HOMELESSNESS
— CASEWORKERS
389. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Minister for Homelessness:
I refer to figures reported by the WA Alliance to End
Homelessness that suggest that as many as 70 per cent of homeless Western Australians
do not have a caseworker.
(1) Why is the
minister's department failing to engage with such a large section of
the cohort for which it is responsible?
(2) Is this
yet another example of the minister's department's
underperformance, resulting in poor outcomes for Western Australians who
desperately need the minister's help?
Mr J.N. CAREY
replied:
I thank the member for his question.
(1)–(2)
This financial year, our government is investing $190 million in homelessness.
In December, we announced an expansion of outreach services in the city, called
the Heart program. It is a concentrated effort to engage and try to assist rough
sleepers to make the transition to housing. We know it is a complex issue, and
the opposition can do whatever it wants to do to try to simplify this matter,
but we know that it is deeply complex. We have also brought new accommodation
online for rough sleepers. That includes Boorloo
Bidee Mia, which currently accommodates 60 people. I note that the opposition
has criticised that proposal. We have also funded Koort Boodja, in Money
Street, Northbridge, which is also accommodation for rough sleepers. We have provided extra funding through the Heart team
to provide support for rough sleepers.
This is the simple truth, and it is
often overlooked, but the opposition is not interested in this at all:
ultimately, we cannot force people to engage with services and support. 7When
people were camping near Lord Street, every
day the Homelessness Engagement, Assessment and Response team was out there engaging
with people, and providing and offering support services and accommodation, but
not all those people decided to engage. The opposition is trying to simplify
the matter of homelessness. The state government
has a clear strategy. It has a clear Housing First program and is working to
assist rough sleepers to break the very difficult journey into social
housing.