April 2005

New standards to boost assistance

New service standards have been developed for community agencies assisting people experiencing or facing homelessness.

The standards—launched by Housing Minister Candy Broad—are to be trialled for a six-month period by four community agencies in metropolitan and regional Victoria.

The standards aim to improve and provide more targeted assistance for people in housing crisis, covering areas such as governance, access to services, best practice in service delivery and staff management.

‘Every Victorian deserves a decent opportunity in life and that’s why we need to continually improve the assistance we provide to homeless people,’ Ms Broad said.

‘The new service standards have been developed to ensure homeless people are guaranteed quality service when they seek assistance.’

The standards were developed through extensive research and consultation with input from the homelessness support sector and a core group of peer researchers who had previously experienced homelessness.

The agencies participating in the six-month trial are Loddon Mallee Housing, Merri Outreach Support Services, Central Hume Support Service and Eastern Domestic Violence Outreach Service.

The combined services provided by the agencies include crisis accommodation outreach services, youth crisis, transitional housing and support for women and children escaping domestic violence.