Partnerships and collaborations with homelessness services

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.

Homelessness unit

: 02 9265 9333
: [email protected]

Why we’re doing this

Homelessness is a complex issue with no single solution. Our homelessness unit works 7 days a week to support people experiencing homelessness and manage the public domain.

Action areas

Working in partnership with government, non-profit organisations and the corporate sector, we aim to:

facilitate people who are rough sleeping out of homelessness
prevent people from becoming entrenched in homelessness
help reduce homelessness in other regions
make sure people are assisted out of homelessness quickly
enact a compassionate and proactive approach to the management of public space.
homelessness action plan

Strategies & action plans
A city for all – homelessness action planPublished 30 October 2019
Research & reports
Mobile voluntary services report 2019Published 26 August 2019

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.

As part of our support for the most vulnerable people in our communities, we work closely with the a number of specialist services:

Neami National

Provides the Way2Home program that helps address the needs of people who are experiencing homelessness within the City of Sydney LGA.

Innari Incorporated and Aboriginal Corporation for Homelessness and Rehabilitation Community Services

Provide specialised First Nations outreach and support for people who are rough sleeping within the LGA.

Inner City Sydney Homelessness Prevention and Support Service for Young People

Provided by Launchpad, in partnership with the Ted Noffs Foundation and Weave Youth and Community Services.
We coordinate biannual interagency meetings that attract services and volunteers from across the homelessness and allied services sector. The meetings aim to provide services with access to speakers on related topics and the opportunity to share information and network.

Each meeting is themed around a topic or issue and guest speakers regularly attend. Meetings are generally attended by 30 to 60 organisations depending on the theme.
Safe and affordable housing is a basic human right. It’s also fundamental to an inclusive, dynamic and sustainable city. 'Affordable' is defined in relation to income. A common benchmark sees rent costing no more than 30% of a low or moderate household’s gross income.

We work in partnership with community groups and other levels of government to address the chronic shortage of affordable housing in inner Sydney.

Homelessness

Homelessness unit

Why we’re doing this

Action areas

How we’re doing this

City funded outreach services

Neami National

Innari Incorporated and Aboriginal Corporation for Homelessness and Rehabilitation Community Services

Inner City Sydney Homelessness Prevention and Support Service for Young People

Homelessness interagency meetings

Affordable housing

Programs and initiatives

Policies and guides