Homeless project launched in Sydney

People sleeping rough in Sydney will soon be taken off the streets and given a key to an apartment with a tenancy agreement, under a radical new plan to tackle homelessness.

The Common Ground initiative brings together the public and private sectors to make available either purchased or newly-built apartments to homeless people for 30 per cent of their earnings.

Residents will be able to stay as long as they need and during their tenancy will have access to outreach programs such as drug and alcohol counselling, education and employment training.

The concept is based on a model established in 1990 by Rosanne Haggerty, a leading creator of solutions to homelessness in the United States.

Ms Haggerty came up with the idea after she found an abandoned hotel next to Times Square in New York, which she turned into a housing project.

She brought the model to Australia in 2006 when advising the South Australian government on social policy.

Therese Rein, the Australian patron of Common Ground, travelled to New York earlier this year to meet Ms Haggerty.

Ms Rein, speaking at a launch in Sydney Tuesday, said the model which had been adopted in Adelaide and Melbourne was a proven success.

"Common Ground is a success story overseas and interstate, now it is coming to Sydney bringing with it the hope of ending chronic homelessness," she said.

"It assists people who are sleeping rough to immediately become tenants, with their own lockable secure place, it also provides real 24-hour on-site support to help people maintain their tenancies."

The NSW Department of Housing has identified four potential sites for the project.

One of Australia's largest development and construction companies - Grocon - has agreed to undertake the project at cost.

Nathan Rees, in his first official function as NSW premier, attended the launch with state Housing Minister David Berger.

"The vast majority of people have simply fallen through the cracks, and as the most prosperous city in Australia we can do better than that and it starts today," Mr Rees said.

"I haven't promised to fix homelessness, but we will have a red-hot go at it.

Federal Housing Minister Tanya Plibersek said the project was eligible for funding under a Labor government initiative to build homeless accommodation.

"Common Ground is unique in that it identifies the services a homeless Australian needs and provides them at the same time as providing a roof over people's heads," she said.

Data from the 2006 Census showed the number of homeless people in Australia increased by 6,000 to 105,000 people between 2001 and 2006.

© 2008 AAP
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