Kick Back
100 signatures reached
To: Prime Minister Chris Luxon, David Seymour, Winston Peters, Chlöe Swarbrick & Marama Davidson, Debbie Ngarewa-Packer & Rawiri Waititi, Chris Hipkins
Demand the Government support people experiencing homelessness!
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We are calling on the Government to work across the house to develop and implement Duty to Assist legislation. This would place responsibility on government agencies to prevent homelessness, provide support to those experiencing homelessness, and support people into secure and permanent housing. This legislation would also place responsibility on health professionals and other government agencies (such as schools, hospitals, organisations serving people who are at-risk of homelessness) to refer whānau who are at-risk of homelessness to the appropriate government agency.
Such legislation has been successful internationally and would be an important step towards addressing the structural challenges contributing to homelessness within Aotearoa.
Why is this important?
Everyone should have access to decent, secure and permanently affordable housing. But right now, many people in our communities are experiencing homelessness – living on couches, in cars, in overcrowded houses and in unhealthy and unsafe conditions.
For too long people in government have chosen not to allocate resources to public housing, while prioritising policies that encourage property speculators to buy up huge amounts of houses. As a result home ownership and access to decent, secure and affordable housing has become harder and harder for everyday people.
This Government's recent decision to make access to emergency housing more difficult, is increasing the harm and risk of homelessness in our communities[1].
These policy changes were able to be implemented because there is currently no legislative responsibility on government agencies to support someone who is at-risk of homelessness.
In the midst of a housing crisis, where there is already not enough decent and stable housing available within our communities, this Government has chosen to stall public housing builds across the country[2], cancel funding for youth housing services[3], and reduce access to emergency housing. These policies push the burden of responsibility for homelessness on individuals, rather than addressing the complex and systemic challenges that enable homelessness to occur. Together these policies will deepen the housing crisis Aotearoa is facing.
Duty to Assist legislation would begin to address the systemic issues that prevent people from getting support when they need it. It would place the burden of responsibility back onto the system, and ensure that if you or I experience homelessness, or were at risk of homelessness, we would be provided with the support we need in our moment of crisis.
In Wales, Duty to Assist legislation has been successful in the prevention of homelessness, through supporting people to remain in their housing and access the support services they need. The legislation also requires local authorities to provide emergency housing as a temporary measure while they fulfil their ‘duty to secure accommodation’ which means they must continue to find permanent and stable homes for people.[4]
In Aotearoa, Duty to Assist legislation, alongside a commitment to increasing public housing, would get us on a path out of the housing crisis and towards a future where everyone has a place to call home.
References:
References:
[1] Government was warned emergency housing crackdown could increase homelessness. RNZ, 20 August 2024 https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/525607/government-was-warned-emergency-housing-crackdown-could-increase-homelessness
[2] The impact of tougher emergency housing policies in two regions. 1News, 15 September 2024 https://www.1news.co.nz/2024/09/15/the-impact-of-tougher-emergency-housing-policies-in-two-regions/
[3] Social worker fears young Kiwis being abandoned by Government after transitional youth housing funds reallocated. Newshub, 05 June 2024 https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2024/06/social-worker-fears-young-kiwis-being-abandoned-by-government-after-transitional-youth-housing-funds-reallocated.html
[4] Overview of the council’s duties to people experiencing homelessness in Wales. Shelter CYMRU, 7 March 2024 https://sheltercymru.org.uk/housing-advice/homelessness/help-from-the-council/new-homelessness-laws/