- Funding is up $0.9M from the previous financial year
- The Adelaide South alliance will focus on mental health
- A no loss of beds policy has also been implemented
South Australia’s new suite of homeless assistance measures (announced earlier in the year), come into effect today.
The reforms mean an increase in homelessness funding and a new alliance that will assist the homeless across the Adelaide CBD and Southern region.
Funding increases mean that for the new financial year, $72.4 million will be provided. This number is up from 2020-21, which saw a total of $71.5 million committed to specialised homelessness services, and up from $67.9 million the year before that.
There is also a no loss of beds policy, with the South Australian government announcing it will increase the number of crisis beds from 95 to at least 96 in the Adelaide south region.
The government will continue to work with providers including St Vincent’s, Catherine House, and Hutt St Centre, the Centre “to act as a shop front to triage clients as they walk in the door.”
Reforms come as people experiencing homelessness took issue with a difficult to navigate system, and, earlier in May, the government was criticised for the ‘funding shake-up’ which saw money cut from key, established providers; the overall level of funding remained the same, however.
The Property Tribune reported that at the time, Hutt Street Centre, one of the state’s major providers of homelessness services was left out of the restructuring, equating to $1.2 million in funding cuts.
One of Australia’s largest charities, the St Vincent de Paul Society (more commonly known as Vinnies) was another of the member organisations that were unsuccessful in their tender to operate the City-South Homelessness Services. As a result, they suffered funding cuts to their Men’s Crisis Centre in Whitmore Square, which houses close to 50 men each night.
The new Adelaide South alliance will have a renewed focus on mental health, with no service changes to the Adelaide North, Country North, County South and the new state-wide DV alliance.
Minister for Human Services Michelle Lensink said the reforms would focus on prevention, reducing homelessness and most importantly, better outcomes for our most vulnerable.
“Our new alliances bring multiple organisations together, combining collective resources and experience and closing service gaps, making it easier for clients to find the assistance they need.”
