SUBMISSION TO THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STANDING COMMITTEE ON SOCIAL POLICY AND LEGAL AFFAIRS | INQUIRY INTO HOMELESSNESS IN AUSTRALIA
Central Australian Aboriginal Family Legal Unit (CAAFLU) welcomes the opportunity to make a submission to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs regarding the inquiry into homelessness in Australia.
1. ABOUT THE CENTRAL AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL FAMILY LEGAL UNIT
CAAFLU was established in 2000 and is one of 13 Family Violence Prevention Legal Services currently operating in Australia. CAAFLU's mission is to provide culturally appropriate legal and support services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have experienced, or are experiencing, family violence or sexual assault in Central Australia and the Barkly Region.
2. THE INQUIRY – TERMS OF REFERENCE
The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs will inquire into and report on homelessness in Australia. The inquiry will have particular regard to: 1. the incidence of homelessness in Australia; 2. factors affecting the incidence of homelessness, including housing-market factors; 3. the causes of, and contributing factors to, housing overcrowding; 4. opportunities for early intervention and prevention of homelessness; 5. services to support people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, including housing assistance, social housing, and specialist homelessness services; 6. support and services for people at particular risk of homelessness, including: a. women and children affected by family and domestic violence; b. children and young people; c. Indigenous Australians; d. people experiencing repeat homelessness; e. people exiting institutions and other care arrangements; f. people aged 55 or older; g. people living with disability; and h. people living with mental illness; 7. the suitability of mainstream services for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness; 8. examples of best-practice approaches in Australia and internationally for preventing and addressing homelessness; 9. the adequacy of the collection and publication of housing, homelessness, and housing affordability related data; and 10. governance and funding arrangements in relation to housing and homelessness, particularly as they relate to the responsibility of Local, State, Territory and Federal Governments.
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3. SUBMISSIONS
CAAFLU recognises that there is a continuing homelessness issue in Australia, exemplified by the Northern Territory, which has the highest rate of homelessness per capita.1 While the Northern Territory makes up 1% of Australia’s population, 12% of the homeless population reside in the Northern Territory.2 Further, the rate of homelessness in Alice Springs is 17 times higher than the national average, in comparison to Darwin, where it is 2.6 times higher.3
In the 2019-2020 Federal Budget the Northern Territory was allocated $20 million of a $1.56 billion budget, which was less than 2% of the Commonwealth funding for affordable housing and homelessness.4
Consultation with Central Australia and the Barkly Region – term of reference 1
There is not always a one-size fits all solution as recognised by the individualised National Housing and Homelessness Bi-lateral Agreements entered in to by the Commonwealth with each State and Territory.5
The extent of homelessness in Alice Springs, Tennant Creek and surrounding communities, indicates the need for consultation with Central Australian and Barkly Region front-line organisations that are working with clients affected by homelessness.
For Indigenous Australians there is a need for culturally appropriate services. This includes addressing the language barriers faced by the homeless Indigenous population.6 English is often not the first language of many Aboriginal people from Central Australia and the Barkly
1 Jamal Ben Haddou, Centralian Advocate (31 January 2020) 'Alice Springs homelessness rate 17 times the national average’. 2 Australian Government Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (2018) ‘2018-2019 Budget: Remote Indigenous hosing in the Northern Territory’. Source:
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Region. Firstly, they speak their own community language, plus one or more other Aboriginal languages, as well as English.7
When addressing homelessness in the Indigenous population, it is important to respect the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and values and understand the “housing aspirations and the variety of needs and living patterns” of the persons being accommodated.8
Availability of medium to long-term accommodation – terms of reference 2, 3, 5, 6a & 6c
The Alice Springs Women’s Shelter has 30 beds to provide short-term emergency accommodation for women and children escaping domestic violence. This can be for a few days or weeks.9 It was estimated that over 2,000 women and children are turned away each year.10
In Alice Springs there is no availability of medium to long-term accommodation for people looking to escape Domestic Violence. There are various Aboriginal Hostels located in Alice Springs that have the facilities to provide ongoing accommodation where clients are provided three meals a day, however we have had issues with booking clients in, even for short stays, as these hostels appear to be at capacity, or only taking limited short term bookings.
We have received feedback from our clients that due to the location of some of the Aboriginal Hostels in Alice Springs, our clients can be concerned for their safety, as they feel they are far away from the town centre and the town’s resources. We have clients that come into Alice Springs for appointments and would prefer to incur costs and stay closer to the centre of town, rather than stay at the hostel, due to safety concerns.
In the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement, the Northern Territory initiatives for Women and children affected by family and domestic violence was to focus on:
• “A range of accommodation options (i.e. short-term, medium-term and crisis accommodation) for women and children affected by domestic and family violence • Support services to assist women and children to access, retain and transition into independent and long term accommodation”
7 Central Land Council, ‘Aboriginal languages’
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Through the work we have been doing with our clients, we have not seen the above initiatives being implemented. There is very limited short-term accommodation available to women and children suffering from domestic violence, and people are frequently being turned away due to the unavailability of beds.
We have not seen the implementation of medium-term and crisis accommodation for our clients to access, nor have we seen the support services for women to transition into independent and long-term accommodation.
There is an urgent need for facilities, located centrally in Alice Springs. This could be through agreements with the Aboriginal Hostels, to provide medium-term accommodation and transitional housing. This would allow our clients safe housing while they transition to affordable, independent, long-term housing, as it becomes available.
However this will only work if there is long-term housing available.
Access to Public Housing and Affordable housing in Alice Springs and Communities - terms of reference 2, 3, 5, 6a & 6c
In Alice Springs the estimated wait time for public housing is 4 to 6 years.11 As at the 31st of December 2019 there were 1,181 applications for public housing in Alice Springs and 139 public housing allocations.12 The wait time in Tennant Creek is 6 to 8 years, with 208 current applications and 25 public housing allocations.13
There is an option to apply for priority housing, however as per the NT government website “It may be months or years before you get an offer of housing”.14 Of the 4,589 applications for public housing, 1,446, which is 31.5%, are priority applicants.15
The priority for our clients is to stay in their communities and on their land, in affordable and safe housing, that is free from overcrowding and properly maintained with fully functioning amenities, including access to water and electricity.
11 NT Government, Apply for Public Housing (4 February 2020)
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We have clients that both want to stay in their communities and on their land, as well as clients that would prefer to move to Alice Springs, because of the economic opportunities available to them. In both instances there is no housing available.
A lack of affordable public housing, significant wait times and insufficient long-term accommodation leads to overcrowding in houses.
Overcrowding in Housing – term of reference 3
In the Northern Territory, 81% of persons defined as homeless live in a severely crowded dwelling.16
Overcrowding is when a household or dwelling requires at least one additional bedroom.17 It was projected in the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement that up to 15,124 additional bedrooms will be required to address overcrowding in Northern Territory communities.18
We have had a client express her concern that because there are so many people in one house she is worried about her children and she feels that she must remain constantly alert for the safety of her children.
Overcrowding has been shown to be a stressor in the lives of 1 in 10 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people19 and is shown to be associated with “a range of mental health issues such as depression, anxiety and suicide”.20
When we are working with our clients and Territory Families seeking to have children returned to their homes, our clients do not always have adequate housing, with enough bedrooms to facilitate the return of the children.
16 NT Shelter, Educational resources Homelessness in the Northern Territory (2018)
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This is also applicable for kinship carers. Kinship carers are identified, however if they do not have enough bedrooms in the house, or if the houses are considered overcrowded, then the children will not be placed with the kinship carers. If overcrowding was reduced through access to public housing and affordable housing, then this may result in more children being placed with kinship carers, which is the preferred placement,21 and this in turn may reduce the workload of Territory Families.
We have seen this scenario previously where the only reason a child cannot be placed with a kinship carer is due to an insufficient number of available bedrooms in a dwelling.
Income Management and Availability of Funds
A number of our clients are on Income Management, now known as Cashless Debit Card. This means that 50% of the client’s welfare payment is restricted in what it can be used for, this includes taking the money out as cash. The expectation and hope was that this would have far reaching benefits including “noticeable improvements in overall housing security”. However, it has been shown that the implementation of the Income Management has not led to a decrease in homelessness rates, has not improved housing security and “these policies may contribute to housing insecurity”.22
Not everyone living in a dwelling appears on the Lease, especially with the overcrowding occurring in the Northern Territory. This can mean that rent is not being taken from the portion of monies on the Cashless Debit Card. If a person is then expected to pay cash to the lease holder, for their contributions to the rent, this is further reducing the money in hand amount a person has as a result of the Cashless Debit Card.
21 Victoria State Government, Kinship Care (26 November 2019)
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