Local Government and homelessness: is the future all bleak?

Local government in Australia is the third plank of a federal system and one in which, relative to other federal systems, it is very much a weaker partner. This means that in dealing with issues of homelessness it has not had either the resources or the formal responsibility. Local government in Australia is also very disparate in structure, geographical area, housing market attributes, and political, economic and social constituency. This means that there is no uniformity on how homelessness is experienced by different local governments, their awareness of it, or their ability and willingness to respond. Moreover, with a few exceptions, local government does not provide any form of social housing that could represent a local housing solution. Thus, unlike in the United Kingdom (see Anderson), there is no clear rationale for a strategic planning approach to homelessness by local government. [Introduction]