients. This in turn is aprerequisite for positive patienthealth and social outcomes.

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Interviewing people during 500 Lives 500 Homes Campaign Registry Fortnight. Photo: Linda Kaufman.

Integrated Mental HealthApproach Sustains TenanciesDepartment of Housing and Public Works

The Mental HealthDemonstration ProjectA prevention and early interventionapproach, being tested in NorthBrisbane, is having remarkablesuccess assisting public housingtenants, with mental health concerns,to sustain their tenancies.

Tenants living with mental healthissues and complex needs canexperience significant housinginstability and high rates ofhomelessness. This can cause furtherdeterioration of mental and physicalhealth, frequently resulting inrepeated use of health and crisisservices, ongoing homelessness,mental health placements, arrest, andincarceration.1

In 2015, the Queensland MentalHealth Commission (the Commission)released the Social Housing SystemicIssues for Tenants with ComplexNeeds report that recommendedbetter integration of programs,

policies, and service responses acrossgovernment to help tenants receivemore integrated and coordinatedsupport to sustain their tenancies.

The Commission called for localservice delivery networks tocollaborate to improve their ability todeliver more effective clientoutcomes and improve social housingtenants’ access to the housing andsupport services they need to sustaintheir tenancies. As a result, theMental Health Demonstration Project(the project) was created as a jointinitiative of the Department ofHousing and Public Works (thedepartment) and Queensland Health.

The project was funded to beimplemented from 1 July 2015 to 31December 2017, in the Chermsideand Fortitude Valley Housing ServiceCentres catchment areas. The projectis underpinned by the principle thattenants experiencing mental health orwellbeing issues be treated fairly and

respectfully and receive support toaddress the resultant behaviour thatmay jeopardise their ability to sustaintheir tenancies.

Tenants participating in the programhave access to assessment, supportand assistance, such as clinicalmental health, in-home tenancysupports and links to other services.With their permission, their personalinformation is shared across theagencies and local support networks,allowing more accurate and holisticassessments of individual’s needs.The average duration of support thattenants received was approximatelyseven months.

Participants help to develop atailored, integrated case-management plan to providestrategies that can help them managecomplex issues like hoarding andsqualor, social isolation, poor mentaland physical health, failure tomaintain their property and strainedneighbourhood relationships.

There are a variety of roles involved inthe project, including a HousingService Integration Coordinator wholeads and supports interagencycollaboration, a project team thatprovides ongoing assistance fromassessment to exit and regularcheck-ins once the client hascompleted the program.

Between 1 January 2016 to 31December 2017, 195 participantswere accepted into the project,including ‘Mitch’. After sleepingrough on the Brisbane streets on andoff for over ten years, Mitch finallyfound a home in a one-bedroom unitmanaged by the department. Threemonths later, it became clear to staffthat Mitch was struggling to maintainhis tenancy, with neighbourscomplaining about his behaviour.

124Brisbane street art

Mitch had minimal furniture and wasnot paying bills, keeping his unitclean or washing his clothes. He hadpoor eyesight, was drinkingexcessively and eating poorly. Mitchtold staff he had three children wholived with their mother but he had nocontact with them.

Staff referred Mitch to the projectwhere he met with the HousingService Integration Coordinator andproject team to discuss his issues,identify his goals and develop atenancy support plan. Mitch’s goalsincluded having a fully furnished,child-safe unit, improving his sight ifpossible, managing his money topay bills and save, learning to cookhealthy meals, accessing a low costcounselling service and findingwork.

Over the four months, Mitchreceived clinical mental healthsupport from Queensland Health,psycho-social support fromFootprints in Brisbane and fundingto purchase additional support andspecialist services. Staff provided in-home visits to work on hisbudgeting and helped him set up a

system to pay bills on-time whichreduced his debts. He bought awashing machine, fridge and otherfurnishings, and liaised with thedepartment to arrange floorcoverings for his unit. He also saw anoptometrist for his sight issues andreceived new glasses.

Mitch undertook cooking lessons andlearnt successful grocery shoppingstrategies. This has helped himbecame more confident aboutpreparing and cooking varied andhealthy meals. He has regularlyattended a counselling service and isconsidering going to a local ‘SingleDads’ group for peer support. Mitchhas engaged with Centrelink and ishoping to seek employment in 2018.Most importantly, Mitch came to aninformal agreement with hisex-partner to visit his children weekly.

Mitch receives regular check-ins thatshow he is successfully managingand sustaining his tenancy. Thecollaborative approach between thedepartment, and other agencies andorganisations involved, has providedMitch with the support he needed towork towards his goals, increase his

connection to the community,improve his quality of life andtherefore keep him housed.

Mitch’s story demonstrates theenormous impact a person-centredand collaborative approach canhave on someone’s life. That is whythe Queensland Government hasmade a commitment to build uponthe success of the project throughthe Queensland Housing Strategy2017–2020 Action Plan. Anindependent evaluation of theproject was undertaken and foundthat it provided a vital service that:

contributed to improving tenants’•

lives;helped establish the department•

as a human service organisation;andwas a useful mechanism to achieve•

the necessary collaboration toholistically support tenants withmental health and other complexneeds.

Endnote

1. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare2014, Housing outcomes for groupsvulnerable to homelessness, Cat. no. HOU274 AIHW, Canberra, pp. 19–24.

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Mental health e-learning availableAs part of the project, the department, with the support and assistance of the Queensland Mental HealthCommission and Queensland Centre for Mental Health Learning, launched a suite of online training for frontlineservice delivery staff who work with social housing tenants with mental illness, mental health and wellbeing issues, orrelated complex needs.

This training is available to anyone interested in improving their understanding of effective service provisionincluding government and non-government staff and individuals.

Two sets of resources are available:

Introduction to mental health1.Understanding the mental health system•

Suicide awareness•

Alcohol and other drugs•

Introduction to the housing and homelessness system2.Navigating housing services•

Applicant processes•

Tenant processes•

This training has been well received by users with comments including:

‘A wonderful resource, beautifully engineered toward housing officers, housing managers and department staff.’

‘This course is very informative and practical.’

‘By being more aware and knowledgeable, I’ll be able to refer and advise correctly.’

For further information on the training please visit: www.tenancysupporttraining.qld.edu.au

Working Outside of the Box: CommunityClozapine Commencement for theHomeless Using Assertive OutreachBarbara Baumgartner, Deanna Erskine and Briony, Homeless Health Outreach Team, Metro NorthMental Health — RBWH, Metro North Hospital and Health Service (HHS)

The Homeless Health Outreach Team(HHOT), part of the Metro NorthMental Health service in Brisbane,began in 2006 as Queensland Healthrecognised the need for specialistmental health teams for the homelesspopulation. HHOTs exist in six areasof Queensland and operate from amodel of assertive outreach. HHOTsshare a Model of Service but vary inimplementation. Brisbane HHOT is amultidisciplinary team (nursing, alliedhealth, medical, and Indigenoushealth workers) that work acrossextended hours, seven days a week ina five-kilometre radius of the GPO.

This paper describes how HHOTinitiated Clozapine treatment for aclient, Briony, without a hospitaladmission, which was usual practice inthe Hospital and Health Service (HHS)at the time and reviews how the teamaddressed the resulting challenges.Briony’s situation was unique forseveral reasons — she wished toavoid hospital admission; she wasalcohol dependent; she was living incrisis accommodation; and, the HHSdid not have written policy to guidecommunity commencement ofClozapine. While HHOT hadsupported past consumers who weretaking Clozapine, they had nevercommenced someone on Clozapineoutside hospital.

Briony’s clear wish was to avoidhospital and to do so, HHOT neededto tackle how to support her choice inthe absence of written procedures forcommunity commencement. WhilstBriony was taking several medicationsto treat Schizophrenia, she reportedongoing symptoms. Waiting until shemoved into stable accommodation tostart a new medication was an option,but would require a delay of unknownlength. Additionally, asking Briony towait to start a new medication whilstthe HHS wrote necessary procedure

would cause a lengthy delay, beincongruent with recovery-orientedpractice, and lose an opportunity forrecovery.

Mental health services vary widely onClozapine implementation policy withonly some having provision tocommence treatment in thecommunity.1, 2 Working outside usualpractice or procedure can be difficultin government health agencies wherechange and creation of policy to meetconsumer need can be slow.

Due to some of the medical risks,Clozapine titration requires closemonitoring, something that is easilydone in hospital or by assertiveoutreach teams, although guidelinesfor the latter can be lacking. Outreachmental health teams appear ideallysituated to support communityClozapine titration thereby preventinghospital admissions and minimisingdisruption to a consumer’s life.

Briony’s Experience‘I grew up in a home where domesticviolence was very present. I starteddrinking at the age of 15 and by thetime I was 21, I knew alcohol was aproblem. My ability to communicatetelepathically with people began as achild. When I was 23 years old, I wasgoing through a lot of stress, workingfull-time and attending uni, some ofmy symptoms began to be aproblem. I started going in and out ofmental health inpatient units, trialledon different anti-psychoticmedications. I eventually dropped outof uni, lost my job, attempted suicide,and became homeless. Drinkingalcohol was the only thing helping medeal with everything going on, and itwas the only thing that helped mesleep. When the doctor suggestedClozapine, I was open to trying it butonly if I could avoid the usual

three-week hospital admission. Theteam was willing to come and visit meat home and because there weretimes I wasn’t up for leaving myhouse, that also made it easier to try.’

How the Team WorkedDifferentlyIn order to meet Briony’s choice tostay out of hospital and also start thismedication, the team faced adilemma — to work in a new waywithout community specific HHSpolicy, but to do it safely for Brionyand staff. Engaging in recovery-oriented practices inherently involvestaking some risks and in this instance,the risk was commencing amedication with potential serious sideeffects outside the safety of aninpatient unit. However, if servicescontinue to make decisions solely onrisk, opportunities for recoverybecome limited.3

While motivated to work from arecovery model and support Briony’swishes, clinicians on the teamexpressed concerns about themedical danger for starting someoneon Clozapine outside of hospital. It isunderstandable that mental healthteams, while wanting to embrace achange of practice, also struggle todo so, as risk is constantly beingconsidered. As such, ongoing teamdiscussions were a key part tochanging how Clozapinecommencement had previously beendone.

The team medical lead was open to acommunity Clozapine initiation trialand ensured that this was within HHSscope despite the lack of writtencommunity commencement policy,using the Maudsley PrescribingGuidelines, existing inpatientcommencement procedure, andcurrent literature in lieu. Discussingthe proposed idea enabled the team

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to identify potential problems ofdoing something new and to debateethical issues (for example, to notallow Clozapine commencement inthe community and essentially denyBriony a potentially useful treatment).Such conversations cultivated theco-development of a treatment planthat balanced risk with recovery.

As discussions ensued, thepracticalities of how to proceed withcommunity titration emerged and theteam identified what forms neededcreation, what equipment neededpurchasing, and how they wouldrespond to potential medical crises,such as fever or light-headedness. Bymapping a variety of potentialscenarios and correspondingresponses, the team increased itsconfidence.

Implementing any type of change inpractice involves preparation. Teamconversations focused on what itwould take to make a communityClozapine trial work for Briony,bearing in mind her wish to remainout of hospital. Engaging in debatehighlighted the current practice ofinpatient Clozapine commencementand how homeless consumers, suchas Briony, were being excluded fromtreatment options. As staff had aforum to voice their apprehensions,have their concerns heard, andchoose whether or not they wished tochampion a new way of working,natural leaders for the trial emerged.These advocates informally began totake ownership of implementationand could respond to concerns raisedregarding the change of practice.

Briony’s Experience‘The team told me that there wouldbe a lot of medical tests requiredwhen you’re on Clozapine, but theytried to make it easy for me. I think ithelped that I have a pretty easygoingattitude about medical tests and I’mnot afraid of needles. In thebeginning the nurses came to myhouse to take my temperature andblood pressure — it helped a lot thatthey came to me — it made itconvenient. I also had to go forweekly blood tests for the firsteighteen weeks and in the beginningthey would pick me up and drive me.Later on they would just text me toremind me to go, which helped.There are a few disadvantages — I

fainted twice at the start and I droolat night when sleeping. But therehave been some good things abouttaking Clozapine — it helps me sleep.It’s also really calming and it’s helpedme deal with the mental illness.’

Challenges and OutcomesOverall, the team’s experience ofcommunity Clozapinecommencement was positive but alsochallenging and stressful as stafffaced medical events, to which theywere not accustomed. For example,repeated tachycardia in the earlystages fuelled team apprehensions,requiring education and support bythe medical lead. As well, Briony wasbrought to the hospital emergencydepartment (ED) due to elevatedblood pressure and temperaturespikes. During one home visit, Brionyreported that she had fainted theprevious evening and got a bump on

the head, requiring another review inED. Each of these incidents stretchedthe team’s comfort level.

With the value of hindsight, ensuringthat Briony had an establishedrelationship with a GeneralPractitioner (GP) at commencementof Clozapine may have assisted withfollow-up of arising medical concerns.It took some time before a GP couldbe found, inadvertently delayingBriony’s treatment her for ongoingnausea. GP care and the effectivetreatment of her nausea helped toprevent Briony from disengaging fromthe Clozapine trial. This highlights atypical challenge for homelessconsumers and their support teams— having regular contact with a GP.Not only is it difficult to find GPs whoare comfortable working with thehomeless population, consumers areoften reluctant to see a doctor. Teams

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that provide primary care andspecialist mental health servicesaddress this well.

For the HHS, a primary outcome ofthis trial was the addition ofcommunity Clozapinecommencement processes intoexisting policy, which is now usedservice wide. This has in turnincreased consumer access,particularly homeless consumers, toClozapine as a treatment option,improving outcomes and keepingconsumer choice at the centre ofpractice.

With respect to implementing a newpractice in a mental health service, welearned that having cohesive medicaland operational leadership helps tochampion change. Regular teamdiscussions also ensure consumersafety within a recovery orientationand support staff risk tolerance.

Briony’s Experience‘Clozapine isn’t a medication foreveryone — especially if you hate

getting your blood taken — but Ithink it’s helped me. It’s been almost18 months that I’ve been taking it andI’ve maintained my apartment,returned to university study, and quitalcohol. I’m also able to hang out andget along with my family more.’

SummaryGiven that approximately one in threecases of schizophrenia are ‘treatmentresistant’, and that Clozapine is theonly medication identified andlicensed for consumers diagnosedwith a treatment resistantschizophrenia, it is essential thatClozapine is an accessible treatmentoption.

In the authors’ HHS historically,Clozapine commencement requiredhospital admission, inadvertentlycreating a barrier for consumers whodid not want to be admitted tohospital. HHOT successfullyaddressed this dilemma tocommence Clozapine in thecommunity in advance of acommunity-based policy. It isimportant to acknowledge that

successful community Clozapinetitration requires not only an investedand proactive team, but also aconsumer who is motivated toengage in the intensive process.

This experience has improved ourunderstanding of how systems canchange to better fit individualconsumers, rather than expectingconsumers to fit an existing system.As such, the authors encourage othermental health teams to consider howthey might change usual practicewhilst still balancing risk and recovery.

Endnotes

1. Gee S, Vergunst F, Howes O and Taylor D2014, Practitioner attitudes to clozapineinitiation, Acta Psychiatrica Scandinaviva,130: 16–24. DOI: 10.1111/acps.12193

2. Gonzales C, Kodimela K and Poynton A2013, Clozapine initiation in crisis teams,British Journal of Medical Practitioners,vol.6, no.3, pp. 624–627.

3. Tickle A, Brown D and Hayward M 2014,Can we risk recovery? A grounded theoryof clinical psychologists’ perceptions of riskand recovery oriented mental healthservices, Psychology and Psychotherapy:Theory, Research and Practice, vol.87, no.1,pp. 96–110.

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Opinion

Leone CraydenChief Executive Officer, QShelter

Homelessness inQueensland: ReformFatigueIt’s time to ensure there is synergybetween supply and supportstrategies and repositionhomelessness as a one of the majorhousing issues in Queensland.

Homelessness is a big problem inQueensland and successivegovernment reforms at state andfederal level have helped, but nevergo far enough or think broadlyenough to make the practicalchanges required to endhomelessness or reduce it tominimum levels.

While we wait for the new AustralianBureau of Statistics (ABS) estimate ofpeople experiencing homelessness,expected in November or December2017, the number of peoplepresenting at homelessness servicesin Queensland has declined bytwo per cent every year over the pastfive years while people re-presentinghas increased.1

The rate of people using SpecialistHomelessness Services (SHS) is lowerin Queensland, at one in 112

compared to one in 85 nationally.2

That may reflect a lower rate ofhomelessness or a lower level ofservice use. AIHW data also tells usthat people presenting in Queenslandare more likely to be male, muchmore likely to be Aboriginal or TorresStrait Islander and more likely to befrom outer regional or remote areas.Indigenous people are 6.7 timesmore likely to present thannon-Indigenous people.

Since 2005, Queensland hasexperienced several waves of reform:

the $235 million Responding to•

Homelessness Strategy 2005–09,was a major reform at state leveland committed the QueenslandGovernment to matching (at least)the money coming from theCommonwealth. It alsoestablished that homelessness wasa responsibility of manygovernment agencies andallocated funds to Health,Attorney General, Education,Corrections and others to playtheir parts in reducinghomelessness. At the time it ledthe nation.In 2011–14 the Queensland•

Strategy for ReducingHomelessness 2010–2020focussed on addressingprevention, housing and supportand services reform. Using thefederal government initiativesincluding responding to TheRoad Home,3 the Social HousingStimulus package, The NationalRental Affordability Scheme,The National PartnershipAgreement on Homelessness(NPAH), a seniors’ strategy and astatement about inclusion for theLGBTIQ community.The Non-GovernmentOrganisation (NGO) HomelessnessPlanning and Coordinationinitiative was funded under the

Queensland Implementation Planfor the NPAH and ran from2010–2013 resulting in sevenregionally focused homelessnesscommunity action plans.4

The Housing 2020 Strategy and•

Housing to HomelessnessStrategy 2020 (2013–2015)suggesting significant sectorreforms and recommissioning,improved intake and triage,increased supply and communitysector housing reforms andregulation.The new Queensland Housing•

Strategy 2017–2027 commits$1.8 billion towards 5,500 newhomes, early intervention, servicecoordination and supportivehousing for vulnerable youngpeople.

Some good things have emergedfrom these reforms and we havehope the new strategy will bringsuccess. Each wave of reformsreflected somewhat differentemphases and varying levels offocus on housing supply, communityaction planning, sector reforms,prevention, support, serviceintegration and the role ofcommunity housing provision as partof a broader housing system. JennySmith, the Chief Executive Officer ofCouncil to Homeless PersonsVictoria and Chairperson ofHomelessness Australia said in theAugust edition of Parity ‘the NAHAand NPAH… were the first attemptto put together a truly nationalresponse to tackling homelessnessand providing affordable housing.’That work needs to continue and inQueensland we will do well toembrace a complementary suite ofelements ensuring adequatehousing supply combined withevidence-based support modelsresulting in sustained tenancies bythe most vulnerable people.

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Q Shelter sees future success beingbuilt around five critical elements:

Supply1.Adequate supply-side strategiesare needed to address the shortfallof homes as population growthsurges. Supply-side strategies willbe housing-system focusedachieving diversity and optimalinvolvement of Government, theprivate sector and communityhousing providers. In WesternAustralia and the Australian CapitalTerritory (ACT) a multi-prongedapproach is being taken 5 includingland release, transfers, sharedequity home loans, landaffordability and state tax changesto achieve better results. Weencourage the QueenslandGovernment’s new strategy toconsider a more expansive set ofarrangements to boost supply.

Queensland is not buildingenough housing for those whoneed it. The Queensland HousingStrategy says ‘almost 380,000additional homes will be needed

by 2027 when Queensland’spopulation grows to 5.7 million.’ 6

The strategy will invest $1.8 billionover ten years building 4,522social homes and 1,034 affordablehomes statewide. Of the 380,000homes required overall only oneand 1.5 per cent of all new homesrequired are currently planned tobe social or affordable comparedwith the 3.5 per cent of socialhousing as a percentage of currenthousing in Queensland.

The role of community2.housing in solutions tohomelessnessThe strategy may miss anopportunity to better utilise thecommunity housing sector inhelping Queensland expand socialand affordable housing. Thecommunity housing sector alreadyhas a proven track record atresponding to the needs of peopleassessed with very high needs.QShelter proposes that communityhousing providers arewell-positioned to contribute moreto housing supply options that

directly address homelessness.Specific provisions now need to benegotiated to realise this fullpotential. Elsewhere in Australia oroverseas there is a trend of greaterutilisation of the communityhousing sector in addressingoverall housing shortfalls.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait3.Islander housing responsesQShelter is highly aware oflong-standing and unmet needsamong Aboriginal and TorresStrait Islander communities.There is a need to re-invigoratethe role of IndigenousCommunity Housing and othercommunity controlled providersin direct responses to theseneeds. Health care modelsillustrate the successes ofIndigenous controlled servicesbecause of effective engagementand therefore community trustand confidence. There aremeasurable improvements inhealth outcomes through thisapproach and potentiallytransferrable learning in relationto housing provision.

Aboriginal and Torres Straitislander people are often deniedaccess to ownership, renting andother services in private marketsdue to discrimination, in manycases by a lack of income but alsothru direct racial discrimination. Inthis context, there is a duty toback community controlledservice delivery. Communityhousing has proven successes inresponding to these needs andthere is an opportunity to furtherbuild capacity, grow housing andimprove service delivery.

The relationship of housing4.and supportThe connection between housingand support is essential in effortsto end homelessness. Leadingpractice in other jurisdictionsfocusses on adequate supplycombined with effectivelydesigned service delivery modelsthat provide tiered supportdepending on needs. A proportionof homeless people havelong-standing needs emergingfrom early trauma, and interruptedattachments in families extendingto school and then later toeducation and employment.

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The causes of homelessness forsomeone in this situation aredeeply entrenched and supportivehousing models are critical tosuccess in ending homelessnesswhere such entrenched patterns ofvulnerability and disadvantagedhave been allowed to consolidateover a whole lifetime.

Community housing providers dotheir best to house people with thehighest level of need from thehousing register however manypeople have serious unmet needsfor intensive and ongoing support.Not everyone needs support tobe ongoing but there is aconsiderable lack of supportoptions for those people whoseneeds persevere and who struggleto sustain a tenancy. Gettingsupport models right is likely toreduce the number of peoplere-presenting to services and thereis considerable data availableproving that effective integrationof housing and support deliverssubstantial cost benefits becauseof reduced reliance on expensivetertiary interventions.

Queensland needs a sustainingtenancies program of support thataddresses the needs of people forthe duration of their need.Community housing providers willbe positively impacted because

support to sustain housing reducesthe cost of housing provision andultimately reduces homelessnessbecause the most vulnerablepeople are not cycling in and outof housing options.

Industry and sector5.developmentHomelessness has been a coreissue for QShelter since itsinception in 1988 and while therehave been many organisations,regional groups, interests and peakbodies involved in homelessness itis time to recognise homelessnessand housing are part of a systemand arrive at a means of properlyrepresenting the interests of all theparties to that system. Sectordevelopment and effective inputto policy and programimprovements is essential to thesustainability of positive reforms.In a regionalised State likeQueensland, decentralisedcapacity and structures areessential as a mechanism forStatewide coordination of input toGovernment as well asappropriately designed local andregional solutions. Advancing thistype of structural development willhelp to bring coordinated andevidence-based input togovernment and also help to drivethe implementation of local andregional solutions.

The current strategy deliberatelyfocuses on a ten year policycommitment which helps to bringstability and capacity to combinedefforts to end homelessness.QShelter understands that enduringsolutions need synergy betweenhousing supply strategies, improvedsupport programs, a morecomprehensive role for communityhousing providers, and industry andsector development. Withoutharnessing these elements, it will bedifficult to achieve enduring changeswith measurable and positiveoutcomes. We need to envision 2027as a critical milestone in our evolutionas a total housing system involvinggovernment, the community sectorand private industry in deliveringhousing and support solutions thatreally work.

Endnotes

1. https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/6a1d876e-12a6-4499-87e5-6ebceba73d0c/20527-qld.pdf.aspx

2. ibid aihw3. http://apo.org.au/node/28824. https://www.qcoss.org.au/hcap5. Rowley S, James A, Phibb, P, Nouwelant R

and Troy L 2017, Government ledinnovations in affordable housing delivery,AHURI Final Report No. 289, AustralianHousing and Urban Research InstituteLimited, Melbourne,https://www.ahuri.edu.au/ research/final-reports/ 289, doi:10.18408/ahuri-8113101.

6. http://www.hpw.qld.gov.au/housingstrategy/Documents/QldHousingStrategy.pdf.