Accordwest’s mission to make homelessness a rare, brief and non-recurring experience in the South West is riding a new wave of momentum on the back of an historic $92.2 million funding boost from the State Government designed to bolster homelessness services across Western Australia. The generous grants have enabled Accordwest to scale up its frontline support, expand services, strengthen partnerships, and advance ambitious projects focused on achieving ‘functional zero’ homelessness in Bunbury and beyond.
Central to Accordwest’s re-energised focus is aligning with the Australian Alliance to End Homelessness’ ‘Advance to Zero’ campaign –a nationwide initiative that seeks to address root causes of homelessness by prioritising immediate, safe accommodation while supporting communities to work together, share knowledge, tools and resources and build capacity to respond. The WA Advance to Zero (AtoZ) initiative seeks to demonstrate that ending homelessness is possible, starting with chronic and rough sleeping homelessness, one community at a time.
Leading Bunbury on the pathway to zero
As the one the South West’s leading advocates and provider of homelessness services, Accordwest has partnered with the WA Alliance to End Homelessness (WAAEH) to jointly deliver a Local Community Coordinator for the Bunbury Zero Project, the latest in a series of roles designed to enhance local community efforts in ending homelessness.
Michala McMahon, Director Practice and Improvement at WAAEH, believes the Local Community Coordinator role will drive a place-based approach to achieving the Bunbury Zero Project’s goals. “Since early 2021, our team has been dedicated to facilitating local community action by bringing organisations together to share resources through service coordination for individuals experiencing homelessness. We are committed to supporting individuals, organisations, governments, and local communities in working collaboratively across sectors to end homelessness in Western Australia” she said.
“Partnering with Accordwest, the Local Community Coordinator role will enhance already existing WAAEH work in the Bunbury community. An on-the-ground, dedicated, local representative will continue to identify and build relationships within the wider community, assist stakeholders to better understand local service gaps and barriers experienced by those people who experience homelessness, and bring together collective responses to effectively tackle issues and drive meaningful system change.”
The new role comes as like-minded organisations and teams gathered at the Australian Zero Homelessness Summit held in Fremantle on Wednesday 16th October. The Summit provided an opportunity for people and organisations across a broad range of sectors, industries and levels of government to come together and work towards an end to homelessness in Australia. International speakers shared global insights on a range of learnings including homelessness reforms, inspiration on the latest housing models demonstrating client centred outcomes, rounded out by bright spots and milestones from across the 29 active Australian Zero Projects. Accordwest sponsored a WA Regional Highlights Panel which featured Zero Project Members from Geraldton, Mandurah, Kwinana, Rockingham and Bunbury. Executive Manager, Programs at Accordwest, Simone Atkins said the re-energised homelessness team is now in prime position to deliver the Advance to Zero objectives in Bunbury. “Attending the Fremantle Summit was extremely inspiring, giving our homelessness team actionable ideas for how we can enhance our own strategy to achieve the Bunbury Zero Project’s 12-month goals while adapting to evolving needs.
“With the recent state government funding paving the way for our new focus headlined by the recent introduction of the Local Community Coordinator, we’re excited about our enhanced capacity to work alongside local council, service providers, organisations and individuals to achieve our goal of functional zero homelessness in Bunbury.”
North to South: Bringing global learnings down under
The Advance to Zero’s aim is to reach ‘functional zero homelessness’ (starting with rough sleeping), which is achieved when there are enough services, houses, and crisis beds for everyone who needs them, sustained over a period of time. Developed by The Australian Alliance to End Homelessness (AAEH), the Advance to Zero (AtoZ) Framework guides efforts to end homelessness in Australia, based on what is working around the world and lessons learned from efforts so far in Australia. Pivotal to its’ success is the live, ever evolving ‘theory of change’, integrating what we are learning, and will continue to evolve the more we learn into what we’re doing.
Under the Advance to Zero model, every community has a shared strategy for reaching and sustaining functional zero homelessness. The strategy has four evidence-based approaches – Housing First System Change, Person Centred & Strength Based, Data Driven Improvement, and Place Based Collaboration – with many ways to apply the four approaches locally.
Unlike previously accepted ‘head count’ local practice for identifying homelessness, the Advance to Zero model is designed to provide communities with real time data of people experiencing chronic homelessness so they can tailor a fully coordinated service response.
Bunbury held a Connections week in March 2021, which started their quality Bunbury By Name List (BNL). During the event, Accordwest, other service providers and volunteers venture out into the local community early in the morning to have conversations with those sleeping rough where they gather and compile consensual information about their names, experiences and needs onto a By-Name List (BNL) – a shared database accessible by all the service providers within the community.
This approach is particularly valuable for those experiencing long term homelessness, who generally have an array of complex needs ranging from accommodation to mental health, medical, and AoD support and require a Housing First approach.
Ultimately the BNL creates visibility on the service gaps and trends in different towns and cities unique to their needs, so providers like Accordwest can collectively advocate for government support. For example, because of a real-time quality by-name list, in Bunbury it is known that 60% of people on the BNL identify as female, yet there is only one female refuge service available locally. Further, 85% of people on the BNL have one or more medical conditions, yet have no access to a street doctor or a service like homeless health care located in the metro. The presence of a quality BNL provides a shared understanding (quality data) to inform who needs what support, whether efforts are working, how to target resources best and how to improve the system as a whole. It also enables scarce housing and support to be triaged according to local priorities and it enables a prevention focus, better advocacy and the implementation of Housing First.
Making every story matter
This is an unprecedented approach that’s having far-reaching results in the community. By bringing local council and service providers together to talk and build relationships on the ground, individuals experiencing homelessness are no longer treated as numbers on a spreadsheet but as real people whose names, backstories and needs are known.
The flow-on effects are already disrupting the system and driving positive change. As communities continue to learn more, many policies and procedures surrounding rough sleeping have been improved and updated. Central to this is a new person-centred and trauma informed response that has decreased move on orders, fines, and police officer abuse by removing assumptions and delivering personalised, data-informed support they need.
Evan Nunn, Accordwest CEO, is excited by what Accordwest is achieving in the wake of the funding and re-energised focus. “We’ve always believed there’s not just one organisation or one solution to support those in our community with their journey toward long term, safe accommodation, he said. “It takes a community, and we’re going to walk alongside our community to achieve zero homelessness.
“We’re thrilled to be driving the Bunbury Zero Project forward through our partnership with WAAEH. With our newly expanded homelessness team and adoption of the housing first approach, we’ve never had greater capability to deliver the right supports to the right people when they need it.
“Accordwest continues to be at the forefront of initiatives that meet real homelessness needs unique to local communities in the South West. Our youth accommodation expansion project is tracking according to the project plan with no major setbacks, meaning by August 2025 Bunbury is set to welcome a game-changing transitional accommodation facility for up to eight young people experiencing homelessness. Meanwhile, exciting progress is being made on Accordwest’s vision to build 100 social homes, with the Symposium100 unearthing many innovative solutions, and a working group now forming as we speak to bring them to life.”
The Symposium100 is still open to the community and stakeholders. Accordwest invites all those interested to join this transformative journey.
Photo taken outside Accordwest Bunyap Youth Homelessness Facility, on Forrest Ave, Bunbury with
- Hon. Don Punch, MLA, Member for Bunbury
- Evan Nunn, Accordwest CEO
- Simone Atkins, Accordwest Executive Manager Programs
- Chantelle Powell, Accordwest Manager Homelessness Services
- Cathy Mills, Anglicare Service Manager South West Region
- Elizabeth Larkin, Anglicare, Team Leader Housing First Support Services
- Carrianne Graham, City of Bunbury Community Safety & Emergency Management Officer.
ABOUT ACCORDWEST
Accordwest is a not-for-profit provider of community support services in the South West with a purpose to support more people experiencing hardship and disadvantage to live the life they choose to live. For over 40 years, people have been our purpose, driven by a belief that ‘every story matters’, no matter how big, how small, or who is telling the story. As a progressive local agency immersed in our local community, we’re uniquely placed to explore innovative new ways to develop services that deliver deep-reaching impacts. Whether that’s coaching families to improve their relationships and parenting skills. Supporting people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. Helping children and young people who need out of home care. Working with people exiting the prison system to adjust naturally back into a normal life. Or providing emergency relief services for people in times of urgent need. Anyone seeking support can connect with Accordwest on 1800 115 799. Accordwest has service centres located in Bunbury, Busselton and by appointment at our shared space in Manjimup. The organisation can also provide outreach across the South West including Collie, Harvey and Margaret River.
PROGRESS UPDATES
Youth Accommodation Expansion Project: Bunyap 2.0
- Over $5.844m of state government funding has greenlighted the build of Bunyap 2.0 – Accordwest’s game-changing two storey transitional youth accommodation facility.
- Located on Forrest Avenue next to current Bunyap crisis accommodation, the site has now been cleared with foundational construction underway.
- Designed by MCG architects, the final plans feature an upper level home to 8 self-contained rooms (complete with ensuite, cooking, living with storage and beds), sitting/study nooks, flexible open space and private counselling rooms. Lower level has a foyer & reception, open space work environment for Accordwest Homelessness Services team. Outside there is professionally designed landscaping capturing local and southwest plants, as well as bike racks and outdoor seating for guests and visitors.
- The project continues to create local employment opportunities, from the design to demolition, and a large number of Bunbury based subcontractors and suppliers.
Sympoisum100
- Following the Symposium100 in May 2024, a group of South West leaders met in Bunbury on 7 August during Homelessness Week 2024 to discuss details on how to best work on innovative solutions needed to deliver 100 social homes.
- Accordwest CEO Evan Nunn and the Accordwest Social and Affordable Housing Development team are enthusiastic about promoting the solutions and are working diligently to secure a fair share of State and Commonwealth funding to reduce project costs at scale.
- The working group is currently forming, comprising experts in funding applications and financial expertise to project management, construction and fabrication, government and community engagement, and housing and homelessness services.
- It is still open to people to join – Accordwest openly invites the community and stakeholders to join this transformative journey to make homelessness a rare, brief, and non-recurring experience.
- For more information, please see: https://www.accordwest.com.au/symposium100/
Australian Zero Homelessness Summit
- Held on Tuesday 15th October in Fremantle, the Summit saw passionate, like-minded organisations and teams gather at Fremantle’s Esplanade Hotel to explore effective strategies for supporting efforts to end homelessness across Regional WA.
- Regional Panellists included:
- Nick Mathieson (Housing Coordinator at Anglicare WA & Local Community Coordinator for Mandurah, Kwinana & Rockingham)
- Carrianne Graham – Community Safety & Emergency Management Officer at City of Bunbury
- David Power – CEO of Centacare Family Services in Geraldton.
- Accordwest’s attendees – Simone Atkins & Chantelle Powell and team – learnt how Australian Zero Projects implement their Advance to Zero strategy to achieve functional zero homelessness, with three main observations made:
- Create urgency for change among relevant stakeholders, including community members, policymakers, and potential funders.
- Facilitate effective communication between AtoZ teams, committees, and stakeholders, including management of Service Coordination.
- Use continuous improvement practices to meet desired 12 month goals of the local Zero Project and adapt plans and activities to the emergent landscape as needed.