LotteryWest funds study to send rough sleepers back to country

THE number of homeless in the Kimberley will be determined for the first time in a research project.

THE number of homeless in the Kimberley will be determined for the first time in a research project that aims to find the reasons why "rough sleepers" drift to coastal towns from outlying communities and work out ways to help them return home.

The Return to Country study is being funded in response to growing numbers of Aboriginal homeless in the coastal Kimberley towns of Kununurra, Derby and Broome.

LotteryWest, the charitable organisation that distributes Western Australia's lottery profits, has committed $100,613 for a research project "to develop a business plan and service delivery model to help Aboriginal people who visit regional Kimberley towns . . . return to their homes, which are often in distant or remote communities".

The research has been welcomed by the deputy shire president of Wyndham-East Kimberley, Di Ausburn, who said the council was struggling to deal with the growing numbers sleeping in the streets of Kununurra.

She said some people travelled to town for funerals or to go to hospital or court, but it was clear that some came and stayed because their communities were dry and they wanted to drink alcohol. They brought their children with them.

Ms Ausburn said alcohol restrictions introduced in the inland towns of Halls Creek and Fitzroy Crossing since 2007 had coincided with a drift to Kununurra, where full-strength alcohol was more freely available.

"It pulls on your heart strings to see the kids homeless and hungry," Ms Ausburn said.

A spokeswoman for LotteryWest said the study would be conducted through Catholic charity Centacare.

"There is a large movement of people throughout the Kimberley region who visit regional towns to access health and social support services, to visit families and to attend cultural activities (including attending a funeral)," she said.

"This transient population puts pressure on support services and housing and accommodation in major towns, when the people are unable to get back to their own places. It contributes to the number of 'rough sleepers' and homeless people in these regional centres so that not only is there pressure on the services, there are concerns about the wellbeing of those who have nowhere to stay and limited means to return to their home community."

The Kimberley Return to Country project aimed to find a viable and sustainable way of responding to the situation which supported people to return to their homes and reduced the pressure on local support services, the spokeswoman said.

As well as funding the Return to Country research, LotteryWest last month donated almost $68,000 towards a vehicle for the research officer who will conduct the study in the Kimberley. It also granted $55,000 for emergency relief for homeless Aborigines.