Homelessness Week calls for more action

With around 9,700 people across Western Australia experiencing homelessness, social support organisations are calling for more action to help prevent and eradicate homelessness in our state.

This year’s theme for Homelessness Week, August 5 to 11, is ‘Homelessness Action Now’, a call to build community support and government commitment to help end homelessness.

Anglicare WA CEO Mark Glasson said the state’s housing crisis is putting an increasing number of Western Australians at risk of homelessness.

“Lack of supply and affordable housing options is making many across our state vulnerable to homelessness, and every day these people are making very tough decisions to keep a roof over their head,” he said.

“That’s a real concern to us because we know this means more people will be forced into unsuitable or unstable accommodation, and people will go without medical treatments, prescriptions, and even food.”

Foodbank WA CEO Kate O’Hara said decision makers and policy makers need to consider where funds are going. “We recommend that anyone involved in making decisions around funding should spend a day in the life of a homeless person,” she said.

“This problem is already huge and growing and we will not make the right decision quickly on where funds should go if those in charge do not have a more intimate sense of the truth of the frontline.”

Anglicare WA CEO Mark Glasson with Foodbank WA CEO Kate O'Hara at a Hearts and Minds CEO lunch.

Ms O’Hara said the solution to fighting homelessness lies in banding together to do more. “To address the growing homelessness situation, Foodbank is seeing a lot of collaboration and discussion about how we as a sector can do more and be more efficient, and presenting these thoughts to all those that can assist in funding new initiatives,” she said.

A significant springboard moment 

On May 10, Accordwest’s Symposium100 event at the Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre marked a significant springboard moment in the South West’s work in support of homeless people. 

Bringing together 54 attendees from diverse sectors – including government agencies, local authorities, community housing providers, and construction companies – the event laid bare the many barriers to overcome, from identifying, financing, and securing land, to the logistics of building social and affordable housing at scale in regional areas.

Evan Nunn, CEO of Accordwest, a not-for-profit provider of community support services in the South West, was supported by influential figures in WA, including the Hon Don Punch MLA and CEO of ShelterWA Kath Snell, bringing powerful confirmation of the need for collaborative models to secure state and commonwealth funding and reduce project costs.

Accordwest's Symposium100, held in Bunbury in May. 

There is an alarming rise of rough sleepers in the South West, with recent data showing a staggering 63 per cent jump in homelessness in the South West (ABS Census, 2021). Across Western Australia, there has been an 8 per cent increase in the number of people experiencing homelessness in WA, up by 724 people.

The widespread issue continues to impact the community, with the Advance to Zero campaign highlighting severe health and wellbeing challenges among those experiencing homelessness.

Innovative solutions were proposed to help support people experiencing hardship and disadvantage to live the life they choose to live, such as utilising modular housing and standardised designs to speed up construction and streamline development.

Opportunities were also identified for local governments to pinpoint land for development and facilitate approvals, while private sector partnerships and new financing models were highlighted as key strategies to expand community housing.

“The Symposium100 sets the agenda showing that working together we can deliver the social and affordable housing the South West so desperately needs. Accordwest now calls on the community and stakeholders to join this transformative journey to make homelessness a rare, brief, and one-off event,” Mr Nunn said.

Highlighting the urgency of addressing this crisis, a recently commissioned industry report estimates the South West Region will need 5,600 new homes by 2041. To meet this demand, social and affordable housing stock must grow by an average of 5.8 per cent annually, equating to 200 to 300 additional homes each year.

“The challenge is clear, the vision is set – now as a community, we must create solutions to make it viable,” Mr Nunn said.