Organisations seek better homelessness solutions

LOCAL organisations have thrown their support behind the Victorian government’s long-awaited response to the homelessness inquiry but agree more needs to be done.

The state government last month supported 45 of the inquiry’s 51 recommendations, either in full or in principle, after taking almost three years to address the report.

Its release is followed by an analysis of the 2021 census data conducted by the City Futures Research Centre at UNSW which forecasts that by 2041, almost one million Australian households will face unmet housing needs.

At the moment, there are 7,101 households from the Barwon region on the Victorian Housing Register priority list, up from 2,222 in 2019.

Meli director of youth, housing and south west services Josephine Taylor said a coordinated response was needed to address the scale of people experiencing homelessness and the complex needs that can prevent them from accessing secure, long-term housing.

“Overall, Meli supports any inquiry into the state of homelessness in Victoria and supports the advocacy to ensure that adequate resources are allocated to meet the recommendations of the committee.

“We are particularly motivated to see a coordinated and concerted effort to tackle the chronic shortage of housing for young people.”

She said youth homelessness in the Greater Geelong region doubled between 2016 and 2021, and Meli had seen a sustained increase in young people aged 16-24 seeking support.

In 2022-2023, Meli received 2,500 contacts from young people in need of assistance, up from just over 650 contacts through 2015-2016.

“We support people often at their most vulnerable – young people who have nowhere to live, women and children escaping domestic violence, families struggling to pay their rent and feed their families,” Taylor said.

“Young people often present with mental health concerns or issues with alcohol and other drugs, and this can create additional barriers and challenges in their efforts to secure safe, affordable accommodation.

“Meli would welcome an additional focus on an integrated service and housing policy that best reflects the needs of young people who do require additional services and supports as they transition to independent living.”

Lazarus Community House has also seen a significant increase in demand, with the number of people accessing its service quadrupling in the last 12 months.

“When we first opened [in 2017] an average day would be between 12 and 14 people accessing our service, whereas we’re averaging between 45 and 50 now,” general manager Jade Hamilton said.

“It’s devastating but it’s our reality.”

She called on the state government to also focus on increasing the funding for homelessness services to help them assist more people in the community.

She noted that while the sector would benefit from increased collaboration between organisations, competitive funding was likely working to prevent this, encouraging silos.

“The government have very long-term solutions…and I’m super supportive of that,” Hamilton said.

“As someone who works with people, supports people who are experiencing homelessness right here today, my biggest thing is while we do wait for the government to rebuild those houses, or rebuild more houses, we actually need to be funding programs right here, right now.”