Moved by Councillor Scott, seconded by Councillor Miller –
It is resolved that:
(A) Council note:
(i) there is a crisis of homelessness in NSW;
(a) homelessness has increased by 16 per cent in the last four years;
(b) in the same period, spending on services for those who are homeless and those sleeping rough decreased by 14 per cent;
(c) 288,000 people access homelessness services each year; and
(d) almost 200,000 people are on waiting lists for social housing; and
(ii) there are many individuals sleeping rough in our City each night, and many experiencing long-term homelessness; and
(B) the Chief Executive Officer be requested to explore strategies to provide additional support to rough sleepers and homelessness services in the City, including the 24 hour safe space promised by the NSW State government in August 2017.
At the request of Councillor Thalis, and by consent, the motion was varied, such that it read as follows –
It is resolved that:
(A)
Council note:
(i) there is a crisis of homelessness, and:
(a) homelessness has increased by 37% in NSW, and by 14% across Australia in the five years to 2016, according to census data;
(b) in the same period, spending on services for those who are homeless and those sleeping rough decreased by 14%;
(c) 288,000 people access homelessness services every year; and
(d) 51,453 people in NSW are on the social housing waiting list and almost 2000,000 people are on waiting lists for social housing across Australia;
(ii) there are many individuals sleeping rough in our City each night, and many experiencing long-term homelessness;
(iii) that,
for over 30 years, the City of Sydney has been supporting homeless people in
the inner city and is the only council in Australia with a dedicated
Homelessness Unit who work seven days a week engaging with people and
connecting them to specialist services;
(iv) the
City of Sydney invests $2.2 million every year in reducing homelessness and its
impact in Sydney, including providing $3.5 million over three years through NSW
Family and Community Services to support the delivery of specialist
homelessness services;
(v) for
the past 10 years, the City of Sydney has conducted a bi-annual street count,
monitoring the number rough sleepers in our city;
(vi) the
City of Sydney work, in collaboration to help protect vulnerable people
through:
(a) the Emergency
Response Protocol with the NSW Department of Family and Community Services;
(b) the Homelessness
Assertive Outreach Response Team, (the HART), a coordinated specialist outreach
team; and
(c) quarterly
interagency meetings with Family and Community Services, specialist
homelessness services, business and community groups;
(vii) that
City staff have worked with the Homelessness Assertive Outreach Response Team,
and the Family and Community Services’ Homeless Outreach Support Team to help
approximately 250 rough sleepers into long-term,
permanent housing since March 2017; and
(viii) that, to date, the City has supported
the delivery of more than 800 affordable housing dwellings, with over 1000 more
in the pipeline; and
(B)
Council recommit to the resolution of 7 August
2017 to support the establishment of a 24/7 safe space in Central Sydney
through a grant to the
Department of Family and Community Services of up to $100,000 per year for up
to three years, and offer of the temporary use of a Council property for an
immediate interim facility subject to Department of Family and Community Services
providing necessary support services.
Carried unanimously.
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