The Federal Government will hold consultations in Darwin in response to the release last month of Which Way Home – a Green Paper on Homelessness, a concrete step in developing a ten year plan for tackling homelessness.
Date: 06 June 2008
The Federal Government will hold consultations in Darwin in response to the release last month of Which Way Home – a Green Paper on Homelessness, a concrete step in developing a ten year plan for tackling homelessness.
After 17 years of strong economic growth it is unacceptable that 100,000 Australians are homeless on any given night, including 10,000 children.
The rate of homelessness in the Northern Territory is higher than anywhere else in Australia. According to the 2001 Census, the NT has a rate of 288.3 homeless per 10,000 population, compared to 40-50 per 10,000 for the Southern States.
There are excellent programs across the country which reduce homelessness but they are not of sufficient size or scale to make the impact required to reduce the problem we confront.
The Green Paper acknowledges that while improved housing outcomes must underpin our response to homelessness, housing alone is not sufficient to the achievement of long term improvements.
The Green Paper also advocates a greater focus on prevention and early intervention..
The Federal Government is encouraging people who have experienced homelessness, service providers, business and the general community to attend consultations held all over the country and put forward suggestions and ideas on what they believe can make a real difference to reducing homelessness.
Consultations will be held in Darwin on Friday, 06 June 2008 in Building 25 at Charles Darwin University from 10am to 12noon. All are encouraged to attend.
The Green Paper and information about the consultation process are available at www.fahcsia.gov.au or by calling 1800 774 055.