1. Navigating the Road Home national advocacy on the White Paper

2.

• Overview: where are we at with the WP?

• Better placed now than when Bob Hawke said No child will live in poverty

• We have ambitious targets, but also have

• • a national strategy (White Paper)

• • funding committed to 2013

• We also have major challenges

• • governance model is weak

• • hard to get picture across different states

3.

• Overview (cont):

• 2 topics for this presentation

• advocacy/lobbying in 2009

• what are some of the challenges over the next 5 years?

4.

• Advocacy/lobbying in 2009

• Lobbying public service (programs, policy)

• FaHCSIA

• • research strategy, legislation to replace SAAP

• Centrelink

• • White Paper measures

• • other related measures National Compact for Young Australians

5.

• Lobbying public service (cont)

• DEEWR and Job Services Australia

• H.O.P.E. project Housing Options and Pathways to Employment

• Will JSA model deliver?

• • 4 streams with varying levels of support,

• • brokerage for clients in stream 4

• • Innovation Fund

6.

• advocacy at a state/territory level

• Policy Officers in SA, WA, Tas, NT

• State conferences YAA, CHP, QShelter/QCOSS

• SAAP reform paper

• • overview of whats happening to SAAP

7.

• Lobbying politicians

• House of Reps Inquiry into new homelessness legislation

• Talk to number of different Ministers

• • Canberra AGM: Plibersek, Ellis (youth), Arbib (employment services)

• Greens, Liberals

8.

• Talk in the media

• Do about a dozen media releases a year

• Generally get interest from who you would expect, ie ABC, SBS

• • harder to get interest from Daily Telegraph

• sometimes we get a real bang

• • - 20 media interviews after release of Counting the Homeless data

9.

• Building networks

• In other sectors

• • NESA Conference

• • Australian Drugs Conference

• • Australias Welfare Conference

• • National Housing Conference

• Pull all of this work together at the 2010 National Homelessness Conference

10.

• 5 major challenges to remember over the next 5 years:

• Capture the public interest

• Skill up the media on homelessness

• Manage relationships with politicians in a subtle, clever way

• Need some champions in govt, from other sectors (like employment, AOD etc)

11.

• Remember that advocacy is a long hard process.

12.