‘I hope it was a wake-up call’: Welfare service honoured for intervention at Hambleton House

Abstract

Council to Homeless Persons chief executive Jenny Smith said Ms Barnes had been at the forefront of transforming dehumanising and dangerous night shelters into a model of safe and supported crisis accommodation.

“She’s worked on the front line delivering direct support, as a senior service manager, and as a policymaker in government,” Ms Smith said.

Ms Barnes said one of her proudest moments was closing the doors on the Gill Memorial Hostel – which had dormitories with 50 beds – and opening Flagstaff, a pioneering model of crisis accommodation.

The Victorian Public Advocate and Mental Health Legal Centre have both raised concerns with federal and state authorities that some supported residential services proprietors may be “double-dipping” – using residents’ NDIS funding to pay for services already covered by room and board fees.