Premier's Priority on Reducing Homelessness

Overview

Having a safe, secure and stable home is still out of reach for far too many people. The most recent census data (2016) revealed that street homelessness makes up seven per cent of all homelessness in NSW. This means almost 2,600 people were living on NSW’s streets in 2016, at risk of illness, injury or death.

The NSW Government has committed to reducing street homelessness in NSW by 50 per cent by 2025, one of the NSW Government’s 14 Premier’s Priorities. The Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ) is the lead agency responsible for delivering this priority.

We are committed to reducing street homelessness by focusing on initiatives to:

collect and use better data to ensure we deliver the right kind of support to where they are needed most
engage more directly and frequently with people who are experiencing street homelessness and ensuring they have a pathway to secure, stable and long-term housing
build on and invest in prevention and early intervention.

Street count

Gathering accurate data about the number of people experiencing street homelessness is essential to informing the best way to target resources to those who need the most support.

The NSW Government will undertake annual street counts to deliver more regular data on our progress towards achieving the Premiers Priority target. Street counts will also help foster local collaboration and inform local approaches to prevention, housing options and post-crisis support.

The 2020 street count results

From February to April 2020, DCJ led a state-wide street count of people experiencing street homelessness. Approximately 500 people, from DCJ, community housing providers, local councils, police and non-government service providers, participated in the counts.

Street counts, which were completed in 264 towns and suburbs, in 79 LGAs from across NSW, counted 1,314 people experiencing street homelessness. A further 135 counts were made where there was evidence of street homelessness but no person was seen, for example makeshift camps, sleeping bags or personal belongings.

For more information about the 2020 street count results, please refer to a technical paper analysing the street count data and this infographic prepared by DCJ.

Assertive Outreach

Assertive outreach is an evidence-based practice to combat street homelessness by having housing staff, specialist caseworkers and health professionals conduct patrols to proactively engage with people experiencing rough sleeping and provide a pathway to stable long-term housing.

Since March 2017, the NSW Government, working in partnership with the NGO sector, has been helping people to acquire long-term housing through Assertive Outreach street patrols in inner-Sydney. In 2019 DCJ and its partners expanded these services to the Tweed and Newcastle and this was followed by further expansion to all DCJ Districts beginning in April 2020.

Working with our partners

Vanguard Initiative

The ‘Act to End Street Sleeping’ initiative was founded by the Institute of Global Homelessness and seeks to establish “Vanguard” cities in the fight against homelessness.

The NSW Government signed the End Street Sleeping Agreement in February 2019, together with the City of Sydney, Institute of Global Homelessness and seven NGO partners, committing NSW to a 50 per cent reduction in street homelessness by 2025. The Premier further demonstrated the NSW Government's determination to end street sleeping by making this target a Premier's Priority in June 2019.

NSW is the first state in the world to set a “Vanguard” target for the whole of state, not just an individual city.

End Street Sleeping Collaboration

The NSW Government and the End Street Sleeping Collaboration are working together to achieved zero street homelessness, and have committed, with partners, to halve the number of people experiencing street homelessness across NSW by 2025. The End Street Sleeping Collaboration consists of signatories to the Act to End Street Sleeping Agreement, involving both Government and non-government organisations alike.

DCJ is currently working with the following organisations as part of the Collaboration:

The NSW Government and the End Street Sleeping Collaboration have also been working together to pilot a real-time, by-name street homelessness database to help coordinate services for people experiencing street homelessness.

Supporting people during the COVID-19 Pandemic

While COVID-19 continues to impact the broader community, people experiencing or at risk of street homelessness are particularly vulnerable. Not only do people experiencing homelessness often live in environments that are conducive to virus transmission (such as encampments and street sleeping), they are more likely to have chronic health conditions.

Since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, DCJ has been reassuring our clients that we’re not going anywhere.

Our essential services will continue to operate as we respond to COVID-19, including support with housing and homelessness. Information about how to access support is available on DCJ’s dedicated COVID-19 website.

Do you need help?

Link2home is available state wide, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Specialist staff will provide tailored, individual solutions, including temporary accommodation and connections with support services. Anyone who is experiencing homelessness or is at risk of homelessness can call Link2home on 1800 152 152.

Ask Izzy is a search tool to help people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness find shelter, food, health and other critical support services.

If you are homeless, at risk of homelessness, or you need to find services on behalf of someone else, use Ask Izzy to start searching today.

You can also contact your nearest social housing provider for housing advice and assistance.

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Last updated: 09 Apr 2024