MAJOR ISSUES FACING PEOPLE WHO HAVE A DISABILITY IN THE HOUSING MARKET

AFFORDABLE HOUSING Given the financial constraints most people and their families experience due to  Limited access to employment and just remuneration for their work  Costs incurred in relation to equipment, transport etc  Often reliant on fixed income

HOUSING APPROPRIATELY DESIGNED  Design is not just about physical access  Housing must have the capacity to respond to the needs of people who may experience anxiety, altered reality or auditory hallucinations. (private entry, physically separate access points in multi-dwelling sites)  Physical appearance blends into surrounding neighbourhood

HOUSING APPROPRIATELY LOCATED Location relates to housing that is  Situated in neighbourhoods with ready access to community, social and medical facilities  Alternatively housing that is close to efficient, accessible and reliable public transport hubs

ONE SOCIAL HOUSING SYSTEM The implementation of the One Social Housing System and the associated Client Intake Assessment Process have effectively excluded many people with a disability from Social Housing

WHY?  People living at home with their family will not meet the criteria of homelessness  People who may be beneficiaries of family trusts set up to provide for their future or alternatively existing tenants inheriting liquid assets or property (risk of being assess as no longer eligible due to financial security)

AND MORE….  Changed policies relating to ongoing contact with Department of Housing. (not responding to correspondence and not providing requested information to the Department within one month is a reason for a person’s application for housing to be cancelled.

AND MORE…..  The time within which an application can be ‘revived’ for a person whose application was cancelled due to having ‘lost contact with the Department’ was reduced to three months from 12 months.  However, people can reapply for housing assistance at any time.

ESTABLISHING NEED  Establishing a high level of housing need is part of eligibility process  Department doesn’t always identify the full extent of an applicant’s needs and circumstances  Department does not have a way of supporting an applicant who, for example, may not have the ability to get supporting evidence from agencies and specialists

MORE ON ESTABLISHING NEED…  Applicants and existing tenants who apply for housing or who are sent review forms, or who are making appeals, must provide as much evidence as they possibly can.  Applicants and existing tenants may need assistance from their supportive family and friends to gather such things as reports and supporting letters from DSQ, Child Safety, Community support services.

DISCRIMINATION Discrimination has always been an issue for people with a disability. Some factors making this worse at the moment:  Current low vacancy rates in the private rental market  Group inspections of properties  Agents and lessors accepting multiple applications for properties

SUPPORTED ACCOMMODATION FACILITIES The ongoing practice of placing people with a disability and people who have a mental illness in privately owned and managed boarding houses/supported accommodation facilities together with the return to other models of congregated living means that all people with a disability or a mental illness are at risk of this practice

APPROPRIATE SUPPORT  Access to adequate and appropriate support that is provided independent of housing management  Ability to be supported around individual needs and not reduced to placement in a group home with a group response

INFORMATION Access to adequate, accessible information about:  Systems and how they work  Housing options  Support options  How others might be doing it  How can we construct a sustainable option

ADVOCACY People need access to two levels of advocacy  Systemic Advocacy that represents the voice of people with a disability  Individual Advocacy that has the capacity to support a person to have their voice heard in relation to their housing needs and choices

AND SO THE JOURNEY CONTINUES…… THE RECOGNITION OF THESE ISSUES AND A COMMITTED RESPONSE TO ADDRESSING THEM WILL GO SOME WAY TO PEOPLE BEING ACKNOWLEDGED AND WELCOMED INTO COMMUNITIES

The Beginning!