Queensland strategy for reducing homelessness 2010-2020 homel… · Improve capacity and strengthen...

Department of CommunitiesDepartment of Communities Housing and Homelessness Services

Tomorrow’s Queensland: strong, green, smart, healthy and fair

Queensland Strategy for Reducing Homelessness

2010–2020

Discussion PaperOctober 2010

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Contents

Introduction .....................................................................................................................................3

Your views and ideas ......................................................................................................................6

Priority 1. Common vision and principles .......................................................................................7

Priority 2. Person-focused responses to homelessness...............................................................10

Priority 3. Help people avoid homelessness through prevention and early intervention ..............13

Priority 4. People have access to stable housing with support ....................................................15

Priority 5. Increased participation in education, training and employment ...................................17

Priority 6. Effective coordination and integration of services ........................................................19

Priority 7. More community involvement.......................................................................................23

Priority 8. Effective place-based responses .................................................................................24

Priority 9. Improve capacity and strengthen services ...................................................................26

Priority 10. Collecting and sharing data on outcomes for people who are homeless ...................29

Communicating your views and ideas ..........................................................................................31

Submission form ...........................................................................................................................33

Discussion Paper — Queensland Strategy for Reducing Homelessness2

Message from the MinisterIt is estimated that one in every 150 Queenslanders was homeless on census night in 2006. There is growing evidence that

this rate might have increased in recent years. Indigenous Queenslanders are most at risk, and more young children, families and older people are experiencing homelessness than before. Being homeless can have a signifi cant impact on individuals, families and the whole community. Homeless people can face barriers that keep them from having the same opportunities and capabilities as others in the community: to feel safe and socially connected, to reach their full potential and to actively participate in our economy.

The Queensland Strategy for Reducing Homelessness will set the policy directions for meeting these challenges over the next 10 years and the joint efforts needed for success — from communities, business groups, the not-for-profi t sector and all spheres of government. I am pleased to release this discussion paper as an initial step in developing the strategy and gaining valuable input on our state’s future responses to homelessness.

The Queensland Government has committed to the national target of halving overall homelessness and offering supported accommodation to all people sleeping rough by 2020, in support of the Australian Government’s 2008 White Paper on Homelessness: The Road Home. Queensland’s Responding to Homelessness Strategy 2005–09 foreshadowed many of the strategies in The Road Home, by targeting efforts to better integrate homelessness responses in Queensland and introducing new

service delivery models. National partnership agreements have also brought $2.7 billion in new investment in housing and homelessness responses to improve our efforts in Queensland over the coming years.

While we have made considerable progress, we continue to face signifi cant challenges, fi nancial constraints, and high demand for specialist homelessness services. As part of broader moves to strengthen our efforts and make the best use of investment, the Department of Communities has recently adopted a ‘no wrong door’ approach to service delivery which is about being client-centred, improving coordination, and sharing information to achieve the best possible outcomes for clients. The department is also exploring ways of delivering a stronger community services system that is better equipped to address complex needs, jointly plan services and share a collective responsibility for achieving benefi ts for clients.

The Queensland Strategy for Reducing Homelessness will provide a platform to build on past and existing work, drive further reforms, ensure our investment is achieving effective outcomes, and improve our future policy and program directions. It will also contribute to Toward Q2: Tomorrow’s Queensland ambitions, for example by supporting homeless people to participate in employment and education and ensuring the health issues of homeless people are better addressed.

I encourage you to share in the development of the strategy by responding to this discussion paper or attending one of the community consultation forums we will be holding across the state.

The Hon. Karen Struthers MPMinister for Community Services and Housingand Minister for Women

3Introduction

IntroductionThe Australian Institute of Health and Welfare1

estimates that the number of homeless people in Queensland was 26,782 on census night in 2006. This was an increase of 9% (2,213 people) from 2001, compared to an increase of 4.8% nationally over the same period.

The Council of Australian Governments has committed to an ambitious strategy to halve homelessness by 2020. The National Partnership on Homelessness provides additional resourcing over the next four years to build on and revitalise existing efforts to tackle homelessness. In addition, the National Partnership Agreements on Remote Indigenous Housing and Social Housing and the Nation Building Economic Stimulus Plan — Social Housing Initiative will signifi cantly increase the social housing portfolio in the next few years.

However, these funding injections, including the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness, are time-limited and designed to drive broader reforms.

We need to ensure that government and the non-government sector’s investment in reducing homelessness is used effectively and that the investment we all make is directed towards helping people to get ahead. We need to make sure that homeless people and people at risk of homelessness can navigate through the human service system and access the services they need. We need to focus on continuous improvement of the homelessness service system to build on its existing strengths and ensure it is effi cient and fl exible.

We also need to build on the signifi cant contributions of:• community members who:

– volunteer for organisations that help homeless people;

– identify people who are homeless in the community and advocate on their behalf; and

– contribute to an atmosphere of understanding that homelessness can affect anyone in the community;

• private businesses that: – provide employment opportunities to

people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness;

– make philanthropic contributions to causes that help vulnerable people;

1 Chamberlain, C. & Mackenzie, D. (2009) Counting the Homeless 2006, Canberra, AIHW.

To reduce homelessness, housing responses must be augmented by a wide range of community support services.


– raise awareness of homelessness as a signifi cant issue; and

– provide services including healthcare (such as general practitioners), affordable private housing, and fi nancial (such as credit management and debt fi nancing);

• the community services sector, including community housing providers and specialist homelessness services, that:

– provide high quality services and support to homeless people;

– provide local leadership and valuable input into local partnerships and coordination efforts; and

– advocate for and implement improvements to the service system that help people end homelessness;

• local governments that: – drive local level planning and

partnerships; – manage public space issues; and – in some cases provide services to

people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness;

• the Australian Government that: – provides national homelessness

leadership, directions, policies and coordination;

– leads national data, research and evaluation efforts; and

– funds and provides assistance such as income support; and

• the Queensland Government that: – provides state-level direction and

policies; – develops and implements specialist

homelessness programs; – funds and provides community and

other services; – evaluates and measures the impact of

initiatives; and – advocates at the national level for

Queensland stakeholders.

This discussion paper seeks your feedback on the development of a new Queensland Strategy for Reducing Homelessness. The discussion paper will also provide opportunities for you to raise issues and highlight approaches in your region to reduce homelessness.

Your contributions will be valuable because the new strategy will identify what Queensland wants to achieve in reducing homelessness and how this will happen over the next 10 years.

The Queensland Strategy for Reducing Homelessness will aim to provide a:• common vision for reducing homelessness

to guide providers in their delivery of services to people across multiple program and policy areas;

• description of how the State’s service system will be realigned to better meet the needs of people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness;

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• strategic framework that supports the efforts of specialist homelessness service providers and mainstream and allied services2 in addressing homelessness. This framework will provide a cohesive description of Queensland policies, initiatives, strategies, system improvements and targets that directly or indirectly relate to homelessness, and increase understanding of ways in which different policy areas (such as disability, mental health, substance abuse or domestic violence) will work together to reduce homelessness;

• clear identifi cation of the roles and responsibilities of non-government and government stakeholders in the homelessness service system and identify how their activities contribute to Queensland’s efforts to reduce homelessness;

• state-wide platform for developing Homelessness Community Action Plans that will bring together all stakeholders in identifi ed localities and focus their efforts on reducing homelessness based on local context, capacities and needs; and

• Queensland-specifi c response to the approach outlined in The Road Home, and a clear link between the broad national approach and the specifi c actions Queensland will be taking to reform our service system to reduce homelessness.

2 Mainstream’ and ‘allied’ services are organisations that are not restricted to service delivery to people who are homeless, but whose clients might include people who are homeless. Such organisations might deliver services to the general community or to a designated client group. Mainstream and allied services could include Centrelink, hospitals, community health centres, alcohol and drug services, mental health, disability services, children and family services, training and employment and many others. It is acknowledged that each of the services described as mainstream or allied have their own specialities and targeting but these terms are used in this paper as useful shorthand to distinguish them from services that are specifi cally funded to support people who are homeless. Specialist homelessness providers refers to services that work to assist people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness (Defi nitions taken from A national quality framework to support quality services for people experiencing homelessness 2010).

Introduction

The Queensland Government shares the view of the Australian Government’s White Paper on Homelessness: The Road Home, that “reducing homelessness is everyone’s business”. In keeping with this, everyone is invited to help develop the strategy, including people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, the full range of human service providers, non-government organisations, private business, local government and community members.


Your views and ideasThis paper provides background information on a number of issues, presents what the Queensland Government is intending to achieve, outlines what is already happening, highlights what else is needed, and poses questions to help you to express your views. You may choose to answer as many or as few questions as are relevant to you or your organisation.

The paper is based around 10 priorities. Priority 1 focuses on a shared vision. Priorities 2 to 5 focus on people. Priorities 6 to 10 focus on improving the service system. We are keen to fi nd out whether you believe these are the right priorities and whether there are other things that need to be taken into account.

The questions in this discussion paper can apply across many different groups of people, since anyone can become homeless. The issues and suggested responses in relation to each of these groups is likely to differ greatly; for example, what works for people who have been sleeping rough for a long time is likely to be different from that for women and children affected by domestic and family violence. Therefore, it would be helpful if you could clearly indicate which group of people you are referring to. If no target group is indicated, it will be interpreted that your response is intended to apply to all homeless people.

We believe that homelessness should become ‘everyone’s business’. We are interested in hearing your views on how people can recognise that someone is homeless and what they can do to help them. We also want to know what homeless people need from others and where that assistance should come from.

To further help in responding to this discussion paper, a background paper is available at www.housing.qld.gov.au/programs/homelessness/reducing/index.htm.

The background paper contains: • more contextual information on

the strategy; • information on Queensland’s responses

to homelessness; • defi nitions of key terms; • a model summarising the root causes,

pathways and responses to homelessness; and

• links to key documents.

If you require clarifi cation on any question or have any enquiries about this discussion paper, please contact the Department of Communities on 3225 2247 or email [email protected].

A separate submission form is provided for you to record your feedback to the questions that follow.

Please provide your written submissions in response to this discussion paper by 13 December 2010.

7Priority 1 — Common vision and principles

Priority 1. Common vision and principlesBackground

In 2005, the Queensland Government led the way nationally by introducing new models of service delivery through the $235.52 million Responding to Homelessness Strategy 2005–09, which aimed to better integrate responses to homelessness. Building on this, the Queensland Government is proposing new priorities and directions to address homelessness, as outlined in this discussion paper. These directions align with the Australian Government’s White Paper on Homelessness: The Road Home, which was released in December 2008 and which sets the national strategic agenda for reducing homelessness by 2020. They can also directly contribute to the ambitions of Toward Q2: Tomorrow’s Queensland to achieve a fairer Queensland, and the vision of the Queensland Compact with the community service sector to work together for a better quality of life and a fair community for all Queenslanders now and in the future.

What is the Queensland Government intending to achieve?

Queensland stakeholders have a shared vision and principles for reducing homelessness.

What is already in place or planned in Queensland?3 • The objectives, strategic priorities and

principles in the former Supported Accommodation Assistance Program multilateral agreement, which guided the specialist homelessness service system.

• The approaches introduced under the Responding to Homelessness Strategy 2005–09, which proposed more prevention and outreach services and better integrated and coordinated services.

• One social housing system, which integrates all housing assistance, and provides social housing assistance to people in most need, for the duration of their need, and provides pathways to the wider housing system.

3 Throughout the discussion paper, the section called ‘What is already in place or planned in Queensland’ provides examples of current policies, strategies and initiatives. It is not intended to be comprehensive. The background paper that supports this discussion paper provides more detailed descriptions and links to the policies, initiatives and reforms outlined in these sections (see the Related Policies and Strategies section).

The Queensland Government provides or funds a range of types of social housing across the State.


• Queensland’s response to the Australian’s Government’s Green Paper on Homelessness: Which Way Home?, which proposed an integrated client-centred service system to reduce homelessness.

• The National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness, whose key intended outcome is that people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness achieve sustainable housing and social inclusion.

• Queensland’s Implementation Plan for the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness which includes a range of new service models, including prevention (particularly for people leaving institutions), assertive outreach, coordination and community action planning.

• The National Affordable Housing Agreement, whose objective is that all Australians have access to affordable, safe and sustainable housing that contributes to social and economic participation.

What is the Queensland Government proposing?• Reach broad agreement on a shared vision

describing what stakeholders across Queensland are aiming to achieve in relation to reducing homelessness. The proposed vision statement is that by 2020 we want to: – prevent people from becoming

homeless and support people who are homeless to achieve stable and independent lives through a collaborative approach by all stakeholders.

• Reach broad agreement on guiding principles that underpin the proposed vision:

– Person focus. The service system will tailor responses to the individual needs of vulnerable people, whose needs are often multiple and complex, and will focus on contributing to positive benefi ts and outcomes for people.

– Continuum of support. The human service system4 will offer opportunities for stable housing and a continuum of support that includes prevention, early intervention, crisis, post-crisis and ongoing/long-term support. This continuum offers the best opportunities for positive outcomes for homeless people5.

– Collaboration and engagement. Stakeholders will use best practice models to work together to contribute to positive benefi ts and outcomes for people. Agencies, programs and services will integrate their efforts when it is necessary to achieve positive outcomes for people.

– Place-based. Investment and coordination efforts will be planned and tailored for particular locations using the energy and knowledge of local stakeholders to contribute to positive benefi ts and outcomes for people.

– Continuous improvement and evidence base. Government and non-government service providers will continuously improve their policies, planning and services based on evidence from outcomes, reviews,

4 The human service system provides services including: homelessness, disability, families, youth and children’s services; health and wellbeing; child safety; and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services. The Queensland Government and the non-profi t community services sector are two key parts of the human service system. 5 Transition points in people’s lives are acknowledged as critical opportunities for intervention to prevent and reduce homelessness.

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evaluations, research, data, best practice case studies, performance information and stakeholder feedback. Innovative and new approaches will be trialled and, if effective, implemented more widely. Services for homeless people will be delivered in a contemporary manner.

– Building on success. Innovative and new approaches will be trialled and, if effective, implemented more widely. Services for homeless people will be delivered in a contemporary manner. Successful approaches and services will form the basis of future directions.

– Effi ciency and effectiveness. The human service system will maximise positive benefi ts and outcomes for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness using available resources. Investment will build the capacity of the service system to contribute to positive benefi ts and outcomes for people in the long term.

Priority 1 — Common vision and principles

Questions• Do you agree with the proposed vision

statement and principles? If not, what changes would you suggest?

• Will the proposed vision statement and principles provide suffi cient clarity and guidance to stakeholders working to tackle homelessness?


Priority 2. Person-focused responses to homelessnessBackground

The Queensland Government has committed to an approach that recognises that effectively reducing homelessness requires targeting of key groups. There is great diversity among people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Groups that are over-represented include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people with a mental illness, young people, women and children escaping domestic and family violence, and older men. The appropriate service responses to reduce homelessness in each of these groups may be very different. Both The Road Home and Counting the Homeless identifi ed a number of groups that may require tailored responses6.

The Road Home indicated that responses to homelessness should be person-centred, respectful and effective. A person-centred focus is consistent with a strengths-based approach, which assumes that people have strengths and resources for their own empowerment, and which focuses on connecting or reconnecting people to family, friends and community. Establishing these connections is essential to support people out of homelessness and to strengthen their capacity to sustain positive outcomes. Ensuring a person-centred approach to service planning and delivery also decreases reliance on the service system and minimises the long-term cost of formal supports.


The housing and homelessness service system will provide tailored and seamless responses to people, particularly vulnerable people with high and/or complex needs, so they can improve their housing and life circumstances and get ahead.

What is already in place in Queensland?• A number of Queensland strategies and

action plans that focus efforts on particular groups that may be at risk of homelessness, such as:

– seniors (Positively Ageless); – people with a disability (10-year Plan

for Supporting Queenslanders with a Disability);

– people experiencing domestic or family violence (For our Sons and Daughters — A Queensland Government Strategy to reduce domestic and family violence 2009–2014);

– people with mental health issues (Queensland Plan for Mental Health 2007–17); and

– people with substance abuse problems (Queensland Drug Strategy 2006–10).

6 It is acknowledged that a person or family can belong to multiple client groups.

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• Adoption of a No Wrong Door approach to service delivery to ensure that clients get the right response to match their needs, pathways to services are easier, and clients who require multiple services receive an integrated response.

• Two 24-hour helplines for at-risk groups:(1) Homeless Persons Information

Queensland, which provides information on housing, and practical advice and assistance, for example where to get meals, showers and clothing; and

(2) DVConnect, which provides transport and referral to women’s refuges and temporary accommodation for women and their children escaping domestic and family violence.

• Service delivery arrangements in the Department of Communities’ Transitional Housing programs, where housing and support services coordinate housing and support arrangements through a tenancy plan developed with the client. This approach builds the person’s capacity to sustain a longer-term tenancy in either private or social housing.

• Practice arrangements to coordinate housing and support to individuals and households. For example, the Gold Coast has Integrated Support Teams that tailor assistance to individuals who are homeless and that have complex needs, so they can establish and sustain accommodation.

• Initiatives under the national Closing the Gap Strategy, which contributes to reducing the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who become homeless or who have poor quality housing.

• Assertive outreach initiatives for people sleeping rough, such as Street to Home and Homeless Health Outreach Teams, which provide wrap-around on-going support to resolve crises and settle into long-term housing.

• The Wesley Mission’s Reclink and Brisbane Festival’s Art from the Margins program, which features the work of Queenslanders living on the streets.

• Queensland Police Service’s Vulnerable Persons Policy, which recognises the needs of vulnerable people in the criminal justice system, whether people are victims, witnesses or defendants. The policy provides for continuous improvement of policing services to vulnerable people, including those with drug dependence, chronic alcoholism, mental illness or intellectual disability.

What is planned in Queensland?• The Homelessness Information

Management Program, which will ensure that responses to client needs are based on common assessment processes and mechanisms for directing clients to the most appropriate response for them.

Priority 2 — Person-focused responses to homelessness

Housing providers can work together with other services, such as health services, to help their shared clients


What else is needed?• A person-centred approach across a

broader range of human services that gives people with multiple and complex needs access to well-connected, integrated services. Services should recognise and respond to people’s diverse and vulnerable situations.

• A contemporary and strong service system that works from a basis of coordination, collaboration and partnerships.

• Better measurement of outcomes for clients and better information on how to successfully help people out of homelessness.

• More fl exible support options that follow people regardless of the property or tenure7 they are in and that matches their duration, level and type of need.

• Support that is consistent with the social inclusion principles of seeking to reduce dependency and increase a person’s resilience.

• Evaluation of new models for specialist homelessness service delivery, and realignment of existing models where the evidence points to better outcomes for clients.

Questions• What are the key components of an

effective person-centred approach to reducing homelessness?

• How can we make best use of evidence about what services and programs work best for helping people exit out of homelessness?

• What gaps or barriers in the human service system do particular groups of people encounter when homeless?

• What strategies will ensure accommodation and support are tailored and fl exible to address individuals’ needs?

For these questions, you may consider responding separately for particular groups:• children and young people• older people• women over 45 years old• women and children who experience

(or witness) domestic or family violence• people who have experienced sexual

abuse or other trauma• families, particularly with children• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples• people sleeping rough and/or people who

are chronically homeless• people exiting prisons, health or

other facilities• people from culturally and linguistically

diverse backgrounds• people in housing stress• people in rural and remote areas• people with a disability• people who misuse drugs or alcohol• people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or

transgender• people who have an intellectual disability

or impaired decision-making• veterans.

7 The range of tenure types may include crisis accommodation, private rental, social housing, homeownership, home-purchasing, boarding, living with friends or relatives or no tenure. The latter may include sleeping rough.

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Priority 3. Help people avoid homelessness through prevention and early interventionBackground

Homelessness can be caused by a number of factors, including:• individual vulnerabilities and risk factors

(such as lack of social support, substance abuse or poor mental health);

• unexpected life events (such as loss of job, low income, domestic and family violence, relationship or family breakup, health crisis, or being evicted); and

• barriers and gaps in the service system (for example in health, employment, education and training, child safety and youth or income support services).

The Queensland Government, the Australian Government, local governments, the private sector and the community services sector provide a continuum of responses that help address these factors, which includes prevention, early intervention, crisis, transitional and mainstream services.

The Road Home identifi ed prevention and early intervention as the most effi cient and effective methods of reducing homelessness, and that prevention and early intervention should be focused on key transition points and life events, particularly for children and young people.

Two dimensions of prevention have been identifi ed:• preventing homelessness — identifying

people at risk and ensuring that they have access to the right support before reaching crisis point; and

• preventing the causes of homelessness — reducing risk factors and enhancing protective factors that impact on homelessness, such as building personal resilience, promoting self-management and independence, reducing personal and behavioural risk factors, and increasing social support and stable employment.


Queenslanders at risk will have access to the support they need to prevent homelessness and the early-intervention assistance they need to minimise its impact.

What is already in place in Queensland?• A broad range of community services,

including family support, child protection, fi nancial counselling, domestic and family violence prevention, alcohol and drugs, problem gambling and mental health. These services help people with issues impacting on their personal, social or emotional wellbeing and safety.

• A range of mechanisms to provide affordable housing, including through the National Rental Affordability Scheme, providers such as the Brisbane Housing Company, and the Urban Land Development Authority.

Priority 3 — Help people avoid homelessness through prevention and early intervention


• Investment in prevention and early intervention services targeted to people at risk of homelessness, including the Early Intervention Support program, HomeStay, Youth Housing and Reintegration Services, and A Place to Call Home.

• The Housing Needs Assessment, which identifi es factors affecting a person’s ability to maintain a tenancy and allows social housing providers to deliver effective services and assistance.

What is planned in Queensland?• Improved processes and new initiatives to

ensure there are ‘no exits into homelessness’ from prisons, hospital and other facilities, such as the Integrated Transitional Support Model and Offender Reintegration Support Service.

What else is needed?• Ensure mainstream and allied agencies

focus more effort and have greater capacity to identify people who are at risk of homelessness and provide support to prevent homelessness. This would include enhancing specialist, allied and mainstream services to provide more holistic support that leads to long-term stability in people’s lives.

• Ensure Government departments and community service organisations with common clients share information and provide coordinated prevention and early intervention responses. This includes creating networks of support in schools to identify and address the needs of students at risk of homelessness.

• Evaluation of new models for specialist homelessness service delivery targeted at early intervention and realignment of existing models where the evidence points to better outcomes for clients.

Questions• What are the key components of an

effective early intervention and prevention approach for reducing homelessness?

• What changes are needed for mainstream and allied services to provide more effective prevention and early intervention services to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness?

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Priority 4. People have access to stable housing with supportBackground

It is well understood that to ‘break the cycle’ of homelessness, people who become homeless need help to move quickly through crisis systems into stable housing with the support they need so that homelessness does not recur. The Road Home identifi ed the need to increase support for people in public and private rental housing to maintain their tenancies. Sustaining tenancies was identifi ed as a key initiative to prevent homelessness.

The National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness provides for a range of time-limited new services and service enhancements designed to improve outcomes for homeless people through better integration of housing and support.


Delivery of accommodation and support that quickly settles people who are homeless into stable housing and enables them to sustain their tenancies and support to help them engage in community life. Avoid unnecessary movement through multiple short-term housing arrangements, but where this is not possible, help people through transitional accommodation and support them to stabilise their situation and build skills and independence. Ensure that people at risk of homelessness receive the support they need to maintain stable housing.

What is already in place in Queensland?• Over 200 specialist homelessness

services across Queensland.• One social housing system, which

identifi es people who have the highest housing need, including single people or households who are homeless, whose current housing is inappropriate and have a number of issues with accessing and sustaining a tenancy in the private rental market.

• A range of crisis accommodation, transitional housing, long-term social housing and private housing assistance services that aim to meet multiple housing needs, and supportive tenancy management that helps tenants to successfully sustain their tenancies with procedures to meet the specifi c needs of tenants.

• Transitional housing, which has been refocused to respond to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. This includes transitional housing providers undertaking tenancy planning and review processes to closely monitor assistance based on assessed need.

• A range of mental health initiatives, such as the Housing and Support Program that provides a recovery-oriented model including stable housing, clinical and non-clinical support to help people with a psychiatric disability to live in the community.

Priority 4 — People have access to stable housing with support


• Street to Home services, which support people who are sleeping rough or experiencing chronic homelessness to move into stable, long-term housing, with the aim of ending their homelessness permanently. The model includes assertive outreach, immediate access to stable, long-term housing and wrap-around on-going support to resolve crisis.

• HomeStay Support services, which will help people in independent accommodation to maintain their tenancies.

What is planned in Queensland?• The Brisbane Common Ground Initiative,

which will provide secure and affordable accommodation for people with a mix of support needs, including people experiencing chronic and long-term homelessness.

What else is needed?• Help people who are homeless to

seamlessly access and navigate pathways8 through the housing system to meet their needs. The housing system includes crisis accommodation, transitional housing, long-term social housing and private rental housing. Clear and effective pathways for people in need, particularly those with high and complex needs, will help them to permanently end their homelessness.

• Undertake improvements to the housing and homelessness service system. For example, delivery of housing assistance will be reconfi gured so that trained staff

can offer intensive case management for clients at highest risk. This will help to better align service delivery with client needs, provide more supportive tenancy management models, and introduce models to better coordinate housing and support.

• New funding arrangements that keep supporting people as they move from crisis to stable accommodation.

• Ensure that more people are able to quickly exit from crisis accommodation services into stable housing, so those services are freed up for people with immediate crisis needs.

• Flexible and integrated approaches to providing housing and support that enhance access for people in need.

• Evaluation of new models for specialist service delivery and realignment of existing models where the evidence points to better outcomes for clients.

Questions• What can be done to help people who are

homeless or at risk of homelessness to achieve more stable housing as a step towards the best possible life outcomes?

• How can support best be provided to people regardless of where they live?

• What do housing and support services need to do more of, or do differently, to help people who are homeless to achieve independent, stable lives?

8 Some researchers have noted that the ‘pathway’ metaphor may imply personal choice, options and opportunities rather than structural factors as a cause of homelessness (see Fopp, 2009. Metaphors in homelessness discourse and research: Exploring ‘pathways,’ ‘careers’ and ‘safety nets.’ Housing, Theory and Society, 26(4), 271-291). Use of the term ‘pathway’ in this discussion paper is not intended to exclude structural factors as a cause of homelessness or imply any personal choice in homelessness.

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Priority 5. Increased participation in education, training and employmentBackground

The Road Home highlighted that people who participate in work and their community are more likely to exit homelessness permanently. Therefore, people who are homeless should be helped to reconnect with education, employment and the community. It indicated the need for improved incentives for employment service providers to help homeless jobseekers. It is acknowledged that people with complex needs may require long-term and intensive support to be able to participate in education and employment.


Improve participation in education and employment for homeless people (and those at risk of homelessness) to improve their independence and resilience.

What is already in place in Queensland?• A range of housing and support initiatives,

which link people with employment, training and education services and opportunities, such as the Resident Recovery Program, After Care Services, the Youth Enterprises Partnership, and Youth Support Coordinators initiative.

• Supported accommodation targeted at young people in Logan who are at risk of homelessness and where their homelessness is compromising their engagement in education and training.

• Positive Dreaming, Solid Futures Indigenous Employment and Training Strategy 2008–11, which offers a range of initiatives to increase the participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the workforce through the provision of skills, qualifi cations and employment.

• The Queensland Skills Plan, which aims to improve access for people under-employed or outside the workforce.

• Arrangements in social housing, such as ongoing eligibility and rent setting policies, which are fair and equitable in supporting employment incentives and allowing single people or households to improve their circumstances while living in social housing.

• The Skilling Queenslanders for Work initiative, which helps vulnerable job seekers across Queensland to participate in employment. Various programs under the initiative can help those at risk of homelessness, such as the Get Set for Work program that provides employment and training assistance to vulnerable 15 to 19 year olds who are at risk of disengaging from education and work, and the Participate in Prosperity program addressing the multiple barriers that can prevent highly disadvantaged people from participating in employment.

• The Department of Education and Training’s (DET) Closing the Gap Education Strategy, which outlines how DET aims to close the gap in educational outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students in Queensland state schools.

Priority 5 — Increased participation in education, training and employment


Literacy, numeracy, language and parental engagement in the early years are the top priorities of the Strategy. Through parental engagement strategies, families who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless could be identifi ed earlier rather than later. This would enable schools to support students and their families to ensure that student attendance, participation, retention and educational outcomes are not disrupted.

• The Digital Sandpit program (through The Edge at the State Library of Queensland in partnership with Brisbane Youth Service and Visible Ink), which actively works with young people who experience homelessness to provide a digital play space to develop digital literacy through access to state-of-the art technology.

What else is needed?• Identify early intervention points and

develop corresponding strategies to catch people as they begin to disengage from employment, education or the community.

• Integrate education, training and employment support programs more closely with services for homeless people.

Questions• How can we improve engagement in

education and employment by people experiencing homelessness?

• For people with complex needs, what is the most effective ‘pathway’ back to employment?

The right support can keep young people connected to education and training.

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Priority 6. Effective coordination and integration of servicesBackground

The Queensland Government supports the Council of Australian Government’s reform agenda to improve service coordination and integration, particularly between specialist homelessness providers and mainstream services. This means services need to plan jointly and share a commitment to working together in new ways and a collective responsibility for achieving positive benefi ts and outcomes for people.

The Queensland Government also supports further embedding responsibility for reducing homelessness across all service networks including mainstream and allied services. The Road Home indicated that, while specialist homelessness services play a critical role, they cannot be expected to deliver the entire homelessness response. Improved information technology systems across services were identifi ed as a way to support improved service integration. Effective coordination and integration underpins most of the other priorities in this discussion paper.


Services will be effectively coordinated and integrated to improve opportunities for people to end their homelessness and ensure a stronger service system.

What is already in place in Queensland?• Homelessness Service Hubs, which help

homeless people to access accommodation and information.

• The Special Circumstances Court Diversion Program in Brisbane, which helps homeless people or those at risk of homelessness address the causes of their offending behaviour by linking them with support services.

• Queensland Health Service Integration Coordinators, who are responsible for:

– improving care planning; community and continuity across agencies;

– overseeing processes for linking core service delivery; and

– ensuring effi cient utilisation of resources to meet the individual needs of a person received into care coordination.

• Integrated service delivery pilots, such as the Logan Beenleigh Young Persons Project and the Breaking the Cycle of Domestic and Family Violence in Rockhampton.

• Reforms to the domestic and family violence service system, including improving system planning and coordination and more effective referral pathways for victims and perpetrators and improved coordination between services.

Priority 6 — Effective coordination and integraion of services


• The Strengthening Social Housing Strategy, which includes housing and homelessness network forums to enhance service coordination and integration across government and non-government housing agencies.

• Non-government positions to enhance the capacity of local service networks to respond more effectively to homelessness. These positions will assist in achieving greater collaboration and integration of local service delivery.

What is planned in Queensland?• Implementing two service integration

demonstration projects funded by the Australian Government, which will integrate services for young people with a mental illness who are homeless or at risk of homelessness in Brisbane, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who are sleeping rough in Townsville.

• Commencement of Homelessness Community Action Planning, which will engage government, business, non-government sectors and the community and will embed accountabilities for reducing homelessness.

• The Homelessness Information Management Program, which will involve the collaborative development of a vacancy management system, a client management system, and a common assessment tool for specialist homelessness providers.

What else is needed?• Increased responsibility and capacity of

mainstream and allied services to identify people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, so they can be connected with all the support they need. Service providers need to review their policies and practices to ensure they contribute positively to the lives of their clients.

• Reshape the role of specialist homelessness service providers in the overall service system to ensure greater sharing of responsibility for addressing homelessness across mainstream and allied services. For example, specialist homelessness services could focus more on providing fl exible crisis support to people in need, regardless of where they are accommodated, and help them over time with settling into stable housing. Specialist homelessness services could also provide a source of expertise on homelessness to other agencies.

• Clearly identify the roles of both mainstream, allied and specialist homelessness services in reducing homelessness and integrate services where there is a need.

Government and non-government agencies can work together to better integrate their services.

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• Better coordinate service responses to address multiple risk factors that lead to homelessness and tackle the complexities that may prevent people from resolving the issues that keep them homeless or regularly return them to homelessness9.

• Develop better integrated policies, planning, decision making, service delivery, and case management10. This will include developing agreed and clear assessment and referral processes and consistent use of common assessment and evaluation tools across the service system.

• More collaboration, partnerships and joint ventures among service providers to ensure the service system maximises its use of existing resources and becomes stronger.

• Better ways of sharing information for the benefi t of people outside of current information sharing protocols (in line with the Right to Information Act 2009, Information Privacy Act 2009 or other relevant legislation).

Questions• What improvements to coordination and

integration can be made to allied and mainstream services to improve services for homeless people and prevent or reduce homelessness?

• What strategies should drive the integration of specialist homelessness services and mainstream and allied services to enable better service delivery to people?

• What is the most useful range of services for specialist homelessness services to offer people who are homeless?

9 People will have different pathways into homelessness and these pathways will not always fi t a linear conception of prevention, early intervention, crisis and long-term needs. However, a service response continuum can offer a more comprehensive and effective way of assisting the majority of people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. 10 Integration takes many forms and will be tailored to the needs and context of the environment and the purpose of the integration. For example, integration is likely to be most useful when responding to clients with complex issues and needs, such as people experiencing chronic homelessness and mental health problems, that cannot effectively be responded to by a single agency and that cuts across policy, portfolio and service areas. For example, see Keast, R. and Brown, K. (2008). Closing Gaps and Opening Doors: The function of an integrated homelessness service system: Place based network analysis and case studies. www.housing.qld.gov.au/programs/pdf/closing_gaps.pdf

Priority 6 — Effective coordination and integraion of services


Priority 7. More community involvementBackground

The Road Home indicated that homelessness is everyone’s responsibility. Ending homelessness requires a sustained long-term effort from all levels of government, business, the not-for-profi t sector and the community. Identifi ed priorities in The Road Home included increasing community awareness of issues related to homelessness, reducing the stigma associated with homelessness, and increasing community involvement in supporting people during periods of homelessness (such as reducing ‘nimbyism11). An example of an approach to this is the engagement of ‘local champions’ to advocate on behalf of people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.


Reducing homelessness will become ‘everyone’s business’ and homeless people will be supported to stabilise their lives and become better involved in the community.

What is already in place in Queensland?• The Queensland Compact, which is a

partnership agreement designed to guide the relationship between the non-profi t community services sector and the Queensland Government, to achieve better outcomes for Queenslanders.

• The Queensland Homelessness Inter-sectoral Forum, which is a joint government and non-government group that seeks to identify issues in the homelessness service system and advise on strategic actions to help homeless people.

• The Queensland Housing Assistance Forum, which involves government and non-government agencies providing advice to the Minister for Community Services and Housing on strategic issues that impact on housing.

• Partnerships with local government in homelessness ‘hot spots.’

What is planned in Queensland?• Homelessness Community Action Plans,

which will engage a wide spectrum of stakeholders and drive regional solutions to homelessness.

• A Queensland Government Engagement Strategy for Homelessness, which will set out the commitments and methods for engaging with stakeholders on homelessness issues. This will ensure consistent and accountable engagement and will lead to more effective policy and program development.

11 ‘Nimby’ is an acronym for Not In My Back Yard and refers to the expressed concerns or opposition of residents to a proposal for a new nearby development (in this context related to social housing). This discussion paper recognises the importance of acknowledging concerns of residents, while clarifying any possible misunderstandings, optimising the extent of understanding of and support for proposals by local stakeholders and avoiding unintended consequences within neighbourhoods.

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What else is needed?• Introduce processes to increase

community awareness of issues related to homelessness, reducing stigma and fostering a view that reducing homelessness is in the interests of all community members, and is ‘everyone’s business.’

• Increase the shared responsibility and accountability among a wide range of mainstream government and community sector services and systems for identifying risk of homelessness.

• Better harnessing local resources and human capital, such as volunteers.

Priority 7 — More community envolvement

Reducing homelessness requires input from people in every part of the community.

Questions• What are some positive ways that

homeless people have been supported by the wider community to achieve better life outcomes?

• Which people or organisations need to be involved in reducing homelessness?

• How can people recognise that someone is homeless? What practical things can people do to help?

• How can we achieve a shared responsibility among individuals and organisations in the community, including volunteers and for-profi t companies, to reduce the stigma of homelessness and provide better support to vulnerable people?


Priority 8. Effective place-based responsesBackground

The Queensland Government is committed to a place-based approach to reducing homelessness, building on the Responding to Homelessness Strategy 2005–09. Local services and people have the knowledge, skills and networks that can most effectively address local needs and circumstances. Queensland’s place-based approach is a long-term development strategy operating in specifi c geographic locations. It aims to utilise people’s knowledge and preferences in conjunction with targeted investment and coordination and turn them into actions and results. It also aims to address local challenges through the involvement of a number of stakeholders. The ‘place’ is not determined by administrative boundaries. Rather the ‘place’ is an area within which a set of conditions are present that are conducive to undertaking actions to reduce homelessness.


Communities across Queensland develop and implement local plans, agreements and strategies that reduce homelessness.

What is already in place in Queensland?• A place-based approach to reducing

homelessness, which includes service delivery tailored to local needs and context, such as through the Responding to Homelessness Strategy 2005–09 ‘hot spots’ and areas with new services in the Implementation Plan for the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness.

• Housing and Homelessness Area Networks, which provide local responses to the people’s needs.

• Queensland Government Urban and Regional Service Delivery Strategy, which will target investment under mainstream and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-specifi c National Partnerships to urban and regional areas.

• National Partnership Agreement on Remote Indigenous Housing, which will reform the provision of housing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in remote communities and will address overcrowding, homelessness, poor housing conditions and housing shortages.

What is planned in Queensland?• Implementation of Homelessness

Community Action Planning12 and government and non-government organisation coordination positions.

12 The Homelessness Community Action Plans will focus local effort on reducing homelessness and improving pathways and outcomes for people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness in seven priority locations across Queensland. Areas outside these priority locations will be able to use the framework and associated tools to develop their own Homelessness Community Action Plans.

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What else is needed?• Widespread engagement with coordination

(through non-government organisation coordinators who will work closely with government coordinator counterparts) and Homelessness Community Action Planning processes.

• Strengthening existing working relationships and local governance structures to achieve more positive and effective working relationships, governance mechanisms and leadership across Queensland.

• Capacity to review investment in the local service system and how it could be realigned or reorganised to target local need and priorities.

Priority 8 — Effective place-based responses

Questions• What currently works well in your region

for preventing and permanently ending homelessness? What needs to change?

• How can non-government and government coordinators be supported to undertake their roles effectively and lead to the success of Homelessness Community Action Plans in your region?

Services need to be appropriate to people’s place and circumstances.


Priority 9. Improve capacity and strengthen servicesBackground

The Queensland Government supports the Council of Australian Government’s reform agenda to ensure high quality services are available to homeless people. Efforts to reduce homelessness in Queensland can be supported by building the capacity of services to deliver effective and integrated support.

The Road Home identifi ed a priority to improve the capacity of organisations to provide quality services to people who are homeless. It also identifi ed that a workforce development strategy is needed so that there are suffi cient people with the right skills to work actively with people to end their homelessness. The Road Home indicated that people who are chronically homeless need wrap-around support that addresses all their needs. It also indicated that new funding models that refl ect the complexity of people’s needs should be tested.


High quality service provision for homeless people matched to needs and delivered in an integrated and coordinated way.

What is already in place in Queensland?• The Framework for Investment in Human

Services, which provides a range of investment models to support effective allocation and management of government’s investment.

• The Department of Communities’ Workforce Development Initiative, which provides opportunities for non-government organisations to build the capacity of their staff, volunteers, management committees and boards.

• Queensland’s Standards for Community Services, which outline the minimum expectations of non-government organisations providing services recurrently funded by the Department of Communities. As well as helping non-government organisations continually improve service quality, the standards will build their capacity to continue providing services in the long-term.

• Queensland Community Housing Standards and Accreditation Council, which manages accreditation processes for registered community housing providers against national standards.

• The Queensland Compact with the community services sector, which commits the Queensland Government to actively reduce administrative duplication and compliance costs to the community services sector through streamlining human services quality standards and accreditation processes. Examples include the Department of Communities’ common service agreements and streamlining criminal history screening systems.

• The Wage Supplementation Initiative, which supports organisations to remunerate their staff in accordance with the scales outlined in the new Queensland Crisis Assistance and Community Services Award.

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• The Integrated Skills Development Strategy, which supports community services to engage in workforce planning and development so as to enhance their capacity to deliver quality services in their local community.

• The Community Services Skilling Plan, which comprises a number of initiatives aimed at the broader community sector, including homelessness. Such initiatives include:

– state-wide Vocational Education and Training delivery;

– Indigenous Mentoring program; – the Cross Cultural Practice

Development Strategy; – Vocational Training Assistance Grants; – Service Practitioners’ Development

Grants; and – the Industry Sector Engagement Strategy.

• Ensure that both the Integrated Skills Development Strategy and the Community Service Skilling Plan provide opportunities for non-government service providers, managers and leaders to identify and develop key capabilities for the development, implementation, continuous improvement and evaluation of innovative models of service delivery to prevent and reduce homelessness.

• The Specialist Homelessness Networking Strategy, which aims to develop a state-wide network of specialist homelessness service providers in Queensland by strengthening and connecting existing networks of service providers as well as building networks of providers within

regions or focus areas where such networks do not currently exist.

• The Strengthening Social Housing Strategy, including three business development and innovation units in North, Central and South Queensland, to build the capacity of the not-for-profi t housing sector to deliver viable and sustainable social housing.

What is planned in Queensland?• Australian Government proposals and

targets for growth of the not-for-profi t community housing sector.

• Within the department’s output-based funding approach, intention to trial a case mix funding13 methodology aligning funding levels with the type or mix of services that address clients’ complex needs, to support a stronger service system.

Priority 9 — Improve capacity and strengthen services

13 Case mix funding refers to a model which aligns funding levels with the type, or mix, of service clients. It identifi es the type and volume of services required by particular client groups and the costs associated with such activities.

Staffi ng and administrative improvements lead to better service delivery.


What else is needed?• Continue the development of the

homelessness services system in collaboration with the community services sector, including strengthening the sector and increasing capacity for service delivery. This could include addressing some of the issues noted by the Productivity Commission in their recent report Contribution of the Not-for-Profi t Sector.

• Ensure existing Queensland quality frameworks effectively support homelessness services and are recognised by any new national quality frameworks.

• Supporting the development of a national Workforce Development Strategy and help in its implementation in Queensland.

• Develop an evidence base as the fi rst step towards improving the alignment between the location and models of services and evidence of current needs, minimise duplication of effort, and better target groups with high needs.

• Continue to provide a wide range of support and services but with more effective targeting to vulnerable and disadvantaged people who will benefi t most.

• Support research to inform the development of best-practice methodologies, including through partnerships at the regional level.

• Disseminate fi ndings and encourage a ‘shared learning’ approach through communities of practice and other mechanisms.

Questions• What are the priorities in workforce

development and training for services that have clients who are homeless or at risk of homelessness?

• What models of best-practice service delivery or coordination in your area/region could be used more broadly across Queensland?

• What administrative tools or systems should be developed for use by specialist, mainstream and allied services to improve the quality and consistency of service delivery for homeless people and people at risk of homelessness?

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Priority 10. Collecting and sharing data on outcomes for people who are homelessBackground

The Road Home identifi ed the need to improve the information that is available on homelessness, to support streamlined and effective data exchange between homelessness service providers and to establish rigorous, accurate and reliable data collection efforts to measure progress in addressing homelessness and to improve the services offered to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

These priorities must be balanced with concerns about individuals’ privacy and any additional administrative burden on service providers. It is acknowledged that collection and evaluation of data on homelessness is diffi cult due to the wide range of causal factors, needs, and fl uid life circumstances of people who fi nd themselves without a home.


Useful and accurate data on homelessness will be collected, shared and analysed to support improvements in policy, programs and service delivery to homeless people.

What is already in place in Queensland?• Community sector access to the

Community Services Statistical Information System, which is a database of key demographic, health, education and other related data that assists in needs-based service planning and resource allocation.

• Data from the DVConnect and Homeless Persons Information Queensland telephone information services and the Client Intake and Assessment Process (Housing and Homelessness Services, Department of Communities), which provides information on individual, household and locational needs.

• The 50 Lives 50 Homes vulnerability index survey, led by Micah Projects, which collected health and other information from people sleeping rough in Brisbane.

• Research informing policy, programs and service delivery, such as through the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute’s homelessness and housing research theme.

Priority 10 — Collecting and sharing data on outcomes for people who are homelessness

Sharing data effi ciently will stop people having to tell their story many times over to many different agencies.


What is planned in Queensland?• The Council of Australian Governments

reform agenda to improve homelessness data collection and reporting, including:

– supporting the implementation of a Specialist Homelessness Services National Homelessness Minimum Data Set; and

– improvements to data collection and reporting processes to better measure outcomes and progress against targets in national agreements.

• An evaluation of the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness, which will improve the evidence base regarding effective responses to homelessness.

• Homelessness Information Management Program, which will develop client information systems providing better data about system capacity and unmet need.

What else is needed?• The development, implementation and

operation of a client information system across all specialist homelessness services.

• Processes to increase the effectiveness of sharing of information among specialist, allied and mainstream services.

• More effective methods of measuring the impact services have on people.

• A commitment to continuous improvement, review of evidence, sharing and discussion of data, continuing dialogue and the commitment to align the system with evidence of need and what works.

• Utilising results from research projects, including the National Homelessness Research Strategy, to develop the evidence base for reducing homelessness.

Questions• How can the outcomes for people

experiencing homelessness be measured more effectively?

• How can the exchange and analysis of data be improved to support better outcomes for people?

31Communicating your views and ideas

Communicating your views and ideasEveryone is invited to help develop the strategy.

Submit your responses to the questions in this discussion paper:

online: www.getinvolved.qld.gov.au by email: [email protected]

by post: Homelessness Strategy Policy and PerformanceHousing and Homelessness ServicesDepartment of CommunitiesGPO Box 690Brisbane QLD 4001

Please provide your responses by 13 December 2010.

The Department of Communities will not disclose your personal details, your organisation details, or submission information without obtaining consent, unless required by law. An overview summary of consultation fi ndings will be published on the Department of Communities website, but the source of information will not be identifi ed.

Community consultation forums

A number of regional forums will be held for stakeholders to provide input. The location for the forums and details on venues and times will be announced shortly. A broad range of stakeholders will be invited to the forums.

There will also be specifi c consultation processes targeted to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander service providers, recognising the high rates of homelessness and particular

issues impacting on homelessness among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and to homeless people.

Queensland Homelessness Inter-sectoral Forum

In addition to the consultation processes described above, the Queensland Homelessness Inter-sectoral Forum will be guiding the development of the strategy. The Forum includes several members from peak organisations who represent sectors and target groups across the state, as well as representatives from regionally-based community service providers.

We appreciate the time you are taking to respond to this discussion paper.

33Submission Form

Submission form

Priority 1. Common vision and principles

Do you agree with the proposed vision statement and principles?If not, what changes would you suggest?

Will the proposed vision statement and principles provide suffi cient clarity and guidance to stakeholders working to tackle homelessness?

Priority 2. Person-focused responses to homelessness

What are the key components of an effective person-centred approach to reducing homelessness?

How can we make best use of evidence about what services and programs work best for helping people exit out of homelessness?

What gaps or barriers in the human service system do particular groups of people encounter when homeless?


What strategies will ensure accommodation and support are tailored and fl exible to address individuals’ needs?

Priority 3. Help people avoid homelessness through prevention and early intervention

What are the key components of an effective early intervention and prevention approach for reducing homelessness?

What changes are needed for mainstream and allied services to provide more effective prevention and early intervention services to people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness?

Priority 4. People have access to stable housing with support

What can be done to help people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness to achieve more stable housing as a step towards the best possible life outcomes?

35Submission Form

How can support best be provided to people regardless of where they live?

What do housing and support services need to do more of, or do differently, to help people who are homeless to achieve independent, stable lives?

Priority 5. Increased participation in education, training and employment

How can we improve engagement in education and employment by people experiencing homelessness?

For people with complex needs, what is the most effective ‘pathway’ back to employment?

Priority 6. Effective coordination and integration of services

What improvements to coordination and integration can be made to allied and mainstream services to improve services for homeless people and prevent or reduce homelessness?


What strategies should drive the integration of specialist homelessness services and mainstream and allied services to enable better service delivery to people?

What is the most useful range of services for specialist homelessness services to offer people who are homeless?

Priority 7. More community involvement

What are some positive ways that homeless people have been supported by the wider community to achieve better life outcomes?

Which people or organisations need to be involved in reducing homelessness?

How can people recognise that someone is homeless? What practical things can people do to help?

37Submission Form

How can we achieve a shared responsibility among individuals and organisations in the community, including volunteers and for-profi t companies, to reduce the stigma of homelessness and provide better support to vulnerable people?

Priority 8. Effective place-based responses

What currently works well in your region for preventing and permanently ending homelessness? What needs to change?

How can non-government and government coordinators be supported to undertake their roles effectively and lead to the success of Homelessness Community Action Plans in your region?

Priority 9. Improve capacity and strengthen services

What are the priorities in workforce development and training for services that have clients who are homeless or at risk of homelessness?

Discussion Paper — Queensland Strategy for Reducing Homelessness38 25

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What models of best-practice service delivery or coordination in your area/region could be used more broadly across Queensland?

What administrative tools or systems should be developed for use by specialist, mainstream and allied services to improve the quality and consistency of service delivery for homeless people and people at risk of homelessness?

Priority 10. Collecting and sharing data on outcomes for people who are homelessness

How can the outcomes for people experiencing homelessness be measured more effectively?

How can the exchange and analysis of data be improved to support better outcomes for people?

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