Conference Papers
Session Ho3.2 Homelessness
1. Daphne Habibis: Housing, Temporary Mobility & Homelessness: The contribution of policy
Under the National Partnerships, COAG has committed to a reduction in Indigenous homelessness of one third by 2012. This paper argues that one reason for the high level of Indigenous homelessness is that Indigenous temporary mobility is a largely overlooked area of housing need. Housing services are predicated on the needs of a sedentary population, rather than those generated by the more fluid relationships to place that characterise Indigenous lifeworlds. Methods of homelessness enumeration and definitions of rough sleepers ignore the contribution of temporary mobility to homelessness, underestimating the extent of Indigenous homelessness and missing an important opportunity for early intervention. The invisibility of Indigenous temporary mobility from housing policy results partly from the difficulties services have in unravelling cultural and structural causes of mobility and partly because the fluid nature of some forms of temporary mobility blur the distinction between it, and homelessness. The policy problem this presents is especially acute for young people whose departure from the family home can be understood as a culturally sanctioned exercise of autonomy but which is also associated with the destabilisation of relatives’ housing tenure and absences that can lead to chronic homelessness. This paper attempts to shed light on this difficult policy area by proposing a framework for disentangling the relationship between Indigenous temporary mobility, homelessness and migration. Through secondary data analysis it also examines the role of social housing in increasing Indigenous housing stability as mediated by age, gender and household composition.
Author bio: Dr Daphne Habibis is a senior lecturer with the School of Sociology and Social Work at the University of Tasmania. Her research is in the area of social justice and has focused on housing, mental illness, and Indigenous peoples. Her work is informed by a critical perspective and a concern to interrogate privilege. Publications include Social Inequality in Australia: Discourses, Realities and Futures (2008) and she has recently completed an Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute study examining how housing services can improve responses to Indigenous mobility practices. Other large, funded research projects have focused on issues relating to tenancy sustainment and the impact of community mental health teams on consumer and relative outcomes.
Author bio: Dr Elizabeth Taylor is a researcher in the AHURI-RMIT Research Centre of the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI). Her research interests include an analysis of the role of land use planning in housing affordability problems in Melbourne and the influence of housing interest groups on this, housing affordability, housing policy, transport and land use planning, and the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS).
2. Julie Tongs and Nerelle Poroch: Incarceration and Homelessness
Nine males and three female respondents aged between 18 and35 years were interviewed in Winnunga’s June 2011 Study of the needs of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the ACT Prison, the Alexander Maconochie Centre (AMC). All respondents except one had previously been incarcerated. Their accommodation arrangements twelve months prior to incarceration included prison accommodation, no fixed accommodation while going in and out of prison, living with a parent in government accommodation, living with a partner or alone in government accommodation, and living in a car. The Study found that eight respondents required accommodation on release with an additional two respondents previously living with a partner expressing a desire for separate government accommodation from the family home. Winnunga’s 2007 prison health study found that accommodation, employment or training for employment, and individual support on release are essential components in reducing recidivism. However Winnunga’s 2011 Study found that recidivism is not being addressed in the AMC due to poor case management and throughcare arrangements. The ACT Government has already commenced work on strengthening the AMC case management system following the 2010 Burnet Institute Report recommendations and has sought Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health Service views on an appropriate case management system for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the AMC.
Author bio: For over twenty (20) years Julie Tongs, a Wiradjuri woman, has excelled in advocating for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Prior to taking up the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health Service in the ACT, in 1997, Julie was the Aboriginal Liaison Officer at the Woden Valley Hospital, Canberra where she worked towards achieving greater understanding of the Aboriginal culture and the needs of Aboriginal patients while hospitalized. She did this effectively through her coordination role between patients and hospital professionals, and in the aftercare which she arranged when patents were discharged. Julie came into this position after working in the Office of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health as Assistant Advisor to the Honourable Robert Tickner MP. She worked untiringly advising the Minister on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs at the national level. Another area of working at the national level was in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission. These areas of work and advocacy have equipped Julie to excel in her role as Winnunga CEO over the last 14 years. This has enabled her to appreciate the needs of the Winnunga community to the extent that she has developed a health service which has been directed by community needs, which is holistic and aimed at closing the gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people’s health. Julie is renowned for her advocacy in caring for the health and welfare of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community in the ACT and region.
Author bio: Nerelle Poroch has a masters and a PhD from the University of Canberra. She currently carries out research at Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health Service in Canberra. Over the last seven years she researched Indigenous youth and their communication with Centrelink (AIATSIS grant); and through Winnunga, AIATSIS, the Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health, and the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at The Australian National University, has worked on research projects such as the Footprints in Time Study, the Winnunga Holistic Prison Health Care Model, the connection between spirituality and social and emotional wellbeing, and problematic alcohol consumption.
3. Coleen Jensen and Lynette Dewis: The Cairns street-based outreach service