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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 789 asked in the Legislative Council on 21 September 2011 by Hon Lynn Maclaren

Parliament: 38 Session: 1


HOMELESSNESS


789. Hon LYNN MacLAREN to the Minister for Child Protection:

(1) Will the minister confirm media reports that 30 homeless people will be offered temporary accommodation for Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and then released back onto the streets afterwards?

(2) Is the minister aware of the recent Australian Community Survey which found that Western Australians were denied services on about 17 819 occasions in 2009–10, a 43 per cent increase on the number of people turned away the year before?

(3) How many additional homeless people have been housed in WA since the government released its National Partnership Homeless Implementation Plan in 2009–10?

(4) How many full-time staff have been employed using national partnership funds?

(5) Will the minister guarantee that the new services and positions created under the homeless implementation plan, such as emergency and mental health outreach, will continue under the new national affordable housing agreement?

Hon ROBYN McSWEENEY replied:

I thank the honourable member for some notice of this question, and I am very pleased that the member asked me this.

(1) The CHOGM homelessness plan is not about providing limited accommodation and then releasing homeless people back onto the streets, like the green coalition thinks.

Several members interjected.

Hon ROBYN McSWEENEY: I think I arced them up a bit—I am sorry! To continue my answer —

The plan is an integrated response developed by the Street to Home service providers because they have the expertise and experience in providing services to homeless people. They are currently working with and providing services for homeless people in the inner city and Fremantle areas. These services are best positioned to engage in a meaningful and respectful way with those homeless people sleeping rough who may feel disrupted in the CHOGM area.

The additional hours that the Street to Home service is available and located at the Tranby Day Centre over the CHOGM period is in actual fact an additional opportunity to connect with homeless people sleeping rough during the three-day CHOGM period. It will provide a safe, alternative supportive environment during the three-day CHOGM period, and provide information about the range of services available for homeless people, including what is available now and how Street to Home can support these people in the longer term.

All current specialist homelessness services, including crisis accommodation services, and Street to Home services will continue to operate as normal during CHOGM. These services already exist. The main difference during CHOGM is that the Tranby centre run by UnitingCare West, which is currently a day centre open mainly for breakfast and other services, will be open 24 hours a day during CHOGM to offer a safe environment for people sleeping rough to go to if they feel disrupted. Tranby is not a mainstream accommodation centre. It will basically be like a drop-in centre to open outside normal hours of operation. The centre will provide a 24-hour central, safe and supportive environment for homeless people; provide showers, meals and a temporary sleeping area—swags may be provided if people do not already have their own gear; roster experienced staff to provide 24-hour coverage, including staff with specialist drug and alcohol and mental health expertise from the Street to Home mobile clinical outreach team; and provide storage for personal belongings. People sleeping rough will continue to be able to access all the other normal crisis accommodation services supplied by other providers.

It is difficult to estimate how many people sleeping rough and who may feel disrupted by the CHOGM area may wish to drop into the Tranby centre after hours. The centre is expecting to cater for about 70 meals and for 30 people using the temporary sleeping area during the extra hours it is open. This figure was developed in close consultation with the Street to Home service providers in Perth’s inner city and based on their expertise and capacity. With all other crisis accommodation services operating as normal at night, it is anticipated that most people seeking sleeping arrangements will continue to go to those facilities, as on any other night.

It is important to understand that the area referred to for CHOGM is a small zone within the city, and it is anticipated that any homeless people sleeping rough outside the CHOGM area will not be necessarily impacted by CHOGM activities.

(2) The Barnett government is committed to resolving homelessness across Western Australia, and the WA data —

Several members interjected.

Hon ROBYN McSWEENEY: When I am asked a question, I like to provide an in-depth answer.

Hon Ken Travers: We’re loving it.

Hon ROBYN McSWEENEY: I can see that those opposite are loving it because they have been very quiet and listening.

Several members interjected.

The PRESIDENT: Order!

Hon ROBYN McSWEENEY: I will continue with the answer —

(2) The Barnett government is committed to resolving homelessness across Western Australia, and the WA data produced by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows an improvement in turn-away rates for people seeking new immediate accommodation. The AIHW report into people turned away from government-funded specialist homelessness accommodation in 2009–10 was released in June 2011 and presents data on people turned away from government-funded specialist homelessness services. This data does not include services provided through the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness.

      Data on the unmet demand for specialist homelessness services was collected during two one-week periods: 18 to 24 November 2009 and 5 to 11 May 2010. While turn-away rates remain an issue, specialist homelessness services continue to provide supported accommodation to homeless people. In WA in 2009–10, a total of 1 382 people—669 adults and unaccompanied children, and 713 accompanying children—were accommodated, compared with a total of 1 153 in 2008–09.
(3) Since the commencement of the NPAH in 2009–10, the first year of operation, around 730 people were assisted. For the second year, 2010–11, data is not yet available in its entirety, as reports are due to be provided at the end of October 2011. However, preliminary data provided by the NPAH services to date indicates that around 2 700 people have been assisted in 2010–11. Of these, the preliminary data indicates that around 850 people were assisted by the programs designed to support homeless people to obtain and sustain long-term stable housing.
      The Western Australian implementation plan for the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness is framed around the three key strategies of early intervention and prevention to stop people becoming homeless and to lessen the impact of homelessness; breaking the cycle of homelessness with investment in services that help people get back on their feet, find stable accommodation and, wherever possible, obtain employment; and a better connected service system to achieve long-term sustainable reductions in the number of people who are homeless. It is fully operational and 81 new services are operating across the state and providing support to assist people who are homeless, or at risk of homelessness, to obtain accommodation and sustain their tenancy in the long term; to stabilise at-risk tenancies and address the issues impacting on the tenancy; to remain in their own home following domestic violence, when it is safe for them to do so; and to minimise the impact of homelessness on children in order to break the cycle of intergenerational homelessness.
(4) Through the NPAH, some 110 full-time equivalent workers have been employed by specialist homelessness services across the state.

(5) The WA NPAH initiatives to date are progressing extremely well, and an evaluation is underway to assist in informing about the success of the programs and the outcomes achieved. As the NPAH is a joint commonwealth–state funding arrangement over four years, future funding arrangements will need to be assessed and discussed further with the commonwealth.

Look, here is some additional information, Mr President, on CHOGM.

Hon Ken Travers: Do you think you could give a lecture to your cabinet colleagues about how to give full and frank answers?

Hon ROBYN McSWEENEY: The Department for Child Protection’s funded Street to Home service providers in the Perth inner-city area indicate that there may be between 75 and 160 homeless people sleeping rough in the area. As this is a mobile population, it is difficult to estimate the exact number sleeping rough in the CHOGM security area.

Hon Sue Ellery: How many?

Hon ROBYN McSWEENEY: Would the member like me to start at the beginning so that she can get all the good things that we are doing?

Hon Sue Ellery: We just missed the number.

Hon ROBYN McSWEENEY: The member just missed the number, did she? I can go back and read out that paragraph then.

The Department for Child Protection’s funded Street to Home service providers in the Perth inner-city area indicate that there may be between 75 and 160 homeless people sleeping rough in the area. As this is a mobile population, it is difficult to estimate the exact number sleeping rough in the CHOGM security area. I can see that the Labor–Greens coalition is not liking what I am saying. The Australian Bureau of Statistics “Counting the Homeless”, 2006 census data indicates that the inner Perth area had a population of 133 homeless people sleeping rough on census night.

The following crisis accommodation services operate at all times and will continue to operate as normal during CHOGM: YMCA Streetsyde emergency youth accommodation, Mission Australia youth accommodation, and 55 Central. For homeless and transitional support services there will be St Bartholomew’s House. There are the Salvation Army homeless accommodation, UnitingCare West accommodation and the Salvation Army Bridge House sobering-up centre, which will be open for 24 hours a day during CHOGM. For single women there will be the Ruah–Anawim Aboriginal Women’s Services and the Salvation Army Graceville Women’s refuge. There are four refuges for women with children. I could go on and on, Mr President, but I think that those opposite have got the message that we are a government that cares about —

Hon Sue Ellery: You’re not doing enough. It’s all about smoke and mirrors.

Hon ROBYN McSWEENEY: Okay. We are not doing Street to Home, Mr President? Street to Home operates at all times in the inner city, and it will operate during CHOGM. Street to Home provides people sleeping rough with a comprehensive response, intensive case management, and accommodation with wraparound, whole-of-person support. There is a strong focus on outreach, taking support to the person, and connecting people to housing, health, mental health and other mainstream services to ensure that people sleeping rough have access to, and are supported to maintain, long-term stable accommodation. Eight non-government service providers and the South Metropolitan Area Health Service, mental health, collaboratively case manage clients to ensure their health, mental health, accommodation and social needs are met. The program has three interrelated components. Assertive outreach is provided by teams from St Patrick’s Community Support Centre. UnitingCare West and Ruah Community Services make initial, direct contact with rough sleepers to address their most pressing needs and link them to the specialist and mainstream services they require.

The PRESIDENT: Order! I think I said before that our current standing orders are silent on the length of answers to questions, except in the case of questions on notice. Members who have been involved in the process will know that within our Standing Committee on Procedure and Privileges’ deliberations on the standing orders review, this matter has come up and been discussed in various forms. Maybe members will have a closer look at that. I would just like to say that I have no scope to sit any minister down in terms of the length of an answer, but I certainly hope that that answer does not set a precedent for the Minister for Child Protection.


Statement by President

THE PRESIDENT (Hon Barry House): I have a letter that I was going to refer to if and when the occasion arose during question time today. It is a letter from the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, alerting us to the fact that today, 21 September, is the International Day of Peace. It is also the international day of Global Ceasefire, personal and political. The letter contains a request—maybe it is a plea—to legislatures that question time be free from rancour and divisiveness on this day, Wednesday, 21 September, as being a fitting way for all members to acknowledge this important day. I was going to leave it until the end of question time to congratulate members on observing that suggestion, perhaps without even knowing about it, but I have just brought it to members’ attention!