The Department of Communities, Housing and the Digital Economy is to convert vacant student accommodation at Griffith University into crisis accommodation.
This follows an approach to the Department by the University which had identified 200 beds of unused student accommodation at its Mount Gravatt Campus that it could offer as emergency accommodation.
Premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk said the new project was a step toward addressing housing challenges.
“Nothing is more important than having a roof over your head — it’s a basic need — and the stories of people without secure housing are heartbreaking,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
“This will increase crisis accommodation available for people in need and help solve one of the multiple housing issues.”
Deputy Premier, Steven Miles said the announcement came out of the Government’s Housing Roundtable.
“This came about from a group of people working together to address a critical issue facing our State and the nation,” Dr Miles said.
“I’ve said from the start — we don’t fix these issues by working alone. We must have coordinated approaches for investment, for infrastructure to support growth and for making better use of existing land.”
Minister for Communities and Housing, Leeanne Enoch said that with the impacts of COVID-19, the rising cost of living and mass migration into Queensland, more and more people had turned to the Government for support.
“We know that ending homelessness requires more than just housing — it is a shared objective across the community and Government at all levels,” Ms Enoch said.
“This is a great example of the benefits of collaboration and working in partnership to deliver even better services for vulnerable Queenslanders,” she said.
The Department will now work quickly to organise a social and emergency housing provider to service the facility.
