Homelessness

Link2Home is the NSW Government’s service that provides referrals to accommodation for people in immediate need. The service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week: 1800 152 152.

How we’re doing this

We were the first council in Australia to have a dedicated homelessness unit in 1984. The unit has 7 employees including a manager, 2 senior project officers and 4 public space officers. The public space liaison officers work 7 days a week linking people experiencing homelessness to housing and support services and manage the public domain.

We follow the NSW protocol for homeless people in public places acknowledging that, like all other members of the public, people experiencing homelessness have a right to be in public places at the same time respecting the right of local communities to live in a safe and peaceful environment. We seek to take a compassionate approach to responding to homelessness in Sydney.

We provide $1.2 million to specialist homelessness services to reduce the number of people experiencing homelessness. This includes 2 specialised Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander outreach services, a general outreach service and a dedicated outreach worker and preventative program for young people.

We take an active role in creating opportunities for partners to work collaboratively or come together to reduce homelessness, exchange new information and learn from each other.