Recommendation 1: Scale-up the project by
seeking an additional mix of public and
private funds to expand the capacity of the
program to reach a greater number of lowincome households within the specified
It was also reported that there needs to be more
thorough assessment of new arrivals’
understanding of how to navigate their way
around and to better understand the subjective
experience of being a new Australian. There is a
need for further assistance in providing integration
into the community and someone who could be
actively involved in doing this outside a centre
based approach.
target group in need of assistance.
Preliminary evidence indicates that the demand
for private rental assistance currently outstrips
supply. A full needs assessment was beyond the
scope of this initial formative evaluation.
However, in developing a comprehensive area
based approach to private rental support a more
detailed analysis of the scope and potential size of
the target group and the roles of different
providers needs to be undertaken as part of a
localised strategy for early intervention and
homelessness prevention in the Whittlesea area,
including what service gaps WCC will prioritise to
address in the future.
There is a lot of information that is needed
to familiarise yourself with how things
work in Australian way of life and the
support is not really adequate enough for
this. There are some assumptions that you
already have some understanding. It
doesn’t fully meet the needs and you have
to try to piece it all together [Client
interview].
Recommendation 3: Seek recurrent funding
for the expansion of the existing case
management role to enable greater capacity
for housing related outreach and support.
Recommendation 2: Undertake a needs
assessment and service mapping of the
demand for private rental assistance in the
Whittlesea area in planning to expand its
housing provision focus.
7.2
7.3
Governance
The governance arrangements of the initial
program have worked well on a small scale.
However, as the program expands governance of
the loan and support functions and how they sit
together will need to be further developed. With
growth, the separation of roles from the loan
management and support functions will become
increasingly important. The assessment
procedures will need to be further formalised with
dedicated administrators to manage the loans and
funds. Drawing on the governance structures of
larger models of microfinance management will be
particularly informative to this end. However, it is
critical that the case management and loan
functions remain collaborative in practice to
ensure that the social objectives of the program
are maintained.
Increased capacity for tenancy
support outreach
The existing support role was identified as
providing essential advocacy and support.
However, given the small amount of funding the
capacity for support, at .6 FTE, was primarily
limited to an office based position. Both internal
and external stakeholders and as well as clients
consulted revealed the importance of having a
dedicated outreach worker who could be proactive
in helping clients to access and inspect properties,
particularly for those who do not have access to
transport. This added capacity within the existing
support role would help to facilitate faster access
to properties as they become available.
In expanding the model the critical thing to
think about is governance and the
separation of the support advocacy role
with the loan officer role, which essentially
should be an administration role [External
stakeholder].
There is a need for programs to help
tenants inspect properties. Clients without
a car have difficulty finding a property
because by the time they get out there to
inspect the property is gone. Recent
arrivals are particularly disadvantaged in
this respect [External stakeholder].
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