Delivered by AHURI Professional Services
For the NSW Department of Communities and Justice

NSW Department of Communities and Justice contracted AHURI in collaboration with the Social Policy Research Centre (SPRC) at the University of New South Wales to undertake an independent evaluation of the Together Home Program (THP).

Since the inception of THP in July 2020, the NSW Government invested $189 million into the program to assist people experiencing homelessness into stable accommodation and link them with wrap-around support. The program aimed to facilitate pathways into longer-term housing, and to provide access to culturally appropriate health, mental health and wellbeing services. THP was started as part of a key initiative to support the former Premier’s Priority to halve street homelessness by 2025.

THP is informed by Housing First principles and was delivered across NSW by 18 community housing providers (CHPs). The CHPs contracted support providers to deliver the wrap-around support (‘standard’ and ‘High Needs’ packages). By June 2024, the program had delivered 1,117 packages and housed 1,414 clients. THP included a capital component to increase the amount of housing available to clients – the Transition Program – which delivered 282 additional social housing dwellings.

Reports

Together Home Program Evaluation: Final Report

1 October 2025

The Final Evaluation Report assesses the outcomes achieved by THP, provides a case study of the Aboriginal-led model and cultural safety, and presents a cost benefit analysis. It also provides nine recommendations to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of the program.

Overall, the evaluation found THP was a well-designed and innovative housing-led program that successfully housed a large number of rough sleepers with high and complex needs during and after the COVID-19 emergency. THP delivered strong outcomes for clients in terms of access to housing and tenancy sustainment, and the enhanced support provided by the program allowed clients to access services and supports from which they were otherwise excluded.

The evaluation found that the monetised benefits of THP are significant but still less than the program’s cost. However, it did not put a monetary value on one of THP’s key achievements: housing 84 per cent of its clients. In comparison, only about 27 per cent of all people who had applied for social housing were housed.

View the Together Home Program Evaluation Final Report

Together Home Program Interim Implementation Report

15 August 2023

The Implementation Evaluation report is based on data from stakeholder consultations, surveys of support providers and CHPs, analysis of administrative data and case studies up until January 2023. It is the third in a series of reports, which also include a Baseline Report and an Early Findings Report.1 The findings and recommendations provided by this report aim to assist the Department in making decisions about the future of the program and how and whether it can continue. A Final Evaluation Report, which will be completed in 2024, will add an analysis of linked administrative data, as well as an economic evaluation of the program.

View the Together Home Program Interim Implementation Report

Together Home Program Evaluation System Impacts Paper

February 2024

The System Impacts Paper provides additional information to the evaluation of THP. It is guided by the following questions:

• How can a future THP be designed to support a Homelessness Strategy that aims to make homelessness
• ‘rare, brief and non-recurrent’?
• How can THP client experience be improved?
• What improvements could be considered in a future Housing First model?

The Impacts Paper draws together evidence from the Together Home Program Evaluation Interim Implementation Report (Interim Implementation Report), new quantitative data and new qualitative data from stakeholder consultations.

View the Together Home Program Evaluation System Impacts Paper