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Inquiry Into Homelessness in Australia House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs – June 2020

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Inquiry Into Homelessness in Australia House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs – June 2020 Inquiry into Homelessness in Australia House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs – June 2020 Sacred Heart Mission 87 Grey Street St Kilda 3182 PO Box 1284 St Kilda South 3182 Enquiries (03) 9537 1166 [email protected] www.sacredheartmission.org Prepared by Cathy Humphrey, Chief Executive Officer Olivia Killeen, Project Officer – Social Policy and Strategic Projects Sacred Heart Mission acknowledges the people of the Kulin Nations as the Traditional Owners of the land on which we operate. We commit to providing accessible and culturally appropriate services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Page 2 of 35 Contents 1. Executive Summary .......................................................................................................... 4 2. Recommendations ............................................................................................................ 5 3. About Sacred Heart Mission .............................................................................................. 6 3.1 Service delivery during COVID-19 ............................................................................... 7 4. Homelessness in Australia before COVID-19 .................................................................... 9 5. What does homelessness look like at SHM? ................................................................... 10 5.1 Crisis and transitional homelessness support before COVID-19 ................................ 11 5.2. Complexity of clients’ needs ..................................................................................... 13 6. Homelessness, inequality and COVID-19 ....................................................................... 14 6.1 Centrelink payments and COVID-19 .......................................................................... 15 6.2 Moratorium on rental evictions and mortgage relief ................................................... 18 6.3 Social impacts of COVID-19 on disadvantaged communities..................................... 18 6.4 Technological disadvantage ...................................................................................... 19 6.5 Demographic changes at SHM .................................................................................. 19 7. Continuum of Care .......................................................................................................... 20 7.1 Assertive engagement and flexible support ............................................................... 22 7.2 The Journey to Social Inclusion (J2SI) Program ........................................................ 23 8. Service integration across levels of government ............................................................. 26 9. Investment in housing supply .......................................................................................... 28 10. Prevention of homelessness ......................................................................................... 30 11. Temporary accommodation and rough sleeping ............................................................ 32 12. References.................................................................................................................... 34 Page 3 of 35 1. Executive Summary Sacred Heart Mission (SHM) applauds the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs undertaking the Inquiry into Homelessness in Australia. Homelessness is a complex issue and affects people across all age brackets within society. For many, it is not the result of an isolated life shock, but rather as a result of entrenched disadvantage and poverty. We urge the Commonwealth to reorient the way homelessness is viewed and responded to, and provides tailored, flexible and responsive services that prevent and end a person’s homelessness. This should be along a continuum – from prevention and early intervention at one end and for people who have experienced chronic homelessness and disadvantage at the other. SHM has significant experience in working with people who have extremely complex needs, particularly through our Journey to Social Inclusion (J2SI) program. J2SI provides three years of intensive support and rapid provision of affordable and appropriate housing to people that have experienced chronic homelessness, and the case for investment in J2SI on a wider scale will be discussed in this submission. Prevention of homelessness does not mean no one may ever find themselves without a home; it means that when life shock episodes do occur, they are swiftly dealt with and the person can access housing, support and get back on their feet. Currently, people who become homeless too often languish in the service system for a long time before they are able to obtain support, and secure safe affordable and long-term housing. This inquiry is occurring at a time where the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has had a profound and severe impact on the social and economic fabric of societies all over the world. The need for physical distancing has required the shutdown of much of societies’ economic activities, leading to job losses, reductions of hours and temporary stand-downs of employees. The likely long-term effects of the pandemic cannot be underestimated. Increases to the JobSeeker Payment (formerly Newstart Allowance) and widened eligibility criteria, and the implementation of the JobKeeper Scheme are important Commonwealth policy interventions. The increases to income support payments have had a significant positive impact for the long-term unemployed people previously languishing on the old Newstart Allowance. However, it is likely that many of the jobs lost due to the pandemic will not return. Many people will struggle to re-engage in the paid workforce, and people who were formerly in a stable, or at least manageable financial position prior to the pandemic will be at significant risk of long-term unemployment, homelessness, and poverty. Climbing out of poverty is extremely difficult, in part due to historically punishing levels of income support in Australia that cannot sustain basic living standards. Poverty and deep disadvantage are severe risk factors for homelessness, and the traumas associated with these experiences. We expect an increased demand for homelessness services responses in the wake of COVID-19, especially if the JobSeeker Payment is reduced or eligibility is cut. In order to respond to the current demand and the anticipated surge demand, a national focus is required on investment into social housing, without it, the homelessness crisis will escalate, and will continue to be a wicked social issue, that society and governments will be challenged by for years to come. Page 4 of 35 2. Recommendations Recommendation 1: That the current payment rates of the JobSeeker Payment, Youth Allowance and Parenting Payment, inclusive of the Coronavirus Supplement, are maintained after 24 September 2020, and that all types of Centrelink payments are independently reviewed annually and adjusted to ensure they meet basic living standards for all recipients. Recommendation 2: That the Commonwealth and State and Territory governments collaborate with landlords and financial institutions to prevent private tenants from being forced to repay their accumulated housing costs at an unaffordable rate, risking eviction, homelessness, and exposure to trauma. Recommendation 3: That non-permanent residents of Australia are made eligible for Commonwealth income support, Medicare and the JobKeeper Payment from their employers, recognising their contributions to Australian society, and the negative individual and societal impacts if such support is not provided to ensure they do not experience disadvantage and homelessness. Recommendation 4: That government facilitates the development of a flexible homelessness support system, that will enable service providers to have greater ability to deliver the right intensity and length of support to respond to the continuum of homelessness experiences. This recognises the timeframes required to engage, build trust and rapport, find housing, sustain housing, and end the experience of homelessness for good. This reform must incorporate a housing supply strategy alongside flexible and tailored support. Recommendation 5: That the Journey to Social Inclusion (J2SI) program is expanded to other geographic locations across Australia, to support people to break the cycle of chronic homelessness and disadvantage. Recommendation 6: That investment is made into integrated service delivery, place-based and virtual service hubs to ensure that people experiencing homelessness can access holistic support services across wide geographic areas. Recommendation 7: That government invests in developing mechanisms to share client information across a variety of service sectors, in order to provide effective, timely and holistic responses whilst maintaining privacy. Recommendation 8: That government invest in social housing, as well as other solutions such as co-investment approaches to work in partnership with the community housing and homelessness providers. Recommendation 9: That government considers head leasing solutions as an additional strategy to boost the availability of affordable housing in the short term, until a long-term social housing supply can be created. Recommendation 10: That cross-sector collaboration work is undertaken to prevent homelessness, by investing in families and young people to break the cycle of
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