ACT Women and Housing Minister Yvette Berry has welcomed a unanimous call from state governments for increased federal funding for housing and homelessness services.
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Speaking after a meeting of state and territory housing and homelessness ministers in Brisbane on Thursday, Ms Berry said there was a growing demand for frontline services for women and children experiencing domestic and family violence.
Before the meeting Ms Berry called for better co-operation from the Turnbull government on the issue, raising concerns the federal government could refuse to fund a renewed national agreement on homelessness services after June next year.
The current National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness includes $230 million from the federal government over two years, to be spent by the states and territories on frontline homeless services.
Priority is given to services directed to women and children experiencing domestic and family violence, as well as homeless young people. The ACT government is concerned that a jointly-funded awareness campaign on domestic violence could drive increased demand for necessary services while uncertainty about ongoing funding remains.
Ms Berry said there was urgency around the issue, including in the days after the release of a report from Victoria's royal commission into family violence.
"With the current National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness scheduled to expire on 30 June 2017, state and territory governments and local service providers need to know as soon as possible what funding will be available beyond that date," Ms Berry said.
"I'm pleased that housing and homelessness ministers from across the country have jointly called on the Commonwealth to give clear advice on the future of homelessness funding by the end of this year."
She said the ACT government did not support the proposed automatic rent deduction scheme for public and community housing tenants, put forward by NSW ministers. The proposal was likely to be incompatible with ACT human rights laws, Ms Berry said.
"While I am supportive of national co-operation on options to improve the way we support social housing tenants around rent payments, I don't see the proposed scheme as being the right option for Canberra.
"I also reiterated my previous comments on housing affordability – that we need both levels of government pulling in the same direction on what is a national issue."
Ministers also used the meeting to discuss demand on social housing expected to result from transition to the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
An Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report found family and domestic violence was the most common reason individuals required homelessness support in Australia, accounting for more than a third of cases.
In 2014-15, 92,000 people, including 31,000 children, needed assistance.
Federal Social Services Minister Christian Porter recently blamed the former Labor federal government for issues around funding of homelessness services, saying the Coalition government had extended the current agreement by two years.
Ms Berry said the ACT government's submission to a Commonwealth working group on affordable housing called for further discussion about options including policy levers on negative gearing and capital gains tax discounts.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews discussed recommendations from the royal commission at Friday's meeting of the Council of Australian Governments.
