Jesuit Social Services welcomes the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs’ Inquiry into Homelessness in Australia, in recognition that homelessness is a significant issue across our country.
Our submission focuses on four interconnected areas of policy and practice relating to housing and homelessness:
- Structural disadvantage and the need to increase Australia’s social housing stock, incorporating both public housing and community-managed housing;
- Supporting people involved with or exiting from the justice system and the need for more transitional and supported housing programs;
- Supporting people with complex and multiple needs and the need to expand the diversity and availability of housing options and support; and
- The need to address climate change and its impacts in ways that do not exacerbate pre-existing inequities in housing for Australia’s most vulnerable people.
We make four key recommendations, one in relation to each area of focus.