On 21 December 2008, the Prime Minister, the Hon Kevin Rudd MP and the Minister for Housing, the Hon Tanya Plibersek MP released the Government's White Paper, 'The Road Home: A National Approach to Reducing Homelessness'.
The White Paper outlines a national approach to reduce homelessness that will be implemented through three main strategies:
Turning off the tap: a focus on strategies to prevent those at risk of homelessness from becoming homeless in the first place. Those at increased risk include older people in housing stress, women and children leaving violence, Indigenous Australians and people leaving state care.
Improving and expanding services: improving the service that those experiencing homelessness receive from both mainstream agencies and from agencies that deliver services specifically to homeless people. Agencies will also become more integrated to make it easier for homeless people to get all the services they need without having to repeat their story over and over again.
Breaking the cycle: reducing the proportion of people who experience repeat periods of homelessness. Those at risk need 'wrap around support' that addresses all their needs and helps them participate in their community.
Two headline goals were set to guide the long term response to homelessness:
Good evidence is required to direct the response to homelessness and to assess the effectiveness of interventions. The AIHW is playing a significant role in the provision of evidence by managing the SAAP National Data Collection and by developing a new homelessness data collection. The AIHW will also undertake data linkage work to allow a better understanding of the pathways into and out of homelessness.
The White Paper is built on information received as part of the Green paper consultation process. See more information about this process and the AIHW submission.