New in the Site

Brian Cooper has contacted the Clearinghouse looking for SAAP services client handbooks/ or intake handbooks? He is developing one for a male accommodation service where practice over the years has led to inconsistent practice. If you can help please email Brian Cooper at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . The Clearinghouse would also be glad to have any examples sent to us for uploading to the site.

This February 2010 Research Paper from AHURI provides a discussion about the historical processes and factors that have shaped public housing in Australia. The intention is to provide a baseline that can inform the next stage of the investigation on the long-term future of Australian public housing.

Read and download the Paper.

The University of Queensland Social Research Centre (UQSRC) was commissioned by the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs in June 2009 to examine the casemix approach to funding in the context of specialist homelessness services.

The resulting literature scan considered three distinct dimensions including:

• Casemix and case-based approaches used by the homelessness sector in Australia and overseas;
• The funding mechanisms currently used by the homelessness sector in Australia;
• Casemix and case-based approaches used to fund community services in general;
• Funding mechanisms used to fund community services.

The Homeless Persons’ Legal Service (HPLS) in partnership with the National Homelessness Clearinghouse has started a new consultation project to find out homeless people’s experience of discrimination on the grounds of past criminal record. So that we can hear from as many homeless people as possible, HPLS has designed a series of cartoons that tell a story about what types of questions and behaviour might be discrimination on this basis.  Someone who has suffered this discrimination then gets the chance to tell their personal experience of discrimination.

If you have clients that you would like to assist complete a story of criminal record discrimination and to assist HPLS change laws in this area for the better, please go to the HPLS Homelessness and Criminal Record Discrimination Project information page on this site and view the cartoon and complete the online form. 

The 2nd Annual Research Officers’ Forum 2010 will be held May 12 and 13, 2010 in Melbourne. The event is a unique platform for researchers and policy specialists in a variety of fields.

From the event organisers website, "the Government has a renewed focus on evidence-based policy and commitment to leverage research to facilitate policy making, planning and development. This requires linkages between policy research and successful implementation outcomes to be made.