People in crisis come to our city centre seeking support every day. Our last street count found more than 278 people sleeping rough in August.
Domestic and family violence, mental health issues, substance use, unemployment and the high cost of housing in our city can all put people at risk of homelessness.
That’s why we’ve contributed $100,000 to help the St Vincent de Paul Society establish an Institute of Global Homelessness office in Sydney.
The Institute of Global Homelessness has set a challenge to end homelessness in 150 cities around the world by 2030. We’re the 10th city to sign onto the project and an independent office in the city will focus on reducing rough sleeping in the local area.
We’ve signed an agreement with the Institute, St Vincent DePaul and the state government to work together on this project to help our community.
The City of Sydney has a dedicated homelessness unit - the first of its kind in Australia. We also invest $2.2 million every year in reducing homelessness and its impact in Sydney.
This includes $3.5 million over 3 years through NSW Family and Community Services to support specialist homelessness services.
More affordable and social housing in our city will also help. Our work has helped provide more than 835 affordable housing dwellings throughout the local area, with over 500 more in the pipeline.
The City will continue to work with our partners to address the factors that contribute to housing stress and place people at risk of homelessness.
We want to ensure everyone has a place they can call home.
Published 15 February 2019
