Joint letter re housing and support

To: The Hon Mark Butler MP, Minister for Disability and the National Disability Insurance Scheme, Minister for Health and Ageing

Cc. The Hon Clare O’Neil MP, Minister for Housing and Homelessness, Minister for Cities

Dear Minister Butler

Delivering the housing and support needed to achieve the Government’s mental health and disability reform objectives

We have been heartened by the recommendations made by the NDIS Review (2023), Disability Royal Commission (2023) and the Productivity Commission’s Inquiries into Mental Health (2020) and the National Housing and Homelessness Agreement (2022) around improving the housing security and wellbeing of people with psychosocial disability.

When pieced together these recommendations called for:

rapidly expanding safe, inclusive and recovery focused housing and support models
a national program that combines psychosocial, recovery and tenancy sustainment support across different forms of rentals, including private rentals
overhauling group accommodation settings to raise quality, safeguards, protect resident rights and support transitions to alternative settings
using transitions from inpatient and correctional settings to strategically prevent the churn of people through care, homelessness and institutionalised settings, and
enhanced capacity and capability in the Specialist Homelessness System to support people living with significant mental health challenges, cognitive impairment or complex needs.

We also welcomed the Government’s inclusion of homelessness as a priority in Australia’s Disability Strategy 2021–2031.

Despite these positive steps, the reality is that NDIS reforms are further eroding access to support and housing security for people with psychosocial disability.

We call on you as Minister for Health, Disability and Aged Care to ensure the upcoming negotiations around development of new Targeted Foundational Supports for people with psychosocial disability deliver rapid and significant improvements in the housing security and wellbeing of people with psychosocial disability.

We urge you to:

steward the rapid expansion of evidence based safe, inclusive and recovery focused housing and support models, such as supportive housing and Housing First programs, along with tenancy sustainment measures, as part of the Foundational Supports for people with psychosocial disability outside of the NDIS;
meet with sector representatives to discuss next steps.

These are important, achievable and widely supported reforms. They align with your government’s stated objectives under the Australian Disability Strategy and will deliver improved health, mental health, housing and workforce participation outcomes for Australians and associated long term savings to governments.

We appreciate your ongoing engagement and look forward to your response confirming a clear pathway forward.

Yours sincerely,

Kate Colvin, CEO, Homelessness Australia

Co-signed by [list of supporters]

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