Govt urged to provide housing help to homeless elderly

The Federal Government has been urged to follow through on its election promise to “ensure those who are homeless have shelter” and apply it to older people in an Aged and Community Services Australia ACSA) report on the Assistance with Care and Housing for the Aged (ACHA) Program .

It says “the plight of homeless older people is not well known but is a real issue which requires real solutions”.

The ACHA Program has been successful in assisting older people in insecure housing or those that are homeless. Throughout its 12 year history the program’s success in assisting older homeless people has been proven, reviewed and evaluated.  However, adequate resourcing to meet the demand and provide a full support service has never been provided. 

ACSA’s paper Linking Housing and Support: the Assistance with Care and Housing for the Aged (ACHA) program calls for:

* the ACHA program to be included in the Aged Care Allocation Round guidelines with explicit, priority care packages for the target population of homeless and at risk older Australians, where a need can be shown;

* maintenance of  links with mainstream aged care funding with closer links with state and territory Housing programs to be formed;

* a funding increase of a further 10% and adequate indexation (in addition to the $5.7 million three year allocation for existing programs provided in 2006-7)

ACSA estimates that a further $25 million is needed for a full national coverage of housing support for the homeless and at risk older population.

It says the ACHA program is a proven, cost effective means of improving the lives of homeless older people and people at risk of homelessness by supporting them to access services to which they are entitled.

The benefits of such a proactive response to their needs  includes slowing the onset of premature ageing, reduced chronic and acute mental and physical health care costs, and savings due to later entry into high cost residential care. 

“It is time for Government to act to ensure such benefits are realised for individual older people and to resource the service system that provides the required support. If ever there was a group of people at risk of social exclusion, it is older homeless people,” the ACSA paper concludes.

It is available at www.agedcare.org.au