Bunbury’s ‘tent city’ grows as South West housing shortage stalls Housing First homelessness strategy

Members of Bunbury’s homeless community continue to camp out in force at a make-shift “tent city” in the CBD as the vulnerable group is left out in the cold with nowhere else to turn. About 13 people are believed to sleep at the Graham Bricknell Memorial Music Shell, an events sound stage located near the Bunbury bus station, as they ride out one of the wettest winters the city has seen. The issue made its way to Parliament on Tuesday during Homelessness Week when South West Nationals MLC James Hayward questioned the State Government over its action plan to stop the shell being used as a “de-facto homeless shelter”, and wraparound support available. In response, the Department of Communities said it had funded local services Anglicare WA, Breakaway Aboriginal Corporation and Doors Wide Open to provide the Housing First Support Service. The $9.4 million project links support workers in Perth and Bunbury directly with people experiencing homelessness in metro areas to offer them a pathway to stable accommodation. The five-year initiative aims to help those in need find and maintain stable housing and provide wraparound services. Anglicare WA is spearheading the delivery in Bunbury, but said it found the main obstacle to be the lack of social housing. South West service manager Cathy Mills said case workers were providing “intensive, assertive outreach” over past months including daily visits. “We’re a daily presence to those who are homeless ... working to assist them with attending day-to-day appointments such as specialist doctors, completing housing applications, to get ID and birth certificates, ensuring they have hot showers and can do their laundry,” she said. “It’s been so cold and wet lately that their sleeping bags get wet, their blankets soggy, they are rough sleeping in the midst of one of the wettest, coldest winters that we’ve seen in a very long time. “We just want to leave them one step better than when we came.” Ms Mills said Housing First relied on placing people in housing and then providing them with the wraparound support — something they could not do with the lack of housing stock. “Without having the stock to put people in it really makes a difference,” she said. “There’s a big shortage of social housing but at the same time we’re doing all we can to help them.” Mr Hayward slammed the State Government for setting up local agencies like Anglicare WA to fail as sufficient accommodation is not available. “The State Government is showing no compassion to homeless people by not providing much-needed accommodation, and instead, people are forced to sleep rough and be at risk from anti-social behaviour,” he said. “What we are seeing is an ongoing crisis on our doorstep. People have been sleeping there for more than five years and the government’s inaction is pointing towards it becoming a permanent shelter.” A State Government spokesperson said about $1 billion was being invested to expand and upgrade the public housing stock and ensure necessary homelessness supports were in place. “In acknowledgement of the current pressures in the housing market, Communities is supportive of funded Housing First Support Services using temporary and transitional accommodation options to house clients, while they help them to get their lives back on track with wraparound supports and longer-term accommodation is being sourced,” they said.