Paul Flatau

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Addressing Homelessness in Western Australia

• Paul Flatau
• Murdoch University

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Outline

• Ends means
• Defining housing need and homelessness
• Housing need and homelessness in WA
• Causes and consequences of homelessness
• The policy response

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Ends and Means

• As a community we should aim to ensure that
• All have a right to adequate, safe and secure
  shelter
• Support services are provided to those in need to
  enable them to participate in everyday community
  life on equal terms with others
• Our ability to achieve our ends is limited by the
  resources we apply to meet the problem and how
  effective is the program and service response

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Categories of Housing Need
Housing Need
Hidden Homelessness
Marginal Housing
Unsafe Environments
Homelessness
Relative homelessness
At Risk of Homelessness
The taxonomy does not rely on mutually exclusive
categories (e.g. unsafe environments can exist in
a range of housing circumstances)
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Categories of Housing Need
Primary homelessness (without shelter) Crisis and
emergency accommodation (no independent shelter)
Housing Need
Hidden Homelessness
Marginal Housing
Unsafe Environments
Homelessness
Those without a home of their own who stay, on a
temporary basis, with relatives, friends and
relatives often moving around Short-term
boarding/lodging house and caravan accommodation
with no security of tenure and very poor living
conditions
At Risk of Homelessness
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Categories of Housing Need
Housing Need
Hidden Homelessness
Marginal Housing
Unsafe Environments
Homelessness

• Examples
• Public and private tenants who face possible
  eviction with little prospect of being able to
  gain alternative accommodation
• Those with disabilities and mental and physical
  health conditions with grossly inadequate support
  structures
• Prisoners leaving jail with few resources and
  limited or no accommodation options

At Risk of Homelessness
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Categories of Housing Need
Housing Need
Marginal housing refers to inadequate
accommodation given community standards

• Inappropriate dwellings and/or support levels
  given the special needs of the person and
  household (disabilities, mental and physical
  health, frailty)

Marginal Housing

• Poor dwelling conditions (major structural
  repairs required) and/or inadequate connections
  to essential services (water, electricity and
  sewerage)

• Overcrowding
• Inadequate conditions and/or insecurity of tenure
  in long-term caravan park and boarding house
  environments
• Housing cost stress for those in low net wealth
  poverty

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Housing Need in WA

• 2000-4000 primary homeless (depending on the
  sources used)
• 600-650 adults (18 over) accompanying
  children (around 400) receiving accommodation
  support in SAAP each night Aboriginal people
  overrepresented.
• Up to 7500 temporary stays in homes
• 2000 people in boarding houses
• 2500 people living in caravan parks

Homelessness
Hidden Homelessness
Hidden Marginal Adequate
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Housing Need in WA

• Overcrowding (very high in WA and NT) 33 of
  Indigenous families in overcrowded accommodation
  relative to 3 in the WA non-Indigenous
  population
• Inadequate dwelling conditions Around 1/4 to 1/3
  of Indigenous community household dwellings
  require major structural repairs - Connections to
  essential services Up to 8 per cent of
  Indigenous community housing dwellings not
  connected to water/electricity/sewerage
• Supports for special needs Many of those with
  severe and profound disabilities applying for
  Accommodation Support Funding with the Disability
  Services Commission do not receive funding. Long
  waiting lists in the Independent Living Program
• Affordability Declining affordability e.g.,
  The inaugural BankWest Key Worker Housing
  Affordability survey - more than 80 of capital
  city council areas too expensive for key workers
  to buy a house in 2007, compared with about 50
  in 2002.

Marginal Housing
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Housing Need in WA
Unsafe Environments

• Violence in the home. Women escaping
  family/domestic violence remains the largest
  presenting group for SAAP.
• High turnaway rates from SAAP services among
  women and accompanying children
• Boarding houses

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Key Causes of Homelessness

• Lack of affordable housing
• Poverty
• Unemployment
• Domestic violence
• Alcoholism and substance abuse
• Mental health conditions
• Family break-up
• Cultural factors

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Consequences of Homelessness

• Quality of life
• Reduced opportunities in terms of economic and
  social participation
• Mental health effects
• Alcohol and substance abuse
• Higher costs in other service areas

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Quality of life outcomes

• Physical physical pain, need for medical
  treatment to function in daily life, energy for
  every day life, ability to get around physically,
  sleep, ability to perform daily living activities
  and capacity for work.
• Psychological enjoyment of life, the extent to
  which life is seen to be meaningful, the ability
  to concentrate, acceptance of bodily appearance,
  satisfaction with one's self and frequency of
  negative feelings such as blue mood, despair,
  anxiety, depression.
• Social Relationship personal relationships, sex
  life and social support.
• Environment Feelings of safety in daily life,
  how healthy the respondent's physical environment
  is, whether the respondent has enough money to
  meet needs, availability of relevant information,
  opportunity for leisure activities, conditions of
  the respondents living place, access to health
  services and satisfaction with transport options.

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Cost Impacts of Homelessness

• Recent WA study For all programs examined, the
  health and justice costs associated with
  homelessness was greater than the annual value of
  program recurrent funding capital costs.
• In most cases annual population cost offsets are
  more than twice the annual value of program
  recurrent funding capital costs.
• There is significant potential for net government
  cost savings from the provision of assistance.

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Policy Responses

• Prevention
• Policies aimed at attacking root causes of
  homelessness e.g., poverty, availability of
  housing, overcrowding, domestic violence,
• Early intervention
• Tenant support programs, prisoner re-entry
  programs, education programs, child protection
• Crisis support
• Post-crisis transition (sustained exits)
• Life skills, outreach, supported tenancies,
  employment

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Improved Service Delivery

• Increased service linkage government agencies
  relevant community services, mental health, DA
  services and labour market/training services.
• A broader range of supports provided to clients
  identified as needing such supports
• Outward-looking focus and responsibility -
  outreach activities and post-exit transition
  programs
• Support and advocacy services for children

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Current Policy Environment

• SAAP V and the (former) WA Homelessness Strategy
• Homelessness Green and White Papers
• Closing the Gap - Indigenous housing in remote
  communities 1.6 billion
• COAG National Action Plan on Mental Health
• National Child Protection Framework

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Conclusion

• Continued high levels of unmet housing need and
  homelessness evident we have a way to go to
  meet our objectives
• But we can with resources, the development of new
  programs enhancement of existing programs and
  consistently improving the effectiveness of
  services