New Adelaide South homelessness alliance happy to work with Hutt St Centre

The Hutt St Centre lost $1.2m in annual funding to them – so who is the new alliance that will deliver homelessness services in the CBD?

The new alliance that will deliver homelessness services in Adelaide’s CBD says it is committed to working with the Hutt St Centre.

The pledge follows news the State Government has stripped $1.2m from the Hutt St Centre’s funding, and from Catherine House, as part of a major overhaul of homelessness services in the state.

Five new “alliances” have been created to deliver services – Adelaide South, Adelaide North, Country South, Country North and Domestic and Family Violence.

The Adelaide South alliance is led by Lutheran Care, and also takes in the CBD.

Lutheran Care chief executive officer Rohan Feegrade said the alliance has had conversations with all agencies that missed out in the tender process, about how they could work together to help end homelessness.

“We have made it very clear, as part of our proposal, that we see a very clear future for Hutt St Centre to continue to provide the amazing services they provide,” Mr Feegrade said.

“The specifics around how it would all work are still to be worked through.”

He said the alliance, which received $15m in State Government funding, aimed to shift the focus from crisis management to early intervention and prevention to help address the state’s homelessness issue.

Hutt St Centre CEO Chris Burns said last week he was disappointed in the decision to strip the service of $1.2m funding. Mr Burns declined to provide further comment.

Human Services Minister Michelle Lensink said the reform was aimed at achieving better outcomes for our most vulnerable residents.

“South Australians experiencing homelessness told us that the system was hard to navigate and wasn’t working for them and that’s why we pushed ahead with this long-overdue and much-needed reform,” she said.

Opposition human services spokeswoman Nat Cook said feedback she was receiving from the sector was they were not “properly consulted” on the changes.

“South Australia has the worst unemployment rate in the nation and we are in the midst of a housing crisis,” Ms Cook said. “These funding cuts make no sense.”

She said the State Government relied on many of the services it has overlooked to deliver homelessness services during the pandemic.

Hutt Street Centre CEO Chris Burns. Picture: Dean Martin

In 2020-21, $71.5 million was committed to specialised homelessness services, up from $67.9 million the previous year.

The new alliances will be required to intervene early to stop people falling into homelessness and to support them into finding safe, stable long-term housing.

They will begin delivering services from July 1, 2021.