Perth council, Ruah revisit women’s shelter plan

Ruah has made a move to revive a women’s shelter program at its Northbridge outreach facility that was at the centre of a clash between City of Perth and the state government.

City of Perth councillors will decide on Ruah Community Service’s application to operate the Safe Night Space program at the not-for-profit organisation’s newly opened James Street facility at an upcoming meeting.

The city’s officers have recommended the council approve a temporary Safe Night Space for women at Ruah’s drop-in centre on 247-249 James Street, with a list of conditions including opening hours of 7am to 7pm and having two security personnel at the site.

Ruah relocated to the James Street building to make way for a seven-storey Centre for Women and Children to be built at the north-west corner of the Shenton and John streets intersection, where its single-storey outreach centre stood.

The council refused Ruah’s relocation to a two-storey building on James Street in mid-2022 but the decision was overruled by the state government later that same year.

Last year, the state government and the city butted heads again with the closure of the Safe Night Space crisis accommodation at the Rod Evans Community Centre in East Perth.

Ruah, in partnership with the city, operated the Safe Night Space program at Rod Evans centre from May 2021 until November 2023.

In the weeks leading up to the closure, homelessness groups called on the city to continue the program at the East Perth facility with the state government offering $3.1 million to keep Safe Night Space running until December 2025.

City of Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas has repeatedly said the offer came at the “eleventh hour” despite the state government being notified months before the official closure of the two-year program.

Mr Zempilas previously mentioned he met with then-Premier Mark McGowan and Homelessness Minister John Carey in 2022 to discuss the future of the program through state government funding, a claim he repeated at the city's agenda briefing tonight.

“I do feel that, on behalf of City of Perth, it’s important that I reiterate those points,” he said at the briefing.

“Because I feel in some of the conversations about the closure of the Safe Night Space, this issue of how much notice and how much detail is given has been lost."

Rod Evans centre has been opened for community use and has been booked by multiple arts, education, and other social groups, Mr Zempilas said.

“I’ll just end with some details that I think are relevant. In the period prior to the closure of the Safe Night Space, just for the period from the Oct 1 until end of November – a two-month period – there were 24 incidents reported to the City of Perth and to police," he said.

“In the two months that followed the closure of the Safe Night Space, there was one reported; a burglary.”

Multiple residents have presented at the agenda briefing to oppose Safe Night Space to be operated on James Street, primarily citing safety concerns and antisocial behaviour.

Ruah chief executive Debra Zanella has rebutted the concerns in her presentation during the agenda briefing, saying that despite the opposition, 154 people have given submissions of support.

“People do care, City of Perth residents do care about women escaping violence, vulnerable women seeking shelter seeking safety,” she said.

“Those who said they care were business owners in the City of Perth, commercial and not for profits, a District Court judge, others in the legal profession in the city, people who work every day in Northbridge and Perth itself.”

Ms Zanella also slammed Mr Zempilas’ social media post about the closure of Best Western Northbridge Apartments at 228 James Street, that alleged the relocation of the Ruah drop-in centre to 247 James Street was part of the reason for the apartments’ closure.

At the briefing, Ms Zanella said Mr Zempilas’ comments about the Best Western closure was inappropriate, inaccurate, and a breach of the city’s own code of conduct.

“Laying blame at Ruah’s feet for antisocial behaviour or closure of a business is entirely inappropriate,” she said.

“And as always it’s at the expense of the most vulnerable in or community and most often, women.”

Ruah proposed to operate the program temporarily for 30 months, which Ms Zanella said should meet up with the opening of the state government’s Common Ground development.

Mr Zempilas said the timeline had been contemplated at his meeting with the state government in 2022.

“What you asked for is exactly what the city was proposing in November 2022,” he said.

“The City of Perth, I believe, has been unfairly tarnished with the brush that we were not endeavouring to provide solutions.

“That was in November 2022, when we said to the state government, ‘if you fund it, you can have the [Rod Evans] facility until the Common Ground development’.

“That was rejected. I’m very sorry about that because we could’ve been in a very different position.”

The council will decide on the matter next week.