Cairns housing crisis: Critical Response Team offering mobile accomodation support for homeless

A grassroots housing initiative is slowly growing in force as it assists homeless Far Northerners into urgent temporary accommodation. This is how it works.

The Queensland Government Department of Housing has established a North Queensland critical response team, to assist Far North Queenslanders experiencing homeless find accommodation suitable to their needs. Cairns resident Giovanni, who is looking for independent living close to the city, is assisted by Department of Housing workers Tessa and Courtney at the Mobile Housing Office when it visited the Cairns Esplanade on Tuesday morning. Picture: Brendan Radke

A grassroots housing initiative is growing in force as it helps homeless Far Northerners into urgent temporary accommodation.

The state government’s recently launched Critical Response Team has been equipped with a mobile van to “go to the people” sleeping rough, rather than wait for them to approach Department of Housing services.

The service has already extended its operations to the Barron River and anticipates expanding to the greater Far North region.

The department’s Vicky Meyer said the outreach service had been extended to regional parts of Queensland following a successful operation in Brisbane.

“We’re working with individuals who are sleeping in tents, in cars, in makeshift dwellings, and we’re getting them into short term accommodation, while we can work with them on a longer term housing option,” Ms Meyer said.

The Queensland Government Department of Housing has established a North Queensland critical response team, to assist Far North Queenslanders experiencing homeless find accommodation suitable to their needs. Department of Housing worker Vicki, Erin from Anglicare and Department of Housing worker Izzy will work out of the Mobile Housing Office, which travels to the homeless living across the Cairns region. Picture: Brendan Radke

She said those options included houses already funded by the department, and also motel rooms.

A spokesman for housing minister Meaghan Scanlon said beneficiaries of the response team were then either offered a social home in the first instance, or a headlease on a private property rented on their behalf by the state and suitable to residents unable to present rental history or constrained with similar barriers.

“People experiencing homelessness come from a range of different backgrounds,” Ms Meyer said.

With a critical shortage of public housing in Cairns and the price of rent for private homes increasing, the disadvantaged and those on welfare payments are finding it increasingly difficult to get safe accomodation. A tent belonging to a homeless person is set up in a reserve off Minnie Street in Cairns. Picture: Brendan Radke

“It’s individuals who have just fallen on tough times, people that have fallen out of rental properties or lost their jobs; there’s a whole range of individuals who are experiencing homelessness at the moment for a multitude of reasons.”

The launch of the local response team comes amid Labor’s ambitions to deliver 1 million new homes by 2046, which included “the state’s largest social homes project”.

The 490-home development at Woree was announced in September last year and awaits federal funding, with the state then expected to render it “ready for final assessments”.

Cairns MP Michael Healy defended the timing, stating there were multiple “processes” underway ahead of construction.

The Department of Housing has lodged a development application for permission to build 490 social and affordable homes in Woree in what could be Queensland’s largest social and affordable housing precinct. Picture: Supplied

“It’s a big process, and there is processes that we need to go through,” he said.

“So I understand that there will be some positive announcements, but we’re still waiting for processes to go through, and we’ve got to go through council process.”

In December last year, Cairns Regional Council waived infrastructure charges for the development and last month Division 3 councillor Cathy Zeiger called for the project to be fast-tracked.

Originally published as Cairns housing crisis: Critical Response Team offering mobile accomodation support for homeless