Sustainable tenancy for Indigenous families: what services and policy supports are needed?
Summary
Approaches to providing stable housing and sustaining tenancies for Indigenous women are affected by their high mobility and poor service access, and compounded by differences between the structures and definitions of current services and perceptions of ‘homelessness’ by Indigenous women. Achieving stable housing and sustainable tenancies requires service providers to develop strategies to remain in contact with Indigenous women, and to provide case-managed practical support for Indigenous women for personal, social and family matters, including the development of life skills.
Project Number: 40158
Research Theme: Indigenous Housing
Project Leader: Cooper, Lesley
Funding Year: 2002
Research Centre: Southern
Research & Policy Bulletin
Issue 056: How to help Indigenous families into stable housing and sustainable tenancy
Approaches to providing stable housing and sustaining tenancies for Indigenous women are affected by their high mobility and poor service access, and compounded by differences between the structures and definitions of current services and perceptions of 'homelessness' by Indigenous women.
Download the PDF
109 KB PDF Document
Description
Indigenous women and their children are subject to violence sexual abuse, domestic violence and violence related to drug and alcohol abuse. The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women's Task Force on Violence (2000) identified affordable and sustainable housing as a particular issue for women leaving a violent relationship. According to Elders working closely with indigenous women, and other researchers (Bassuk, Perloff and Dawson 2001), this violence leads to residential dislocation and long term housing instability.
In order to protect themselves and their children, women move through various types of housing including Government Housing, Aboriginal Housing, Aboriginal Hostels, with kin, and in various shelters and crisis accommodation. There are barriers to sustainable tenancy throughout this cycle. Breaching income support regulations is common, eg failure to notify about custody of children resulting in loss of income. These women may not be able to pay rent arrears or advances on new accommodation. Loss of income may also mean that women are not able to access welfare agencies to obtain health and welfare support necessary to sustain them in their new housing.
The research investigated residential dislocation and housing instability by examining pathways taken by indigenous women and children between homelessness and sustainable tenancy. It also aimed to identify and investigate structural and service barriers in the housing system that may hinder or reinforce sustainable tenancy. Income support policies and practices and eligibility requirements for entry into Government Housing, Aboriginal Housing and Hostels, Shelters and Crisis Accommodation were other governance factors to be considered. As the ability of indigenous women to obtain and retain housing is not solely determined by availability of housing stock and operational arrangements of various programs, service coordination, referral, crisis support and information services were also examined.
The sites for the research were Brisbane, Darwin and other Northern Territory locations with a large indigenous population. Indigenous research assistants familiar with, and connected to their culture were used to interview women. They used questionnaires that combined survey questions and semi structured questions to reach for the rich textured narratives necessary to understand the complexities of indigenous housing issues. Policies, procedures and practices of organisations assisting indigenous women to access and sustain housing were reviewed. Practice models that can help in assisting women to achieve sustainable housing, were presented and discussed with service providers, government and indigenous organisations. Focus groups of service providers were conducted to obtain feedback about service delivery issues and best practice approaches. The research was expected to enable planning and development of specific housing services such as tenancy management, refinement of eligibility requirements and referral and support services.
More Information
Research and Policy Bulletin: Issue 056: How to help Indigenous families into stable housing and sustainable tenancy
109 KB PDF Document
Final Report: No. 081: Sustainable tenancy for Indigenous families: what services and policy supports are needed?
3 MB PDF Document
Positioning Paper: No. 058: Sustainable tenancy for Indigenous families: What services and policy supports are needed?
1.5 MB PDF Document
Website Design Melbourne Australia, Web Hosting, Web Development, by DDSN Interactive.