Canberra’s social welfare sector is bracing for an increase in homelessness as services face millions of dollars in cuts to funding.
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Services have warned that the rate of homelessness in the capital could surge, despite moves by the ACT Government to absorb some of the $5.9 million cut by the Commonwealth.
The ACT Government previously announced it would be passing on $3.6 million in funding cuts, according to the ACT Council of Social Service.
Director Susan Heylar said the onus was on the ACT Government to meet the gaps and should start by gathering funds from other service systems to meet the gap in funding.
“There would need to be $2.6 million put back in from other portfolios,” she said.
Ms Heylar said action needed to be taken prior to October, when the extension on funding agreements was due to expire with funding cuts expected to take full effect by July 2015.
Minister for Housing Shane Rattenbury said he received a submission from ACTCOSS regarding the reduction in federal funding to local homelessness programs on Monday.
“We will be meeting with ACTCOSS in the next two weeks to discuss their submission and recommendations,” he said.
“I welcome engagement with the community sector in what are difficult circumstances and I look forward to ongoing dialogue in relation to how we might respond to these issues.”
The fallout from recent cuts is expected to impact upon services such as the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre, the Domestic Violence Crisis Service and numerous refuges in the city.
Homelessness agency ACT Shelter is facing funding cuts if 23 per cent and “will struggle to stay viable” after October, according to executive officer Leigh Watson.
Ms Watson said the impact of the cuts would be increasingly obvious over the coming months.
“The chances of homelessness increasing are very real,” she said.
“Already there is homelessness and this will impact on organisations’ abilities to respond to the need.”
Ms Watson said the ACT Government had guaranteed that no beds would be lost as a result of the cuts, but there were concerns that staff losses would impact on service quality and see vulnerable people slipping through the cracks.
She said the timing of the cuts were particularly bad, given the shortfall in short term funding for the sector in the ACT 2013-14 Budget.
“It wouldn’t be good at any time, but now is certainly not a good time,” she said.
“The government is quite committed that it won’t have an impact, but it’s hard to see how it won’t.”
Ms Watson said the issues would be subject to further discussion at a post budget briefing to be held by ACT Shelter on Monday.
