Report on Government Services highlights the need for Specialist Homelessness Services investment

The St Vincent de Paul Society NSW is seeking more funding for specialist homelessness services after a new report showed 50% of people seeking accommodation in the past year did not receive it.

The latest Productivity Commission Report on Government Services revealed the alarming unmet demand for accommodation and support in NSW.

“Housing has been a serious issue over many years and these figures confirm what the sector experiences on the ground each day – we are in crisis,” said Yolanda Saiz, St Vincent de Paul Society NSW Acting CEO.

“The unmet demand for homelessness accommodation services over the past year in NSW has increased to 49.9 per cent from 48.2 per cent, and a further eight percentage points from the same period four years ago.

“In real terms, these figures reflect the 22,324 people in NSW with an identified need for accommodation who were unable to access that essential service over the past year.

“The Report on Government Services does reveal the benefits of receiving support from Speciality Homelessness Services with 62.9 per cent of people in NSW finding independent housing after receiving assistance in 2021/22, compared with 50.5 per cent before receiving support.

“There is a growing number of people who are falling through the cracks of the housing market and these figures reflect that without substantive investment the situation will worsen and leave thousands of people facing homelessness over the long term,” Ms Saiz said.

“Every single day our staff and members are meeting with people experiencing or at risk of homelessness to offer assistance,” said Paul Burton, St Vincent de Paul Society NSW President.

“The housing market as it currently functions incentivises people to squeeze as much money out of people for an essential need; it is a damning situation where we have turned what should be an inalienable right for all into a commodity.

“The NSW Government proved during the pandemic that action on homelessness is possible through the Together Home program which housed people in a time of crisis.

“We would like to see the baseline funding for specialist homelessness services increase from $258.8 million to $410 million annually to allow service providers to respond to the need that exists, as well as extending government contacts from three to five years to provide greater certainty.

“Homelessness is not an inevitability; it doesn’t have to be this way,” Mr Burton said.