Workers on the front-line of homelessness on the Border are powerless to stop the developing crisis, one agency says.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The only likely respite could come from a sustained period of “double investment” long before people reached the stage of finding themselves with nowhere to sleep. Albury homelessness agency yes unlimited’s client services manager, Jon Park, said government needed to find a lot more money if it had any hope of easing the problem.
“There’s a constant tension in this sector around the early intervention, prevention and long-term issues and the crisis stuff,” he said.
But there was a way out.
“It’s like what we need is a double investment for a period of time,” Mr Park said.
“NSW reform had a real emphasis on early intervention.
“But we can’t stop the crisis.
“There’s a period of time where if we really invested heavily and were able to put in lots into early intervention we would start to stop that flow into crisis accommodation."
Mr Park said that in turn would free-up agencies such as yes unlimited to make the decision to reduce the money it spent on crisis accommodation.
“But those two things have to happen together.
“We can’t just stop and say ‘we’re not going to provide crisis accommodation’ to stop people coming in,” he said.
“We need a double investment for a period of time if we’re really going to solve it.”
In Wodonga, crisis accommodation only really existed at caravan parks or motels contacted by agencies to take in clients.
But one worker said that at least the Victorian government had clear plans to create more social housing, including in regional areas.
“The government has secured the funding or committed to it until 2019 and is doing some great things with their housing plan.They are creating the economic environment to be able to grow and expand social housing,” Hume Region Homelessness Network co-ordinator Jan Armstrong said.
