{"id":1563,"date":"2019-02-15T01:55:09","date_gmt":"2019-02-15T01:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=1563"},"modified":"2019-02-15T01:55:09","modified_gmt":"2019-02-15T01:55:09","slug":"nsw-to-halve-homelessness-by-2025-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2019\/02\/15\/nsw-to-halve-homelessness-by-2025-2\/","title":{"rendered":"NSW TO HALVE HOMELESSNESS BY 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NSW Government has signed a global agreement to halve street homelessness across the State by 2025.
\nPremier Gladys Berejiklian and Minister for Social Housing Pru Goward, together with service providers and the City of Sydney, signed the agreement today at NSW Parliament, making Sydney the tenth city to join the fight against street homelessness.
\n\u201cWe are working hard to break the cycle of homelessness with the latest street count showing a significant reduction in the number of rough sleepers in Sydney,\u201d Ms Berejiklian said.
\n\u201cWe have already invested $1 billion in funding for homelessness services over four years to break the cycle of homelessness, but we cannot become complacent and by signing this agreement we are pushing ourselves to do even more.
\n\u201cWe know that homelessness is not just a city issue, which is why we have set this target to halve street homelessness across the entire State by 2025.
\n\u201cHomelessness is a complex social issue that cannot be solved by government alone – that\u2019s why we will be inviting the best and brightest from the frontline and from the community to collaborate with us to find new ways of tackling street homelessness.\u201d
\nThe \u2018A Place to Call Home\u2019 initiative \u2013 founded by the Institute of Global Homelessness \u2013 will support homelessness services in Sydney to set goals and strategies to reduce rough sleeping numbers and to measure and track their progress.
\nChair of the Institute Dame Louise Casey said \u2018A Place to Call Home\u2019 gives cities a focused way to share knowledge among leaders who might not otherwise learn about each other\u2019s work.
\n\u201cThere is an emerging global movement to end homelessness and NSW is leading by example and will help other cities around the world set ambitious, achievable goals to end street homelessness,\u201d Ms Casey said.
\nThe City of Sydney last year recorded the lowest number of people sleeping rough in five years – evidence that the NSW Government\u2019s record spending and intensive outreach efforts are helping more people facing homelessness to find housing and support.
\nThe NSW Government\u2019s assertive street outreach program in Sydney has already housed nearly 300 rough sleepers since May 2017 and 94 per cent have successfully maintained their tenancies for more than 12 months.
\nMinister for Social Housing Pru Goward said the drastic drop in people sleeping rough in Sydney in 2018 showed the Government\u2019s focus on prevention and early intervention was working.
\n\u201cHomelessness is not a simple issue to solve \u2013 you cannot simply put a person who has been sleeping on the streets for years into a home and expect it to work \u2013 you need to give them the right wraparound support,\u201d Ms Goward said.
\n\u201cComplex mental health and substance abuse issues are often the underlying causes of homelessness which is why we are focusing on early intervention.\u201d
\nThe NSW Homelessness Strategy sets the direction for the next five years, focusing on prevention responses that address the root causes of homelessness and early intervention responses that will reduce the longer-term impact of homelessness.
\nMember for Sydney Alex Greenwich said: \u201cThe issue of homelessness in NSW needs urgent attention and the setting of this target and signing of this agreement kick starts this vital action.\u201d
\nThe following parties have signed the agreement:<\/p>\n