Mission Australia believes all Australians should be able to live in a safe, secure and affordable home.

We recognise that people become homeless due to a range of issues including mental illness, drug and alcohol abuse, personal tragedy and unemployment. These are issues that can affect any one of us unexpectedly and leave us in need of assistance.

We seek first to understand individuals and their families, and then work alongside them to help them overcome the varied challenges they face and break the cycle of homelessness.

In providing our services, we offer innovative solutions to the complex problems of homelessness. We work to address the underlying causes in order to prevent people from spiralling into homelessness. When people have become homeless, we do our best to keep them safe and supported while we assist them back into a safe and secure environment.

We empower our staff members to act locally by tailoring innovative solutions to meet the specific needs of both the person who is homeless and his or her community, in line with our national priorities.

Click here to view our homelessness mini site

Here are some of our services that help homeless Australians:

• The Mission Australia Centre
• Missionbeat
• Reconnect
• Catalyst-Clemente Program
• Youth Accommodation Support Service
• Café One on Wickham
• Charles Chambers Court
• Personal Helpers and Mentors Program
• The Parks Family Accommodation and Support Services

Mission Australia Centre

The Mission Australia Centre, located in central Sydney, aims to break the cycle of homelessness by providing varying levels of intervention through flexible, innovative responsive services.

This groundbreaking centre is the first of its kind in Australia and provides a bridge to greater social and economic participation. Specialised staff and volunteers are committed to tackling the real problems faced by individuals, not just the symptoms by ensuring the provision of appropriate, and quality services. The non-institutionalised environment aims to prevent the stigmatisation felt by homeless and marginalised people and prevent the ‘revolving door’ syndrome. It offers accommodation, learning and education services.

Missionbeat

Missionbeat patrols inner Sydney streets, seeking those in distress and need. Homeless men, women, children, families and intoxicated or drug affected men and women are taken to services where their immediate needs can be met. These needs include safe accommodation, food, clothing and the option to access other intervention support services.

Missionbeat responds to public calls for help and calls from police, ambulance, community services and government departments.

Reconnect

Reconnect is a federally funded community-based early intervention service that encourages family reconciliation for young people who are homeless, or at risk of homelessness. Reconnect helps these young people improve their level of engagement with family, work, education, training and their local community. Mission Australia provides seven Reconnect services. They are located in NSW (Bankstown, Sydney city and Broken Hill), South Australia (Whyalla and Christie Downs ), Queensland (Toowoomba) and WA (Mandurah).

Catalyst-Clemente Program

The Catalyst-Clemente program offers a model of university to disadvantaged Australians. The program uses higher education in the humanities, delivered in a community setting, to engage with people who are disadvantaged. It involves a partnership between a university, community organisations and a range of external supporters. The Catalyst-Clemente program is available in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.

Youth Accommodation Support Service

The Youth Accommodation Support Service in Perth’s Victoria Park provides crisis accommodation for homeless youth aged 15-18, and transitional housing with two on-site units and seven community based units for people aged 16 - 25.

Café One on Wickham

Café One on Wickham, located in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley, is a café where people who are homeless, or at-risk of homelessness, can access a range of services including:

• Referrals
• Low cost meals
• Flexible and informal case management
• Crisis counselling
• Advocacy

Charles Chambers Court

Charles Chambers Court, located in Sydney’s inner city, is a fully accredited aged care facility. It provides high quality accommodation and personal care for homeless and frail or aged people, allowing a high quality and independent lifestyle. The service provides modern, stable and secure accommodation for elderly people, who have been living on the street or moving through crisis accommodation. It offers relief from the homeless circuit.

Personal Helpers and Mentors Program

The Personal Helpers and Mentors Program is a federally funded program that is part of the COAG (Council of Australian Governments) mental health strategy. The Personal Helpers and Mentors Program aims to provide increased opportunities for recovery for people who have a severe functional limitation resulting from mental illness.

Mission Australia operates five Personal Helpers and Mentors services. They are located in NSW (Orange and Newcastle), SA (Whyalla), TAS (Launceston) and NT (Darwin / Palmerston)

The Parks Family Accommodation and Support Services

The Parks Family Accommodation and Support Services in Adelaide’s western suburbs provide a continuum of community housing options and support for families.

We provide four accommodation units and nine Crisis Accommodation Program (CAP) houses for families in need. We work with clients to provide the necessary support to help resolve immediate issues, address long term needs and assist with access to safe and stable housing.

High & Complex Needs in Supported Accommodation Assistance Program

Mission Australia is carrying out research into the high and complex needs of clients accessing Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) agencies, in partnership with the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services & Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA), the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) and the NSW Department of Community Services (DOCS).

Homelessness NSW, the Women’s Refuge Movement Resource Centre and the Youth Accommodation Association are providing essential support, advice and expertise to the project.

As part of the project, we have developed a High and Complex Needs Client Form, adapted from work undertaken by Thomson Goodall Associates for FaCSIA in 2003 and published in the report "People who are assisted by SAAP services and require a high level and complexity of service provision."

The client form will be used to:

• Measure the level and types of needs of clients accessing SAAP; and
• Help services collect information about their clients that will assist with advocacy, coordinated care and service provision.

The client form includes 14 areas in which clients might need support. Sample sections of the client form are available via the links below. However, these sections may change based on feedback from the pilot test carried out in March 2008.

• Client consent & demographic
• Housing
• Money Management and Finances
• Accessing Services
• Challenging Behaviour

Click here to view the project Fact-Sheet and here for results from the pilot-test conducted in November 2007.

For more information about the High & Complex Needs Project please email our Project Officer Caroline O'Neill: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Representatives from NSW Peak bodies:

Homelessness NSW
Sue Cripps

The Women’s Refuge Movement Resource Centre
Taryn Champion

The Youth Accommodation Association
George Mudford