Commitment to homelessness support

Homelessness is not just sleeping rough – it includes people living in unsafe, insecure, or inadequate housing.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), a person may be considered homeless when they do not have suitable accommodation alternatives and their living situation:

• Is in a dwelling that is inadequate

• Has no secure tenure, or only short-term tenure that cannot be extended

• Does not allow them to have control of, and access to, space for social and personal relationships

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)

Homelessness can affect people from all backgrounds and is often the result of a combination of social, economic, and health-related factors.

These can include:

• Individual factors such as low educational attainment, unemployment, family or domestic violence, poor physical or mental health, disability, trauma, or substance misuse

• Structural factors such as low income, limited access to affordable housing, and shortages in suitable or available housing

Source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW)

The Western Australian Government’s 10-year homelessness strategy, ‘All Paths Lead to a Home‘. provides a whole-of-community framework for preventing and responding to homelessness.

Within this framework, local governments play an important role by:

• Making information about local services and supports easy to access

• Supporting frontline and community safety staff to respond respectfully and refer people to appropriate services

• Working with police and community organisations to connect people experiencing homelessness with support

Local governments do not replace specialist homelessness services but help coordinate information, partnerships, and local responses.

The City partners with organisations including Imagined Futures, St Pat’s Community Support Centre (St Pat’s) and Homeless Healthcare to prevent and respond to homelessness in the local area. These partnerships focus on early intervention, coordinated services and compassionate responses for people experiencing homelessness.

Imagined Futures

Imagined Futures is a place-based, collective impact organisation that works across the Fremantle, Cockburn and Melville areas to support community-led initiatives.

Through its partnership with Imagined Futures, the City has supported a range of initiatives, including:

• Delivering commitments under the South Metropolitan Regional Homelessness and Housing Plan

• Supporting professional development and upskilling events for frontline workers

• Developing the Where Is the Door community resource

• Supporting the Davis Park precinct

• Delivering the ‘Connecting Aboriginal Children in Care’ project

Website: Imagined Futures

Community information and support

The City develops and maintains the Community Support Map, which provides a comprehensive list of community support services available in Fremantle.

The City also partners with St Pat’s Community Support Centre to deliver the Library Connect program. This program places a community support worker at the Fremantle Library to provide advice, referrals and support to people on a drop-in basis.

Community safety and outreach

The City’s Community Safety team works closely with outreach workers from St Pat’s and Homeless Healthcare. This collaboration helps ensure people experiencing homelessness are treated with respect and compassion and are referred to appropriate services when needed.

The City also works with goodwill services operating from the Beach Street car park and Fremantle Oval to ensure that services are coordinated and supported.