SA Human Services Minister Nat Cook and Baptist Care SA CEO Shane Austin at Paya’adlu’s opening. Photo: Baptist Care SA.
Specialist Homelessness Services and the SA Government have joined forces to open a new shared space in Adelaide, as part of the state’s fresh approach to tackling homelessness.
The state government said people requiring assistance from homelessness services often present with multiple and complex needs, requiring help from more than one specialist service.
Service providers and government agencies will collaborate together at the new space to streamline assistance and improve strategic planning, information sharing and outcomes for clients.
For at least the next three years, the hub will be located at Baptist Care SA’s Paya’adlu, meaning to “sit, listen and learn” in the language of the Kaurna people of Adelaide and the Adelaide Plains.
SA Human Services Minister Nat Cook said having the central hub was vital to better and broader collaboration. “Paya’adlu will allow the Alliance members and other services to co-ordinate their resources and knowledge and work towards better outcomes for all people experiencing homelessness or domestic and family violence,” she said. “Every organisation is committed to improving their responsiveness and Paya’adlu will house a dynamic community of services made up of people working together to improve the outcomes for people using these services.”
Users of the new shared space will include the SA Housing Authority, other key government departments and members of the Toward Home Alliance.
Alliance members include Lutheran Care, Aboriginal Family Support Services, Baptist Care, Sonder, Mission Australia, Salvation Army and the Hutt Street Centre.
Toward Home Alliance Senior Manager Shaya Nettle welcomed the new Wright Street hub as “a shared commitment to collaboration to improve outcomes for the community.”
Baptist Care SA CEO Shane Austin added, “[it] will help bring the community sector and government together so that decisions can be made on the ground to help end homelessness.”
The Specialist Homelessness Service system, which includes a state-wide Domestic and Family Violence Alliance, is supported by around $75 million in annual funding. Over the past 18 months, an additional $17 million has been provided, including more than $6 million for inner-city services, $9 million to manage cost pressures and $1.7 million for the Hutt Street Aspire Program.
SA Housing Trust Presiding Member Mary Patetsos AM said Paya’adlu took this existing collaboration a step further.
“We are now in the second year since the establishment of the Homelessness Alliances, which are already doing great work in sharing best practice approaches,” she said.
“Paya’adlu is more than an office space – it is essential to ensure a consolidated and tailored approach for each individual experiencing homelessness.”
