AHURI hosts national Housing First Policy Roundtable

On Wednesday 31 May, AHURI's in house consulting and custom research team, AHURI’s Professional Services, ran a national Housing First Policy Roundtable in Sydney. In attendance were policy makers from all Australian states and territories and the Commonwealth. The Roundtable included input from policy makers in Finland, where the systematic implementation of Housing First policies has led to significant reductions in homelessness.

AHURI Professional Services is currently in the process of evaluating housing first programs for clients in Victoria, NSW and Western Australia, and has recently finished a program evaluation in South Australia. Last year, AHURI Professional Services published the peer-reviewed Housing First: An evidence review of implementation, effectiveness and outcomes examining the Australian and international literature on Housing First.

The Roundtable in Sydney was an opportunity to continue these conversations and share knowledge and dialogue around Housing First in Australia. This communication can aid in the creation of the proposed National Homelessness Plan and create a supportive environment for tackling homelessness in a person-centred way.

The focus of discussion was on what needs to be done nationally to transition beyond the many successful post-Covid programs and pilot projects towards a homelessness system built on Housing First principles.

For more information, contact Head of Development, Dr. Tom Alves.