City of Perth wants fewer homelessness service providers in CBD

Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas is pushing for the decentralisation of homelessness services from within his local government area to other metropolitan councils.

The advocacy position comes as the council unanimously decided to block the relocation of Ruah’s daytime homeless services drop-in centre, despite advice from the administration it did not believe there were any grounds for refusal, 200 metres around the block from its existing location on Shenton Street to James Street.

City of Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas.

Zempilas told a state parliament inquiry into homelessness recently about four actions the City of Perth thinks should take place to address the issue.

These included a call for an increase in crisis accommodation and an extension of operating hours for daytime centres providing support services.

But he also said these support services were overrepresented in the City of Perth, claiming 90 per cent were based there.

“It stands to reason there will be more homeless people … finding their way into the City of Perth if that is where the majority of the day centres are,” Zempilas told Radio 6PR.

City of Perth homelessness action points

“It would be beneficial if there was a decentralisation of some of these service providers and in particular around the day centre space.

“That’s why one of the things we believe … is that a decentralisation of these services would be fairer for everyone who operates in and around the CBD.”

Homelessness Minister John Carey hit back, saying 10 per cent of the state’s homelessness programs were based in the City of Perth, and it was false to assert there was an over concentration of services.

“Consistently spruiking City of Perth funding for a safe night space for women in the city and advocating for extended outreach and drop in hours while simultaneously making decisions which block existing homelessness services simply does not cut it,” he said.

If the council’s decision on blocking Ruah is not challenged in the State Administrative Tribunal, it could cast a cloud over similar community service providers looking to move or get started within the city’s boundaries.

Uniting WA runs the only other drop-in day centre in the CBD, off Aberdeen Street in East Perth, and its co-chief executive Michael Chester said services existed where they were needed.

“The [Ruah] decision by the City of Perth has consequences. It puts at risk one of two centres that people have access to in the CBD,” he said.

“The decision will put additional pressure on Uniting’s Tranby Engagement Hub to meet greater demand for essential services and support for people with complex needs.

“Homelessness is a community issue, one that requires leadership at all levels. At the very least, the City of Perth should work to resolve this matter by bringing relevant stakeholders together and finding a pathway forward.”

Zempilas, who came into power promising to investigate using the city’s carparks as overnight shelters, says the local government pulls its weight on homelessness given its funding of a night shelter for women sleeping rough.

The shelter is running as part of a two-year trial but its future at the end of this period is uncertain.

The City of Perth funded a men’s shelter briefly but stopped when the state government opened a facility for all genders called Boorloo Bidee Mia. The local government also coordinates an area where accredited homeless service providers can provide outreach at Moore Street.

There was support from the council for a new centre for women and children fleeing family and domestic violence being built by Ruah on its current drop-in centre site, but the two Perth councillor representatives on a five-person planning panel voted against it going ahead in April over density concerns because of its height.

Zempilas said the council was supportive of the women’s facility but the relocation of the drop-in centre was akin to having an additional service when ratepayers thought the city already did enough.

“It would be hypocritical for me one week to advocate for the decentralisation of these day centres and then the next week approval another facility in the City of Perth,” he said.

Opposition housing spokesman Steve Martin suggested the City of Perth may bear a larger burden than other areas but every effort to add to the availability of crisis care and social housing in the state should be seriously considered.

“It would be great to see as solution as the facility and the service exist now and would be a great shame to discontinue,” he said.

Council nearly rounds out its homelessness plan

Homelessness was highly politicised in recent local and state government election.

In the City of Perth mayoral and council race, candidates ran on platforms of finding solutions to the issue at a time when the state and capital had a severe lack of options for people sleeping rough.

Prior to the local government elections, the independent commissioners running the City of Perth forged closer relationships with the state government to try and address the issue.

This included the establishment of night shelters to fill the gap while the state government constructed more purpose-built facilities, like its 112-apartment facility known as Common Ground in East Perth due to be completed in 2024.

At last week’s council meeting there was an item to close out its one-year homelessness action strategy, but continue the Moore Street site and finish the two-year women’s shelter trial, with a position statement to be developed instead on its continued advocacy for services or support for better collaboration.

Deputy mayor Di Bain narrowly moved an amendment 5-4 to continue targeting tangible actions to help deliver the city’s homeless agenda through to 2023-24.

“When I was elected to this council 18 months ago, my platform and the platform of some of my colleagues here was to position the City to act on homelessness,” she said.

“This rough sleeper action plan, which is expiring, was designed to deliver results for the community and it has.

“It was also a signal to the state government and our homelessness sector that the City of Perth agreed with the premise it was a shared responsibility to end homelessness … what we’re being asked tonight is a slippery slope, we’re effectively retreating from that aspiration by stealth.”

Zempilas said he did not accept the city was not acting on homelessness and was caught aback by the amendment after he said councillors had agreed in April to move towards a position statement.

“Ultimately, homelessness is a state government responsibility. We have a role to play, we are playing our role,” he said.

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