City’s Draft Homelessness Strategy
Based on our extensive work with homeless people and international evidence on ways to address chronic homelessness, the Strategy proposes four priority actions to achieve this challenging goal:
- a focus on vulnerable and chronically homeless rough sleepers with complex problems such as alcohol and drug use and or mental illness;
- compassionate and balanced management of our streets, parks and other public spaces;
- supporting innovative services which have been shown to work elsewhere; and
- establishing targets and measuring outcomes.
While State and Federal Government have primary responsibility for homeless services, the City has embraced its ethical responsibility and its practical opportunities to help homeless people. Many of our staff come into direct contact with people who are sleeping rough and inner city residents can experience significant impacts on amenity and use of public space.
The City implemented its first comprehensive Homelessness Strategy in 2000, concentrating on providing services, local grants and working with other service providers and government. We currently provide three services for homeless people:
- The Outreach Service, jointly run with the Department of Housing, which aims to get people into accommodation and receive the services they need;
- the Homeless Information Centre, a statewide telephone service receiving between 40,000 and 50,000 thousand calls a year; and
- a brokerage program that can provide short term accommodation and other help.
The City also provides special training for our staff, police and volunteers who come into direct contact with homeless people. Our new public space liaison officer will support existing work to ensure that areas used by homeless people are clean and that referral to other services is prompt.
The City will continue advocating on behalf of homeless people and working with other agencies. This includes developing an accord with mobile food services to provide for better coordination and more opportunities for helping people out of homelessness.
The draft Strategy is available from: www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/Council/MeetingsAndCommittees/2006/Committees/041206/cultural.asp