Millions for homeless but refuges in doubt

WOMEN'S refuges fear they are days away from closing their doors, despite the NSW government's new promise to pump money into homeless support and restore funding for inner-city shelters.

THE government had foreshadowed cuts to inner-city areas through its Going Home, Staying Home reforms, which aimed to end homelessness where it starts with a focus on early intervention.

The plan sparked outcry from advocates who were concerned women who'd survived physical or sexual abuse or had complex needs would be forced into one-size-fits-all shelters.Community Services Minister Gabrielle Upton argued that the previous approach of pouring money into crisis services in the city was not working - but after reconsidering, she has agreed to wind back mooted cuts.Two months after taking on the portfolio, Ms Upton said on Friday she would restore $8.6 million in annual funding that had been on the chopping block, including $2 million a year for inner-city women's services."Let me be clear: the government was never planning to do away with women's specialist services, nor were there plans to have men and women sharing crisis accommodation," she said."However, I have listened to the legitimate concerns of many inner-city providers and the right decision was to restore funding."Kate Timmins from SOS Women's Services said the new minister was "trying to listen", however, some organisations were scrambling to avoid turning women away from June 30.The government has also promised a new fund so that NGOs who missed out during the tender process can apply for 18 months of extra funding. But Ms Timmins says defunded services are already losing vital accommodation facilities."We've been involved in the tender process since November last year. So to hear today that the government is still not making a commitment to maintain the network of specialist services, and that they'll be eligible to reapply without any guarantee of success, throws the sector into a state of chaos," she said."It's not about services losing tenders, it's about vulnerable women losing services."Ms Upton said next week's budget would include a record $148 million for NGOs delivering specialist homelessness services, up from $135 million.Communities in the Hunter-New England district and on the mid-north coast, Illawarra and Sydney's northern beaches will receive some of the biggest boosts."These reforms are about providing early-intervention services so that there won't be the crisis that we currently have, represented by people coming to the city in search of a safe and secure home," Ms Upton said.Deputy Labor leader Linda Burney says the funding reprieve for inner Sydney comes too late for some organisations."Many of them have already lost their buildings, lost their computers and lost their infrastructure," she said.

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