The head of one of Melbourne's largest welfare agencies has welcomed the Federal Government's Green Paper on homelessness, but warned that vulnerable people will fall through the cracks if the Government completely dismantles its current platform for funding and delivering homelessness services.
Anne Turley, Chief Executive Officer, Melbourne Citymission, said the Supported Accommodation and Assistance Program (SAAP) - the nation's primary policy response to homelessness since 1985 - needed to be strengthened.
"Melbourne Citymission has been saying for a long time that the homelessness system needs a comprehensive overhaul. SAAP needs to be the centrepiece of a rejuvenated system.
"SAAP is a dedicated platform for funding and providing homelessness services. It's the only government program in Australia that has homelessness as its organising principle.
"There's no question it needs enhancement, to take into account the latest research into the causes, symptoms and consequences of homelessness, but the bottom line is that, of all the things wrong with the system, SAAP is not one of them.
"Up until now, it's been a great platform for working with homeless Australians.
"Whether the Government keeps the program name, or calls it something different, matters little.
"What's critical is that the Federal Government retains a dedicated policy and funding platform to deliver services to homeless Australians.
"If we ‘mainstream' the issue within government - the third option in the Green Paper - so that each department operates in isolation, delivering a small chunk of services to homeless clients, people will fall through the cracks.
"There must be a specialised broker that works across government departments, to ensure that each homeless person gets the services they need, when they need them."
Ms Turley congratulated Prime Minister Kevin Rudd for making homelessness a priority issue for the nation.
"This is the first time in more than a decade that a Federal Government has committed to doing anything to alleviate homelessness.
"It's a complex social issue, with many different strands to the debate. Melbourne Citymission looks forward to continuing to be part of the discussion, and contributing to the White Paper, which will outline in detail, after extensive consultation, the Government's policy roadmap.
"Melbourne Citymission will be strongly advocating to enhance the current SAAP response."
Melbourne welfare chief welcomes youth homelessness focus
The head of Melbourne's largest youth homelessness agency today welcomed "Australia's Homeless Youth" - the findings of a 12-month inquiry by the National Youth Commission - but said it was a travesty that 20 years on from the Burdekin inquiry, little had changed for young people on the margins.
Anne Turley, Chief Executive Officer of Melbourne Citymission, said the report demonstrated a level of intractability around the issues.
"Twenty years on from Brian Burdekin's Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission inquiry, what's changed?
"We've experienced a prolonged period of unprecedented economic growth, we're a more affluent country than we've ever been, yet the rate of youth homelessness has almost doubled since Burdekin's 1989 inquiry."
Ms Turley said "Australia's Homeless Youth" reinforced Melbourne Citymission's experience of a system under extreme stress, but urged against knee-jerk reactions to the report.
"Today, as the National Youth Commission hands down its findings, Australia stands poised at the cross-roads.
"The money that poured into the system in 1989, thanks to Brian Burdekin, was important but had limited effectiveness because it was not accompanied by major policy reform.
"For the first time in more than a decade, we have a Federal Government genuinely committed to tackling homelessness, and to making Australia a more inclusive nation. Let's do it right this time - I don't want to be sitting here in another 20 years, circling around the same issues."
Ms Turley said a major starting point for government would be to stop treating homelessness as an episodic occurrence in the lives of some people.
"The current system perpetuates crisis-led responses and a ‘revolving door' approach that is just not good enough. We need to look at how we support young people so that when they leave the homelessness system, they leave it for good.
"On a practical level, this means developing strong links between accommodation support and areas like health, education and employment.
"Past government efforts to do this have been patchy, at best. That's because there's been no real recognition of the fact that homelessness is more than just ‘rooflessness' - that housing instability is usually the culmination of a series of complex and unresolved issues relating to family violence, mental illness, drug or alcohol use, early school leaving, unemployment, or loss of social networks and supports.
"Unless a young person is given support to address all of their needs in a coordinated way, their attempts to rebuild their lives and gain independence will be frustrated.
"Melbourne Citymission calls for federal government departments to develop a new policy and service delivery mechanism that responds to this reality."
Ms Turley said Melbourne Citymission's research indicated that with the right supports, young people can move beyond the homelessness service system to independence and participation.