Agape responds to NSW homelessness innovation fund

THE NSW Government’s $100 million Homelessness Innovation Fund for better responses to homelessness is aimed at providing grants for better emergency accommodation and to move away from reliance on private hotels.

Tweed-based frontline service provider Agape Outreach founding director and psychologist Theresa Mitchell welcomed the funding but believes it is misguided.

“It all sounds great, but $100 million would create more housing that is desperately needed right now,” she said.

“Reducing reliance on hotels would be wonderful, but they are in a hotel because there is just no housing.

“Crisis accommodation does not solve homelessness, only long-term accommodation will do this.

“We’ve just had another DV refuge close on the Gold Coast. Money is needed, but preventive and early target approaches will not make a change if there are still no houses to live in.

“Prevention is also focusing on people as the problem, and while this has a role, it is a very small one. The problem is a lack of affordable housing.”

Ms Mitchell does not believe the Agape programs would meaningfully benefit from the funding.

“Unfortunately, much of this sounds like more hotel-like short-stay accommodation that clocks up numbers but solves nothing,” she said.

“Also, the language around ‘targeted early intervention and prevention’ sounds like the naive view that all homeless people have an addiction.

“Most of the homeless these days are seniors or single parents as their fixed payment simply does not stretch far enough.”

Ms Mitchell said that domestic violence survivors and victims of natural disasters also made up the homeless cohort.

Last week’s federal announcement that Jobseeker was increasing to $849.50 a fortnight represented an increase of a dollar a day for a single person.

“This provides $425 per week. The medium rental in this area is $850 per week,” Ms Mitchell said.

“Sadly, we can’t use the innovation funding to help our area in any practical sense. Temporary accommodations are maxed out, and no money exists to create more housing.

“I believe true innovation would be to help organisations like ours to become housing providers and help fund permanent accommodation solutions.”