Peter Sandeman: Homelessness in SA needs a new approach

IT is clear that the current approach to homelessness isn’t working, writes Peter Sandeman. The number of people sleeping rough in our city continues to grow.

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IT is clear that the current approach to homelessness isn’t working. The number of people sleeping rough in our city continues to grow.

We’ve seen a 44 per cent increase in the past year alone.

Too often we make the mistake of thinking that homelessness requires a crisis response, that it is always a short-term problem caused by a specific incident.

Unfortunately, for many people homelessness is a chronic condition that isn’t simply about finding a bed for the night. We know that drugs, alcohol, domestic violence and mental health issues go hand-in-hand with homelessness.

Mental health, drugs and alcohol, domestic violence and housing services should work together to enable each person to move out of chronic homelessness.

Sometimes chronic homeless people are labelled ‘service resistant’. International experience shows us that homeless people are not resistant to services. The problem is the services on offer are not what are needed. No one really wants to sleep rough in winter.

A punitive, hard-lined approach moving people on only alienates homeless people and makes building trust harder. An important part of the Don Dunstan Foundation’s Zero Project, to be announced today, is the concept of the ‘by-name list’.

It will ensure people sleeping rough in the city are known by name and individual needs and aspirations are identified. This personal approach will see relationships built with the right combination of service providers.

Existing and new housing options will be better utilised to move people into permanent housing co-ordinated with the necessary support services. The Zero Project will bring together the community sector, business groups, council and government agencies to end chronic street homelessness in Adelaide.

There is enough money, we just need to use it better. Case management is a good start but we need integrated services. AnglicareSA has long advocated for a combined approach to homelessness and has invested significantly in the development of an alcohol management program in the CBD — a place where people living on the streets and in the parklands can transition out of chronic homelessness.

We know this is the right approach. AnglicareSA Brompton, an aged-care facility for homeless and those at risk of homelessness, provides an alcohol management program that works. We need to extend this service to homeless people in the city.

We can’t do it alone. A solution will only come from all agencies and sectors working together. It is time to end chronic street homelessness in Adelaide.

PETER SANDEMAN IS ANGLICARE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER