With funding due to run out within months, Wyndham council has joined housing and welfare groups in pleading to the federal government to immediately recommit to the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness.
National body Homelessness Australia has led the calls, saying organisations have been hamstrung as they wait for a decision, with this financial year’s
$115 million commitment due to expire on June 30.
At last Monday night’s council meeting, Cr John Gibbons received unanimous support as he urged the government to continue the agreement with the states and give certainty to those providing housing and support services to the most vulnerable.
In Wyndham, the wait for public housing can stretch up to five years.
Councillors voted to write to Social Services Minister Scott Morrison to voice their concerns.
Wyndham’s chronic lack of crisis accommodation means people facing homelessness or emergency situations such as family violence are forced to find shelter outside the city.
Cr Gibbons said this was the third year in which the funding provided as part of the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness had been in jeopardy.
“Census figures show the number of people experiencing homelessness in Wyndham almost quadrupled between 2001 and 2011, and the growth in [housing] overcrowding rates increased by more than 400 per cent over the same period,” he said.
“Wyndham also has the highest rates of rental evictions of any local government area in Victoria.
“Despite these figures, there are currently no local options to access immediate housing assistance in Wyndham.”
