No Paths Lead to Home - WA 2025 Budget, Homelessness, Government and Collective Policy Amnesia
Title: No Paths Lead to Home - WA 2025 Budget, Homelessness, Government and Collective Policy Amnesia
Author: Matt Vapor
Another State Budget [1] has been unveiled, allowing the rest of us to see where the Government's policy direction is heading. The important thing to remember about government budgets is to review them from the perspective of what's missing, rather than what's been announced. Politics is always about smoke and mirrors, messaging and statements are often said for a reason. Attention and language are paramount to sway the public's perception.
This budget, in particular, leaves a lot unsaid, and this isn't a good thing for either side of politics. Those that are concerned about social welfare or those that see fiscal responsibility as paramount should be equally concerned with the lack of transparency contained within it.
I fall within the former camp, and that is the lens I apply to this budget, particularly around homelessness. And to be completely frank, this Government is aimless in this area, as it completely avoids its own commitments to those at risk of, and those experiencing homelessness. There is tokenistic funding for homelessness, and organisations are still failing to hold the government accountable for what is meant by "wrap around services".
Those of us working in the homelessness advocacy space constantly have a difficult job, however the Government has made this aspect of what we do considerably easier. They've outlined their Housing First policy through their “All Paths Lead to Home” strategy [2], and all we need to do is look at the budget, and correlate it to its own outcomes.
Housing First
It's no secret that I'm not a supporter of the WA Government's version of Housing First. If you've attended one of my talks or workshops [3], or read anything I've written on the subject, you'll know that I'm incredibly fearful that this policy will turn into "Housing Only" and will be used as a tool to further blame those of us that experience homelessness for our circumstances. That's not to say I dislike Housing First as its been implemented elsewhere, such as Finland; I just have no faith in any of the research, statements or policies from anyone working towards this goal in Western Australia.
It's 2025, and absolutely no one, government or otherwise, has defined what constitutes "wrap around supports" which are central to this policy's success. This is a monumental failure, and is the fractured and fragmented foundation which WA's version of Housing First is being built. The fact this is championed, constantly, is criminal, and anyone in the space that doesn't question this will be complicit in the lives it will eventually cost. This is not hyperbole, it will cost lives, as you aimlessly put people into housing with vague promises of supports that do not exist. When the lack of supports results in failing that individual and they lose that housing, where do they go? Back to a Housing First policy? A system that will no doubt say to them "we gave you housing, what more do you want?"
That will result in total systematic collapse for that individual, with nowhere else to go, they will be completely locked out of the system that should've helped them. They will be completely abandoned. That is why I call it "Housing Only", I'm not the Nostradamus of Homelessness, I understand systemic issues, and pay attention. Nonetheless, I will suggest some wrap around supports that would be imperative for this policy to somewhat succeed and see if they've had any investment in this budget.
Imperative Wrap Around Supports
For Housing First to be seen as satisfactory, it needs services that not only help people recover from the causes of their homelessness, but also homelessness itself, and help them find their place in the economy and wider society. This will require specialised services, especially for those that have experienced chronic homelessness, and/or extensive trauma from not only their homelessness, but their drivers of homelessness, and navigating life and expectations post-homelessness.
Homelessness never happens in a vacuum, and if you're wanting to ensure the person succeeds in recovering from homelessness you need to address 3 areas. Pre-homelessness, the initial set of trauma(s) that drove the person's homelessness; Homelessness, the trauma and complexities that impact the individual during homelessness itself; and post-homelessness, how that individual can recover from the previous two while attempting reintegration.
If you're thinking "that sounds difficult", you're right, which is why it is all the more important that this policy is implemented properly if it is to be done at all. Anything less will result in failure. I foresee the following wrap around supports as paramount for a non-fractured and non-fragmented foundation for Housing First in Western Australia:
Physical Health Supports
Needed to help diagnose any known or unknown health issues that have been developed during homelessness. Also to identify any other underlying physical health conditions and/or accessibility needs.
Mental Health Supports
Needed to help those recovering from homelessness to deal with trauma and issues that have arisen during their homelessness. Also to identify any other underlying mental health conditions. Although it's closely tied to assessments above, this needs to be its own separate support as ongoing specialised care and support would be needed.
Life Skills
For those that have experienced prolonged homelessness, this would be imperative to help them reintegrate into the economy. The world and how we interact with wider society and the economy has changed dramatically over the last 10 years, almost everything has become a digital platform. This includes bill payments, banking, employment, and government services. Additionally, wider reintegration means new responsibilities and rights, learning what is expected of them and how to advocate for oneself are keys to success.
Education and Training
Educational disengagement and disadvantage is a key driver of homelessness. Often underlying cognitive conditions or impairments that have gone undiagnosed are the cause. However, this isn't always the case, especially when intergenerational economic disadvantage has played a key role in their families. This often means educational disadvantage a circumstance of economic survival.
Allied Health Support (Occupational Therapy, Dental, Optical)
Closely linked to physical health supports, these are often not seen as primary needs, however these also need to be addressed. How can one be successful if they're constantly unwell due to dental related pain or infections, or chronic undiagnosed vision issues?
Employer Incentives and Supports
Those that wish to attempt to re-join the economy through employment need to be supported to do so, not only through external supports, but also in positions where the employer understands the barriers a person’s homelessness can pose. It must be stressed, that this is NOT laziness, and the barriers to gaining employment for those recovering from homelessness are predominantly mental health related. If you've attended one of my workshops or talks you would understand how damaging this aspect can be. While we're homeless we are constantly judged, unfamiliar environments and changes to routines are often dangerous, and we don't have opportunities to meet new people. When one starts employment, one accepts a certain level of judgement (KPIs, job performance etc), there's new environments and routines, and a bunch of new people to get to know. All of these together, and at once, can be catastrophic for someone recovering from homelessness. Specialised supports for these individuals are needed, as well as specialised incentives and training for employers willing to take on those that are recovering from homelessness.
Business Opportunities
For people like myself, that have experienced extensive trauma during their pre-homelessness and homelessness, conventional employment doesn't work. People having authority over me is traumatic, and although I'm in therapy for it (which is expensive and unsupported currently), I know employment is not viable for me. This is not only unfair to me, but its also unfair to employers who don't have any mechanism currently to understand. My business has liberated me from this aspect, and enables me to participate economically without the chains of trauma related issues. This needs to be a path for those where employment isn't an option, services that can identify passions and skills and adapt them to be economically advantageous will create exponential opportunities and will reinforce personal self-worth that is often absent due to homelessness.
Cross-Sector or Post-Homelessness Continuity of Care
Support needs to be ongoing, and these support services need to communicate with each other. If this is not done the system will fail, which will result in people being plunged back into homelessness. Currently, homelessness services and other sectors are forced to compete for funding, this inherently silos essential services and inhibits cross-sector communication and collaboration. This budget displays this system of competing priorities with complete absence of awareness that supports need to be shared across sectors. Not only would this be a more efficient system, but it would also stop people slipping into homelessness due to cross-sector failures.
Lived Experience / Representation and Peer Support
Those of us that have been through homelessness know the issues better than anyone else. That is beyond debate at this point, however we are not utilised and we are silenced when it comes to anything beyond tokenism. The WA Government, peak bodies, and organisations keep us at arm’s length when it comes to policy development, self-governance, funding distribution, and leadership. Currently, no lived experience representatives are on any boards of homelessness organisations in the Perth Metropolitan area, we are not trusted to lead in our own circumstances. This paternalism needs to cease, we need to be seen as representatives and not solely "lived experience", and we need to be at the forefront if Housing First is to ever succeed.
A Note About Substance Use
You may have noticed I have purposely omitted services that address substance use and dependency, why you ask? Too often our community is scapegoated as primary users of such substances and hijacks wider discourse. The constant focus does damage in truly addressing homelessness by either saying "all homelessness is substance related" or subtle reality omissions like "substance use results in homelessness". Both are incorrect, and while these services are imperative, addiction is not just a homelessness issue, it's also not just a class issue, it's not a just a poverty issue, it's a whole society issue. Additionally, substance use, in the absence of appropriate mental health supports should never be seen as a criminal issue, but a tragic failure of our ill-equipped and underfunded mental healthcare system. Those of us that have experienced homelessness as well as substance use are double victim blamed. These individuals are blamed for their homelessness and blamed for their substance use in a deepening social empathy vacuum that fails to look at itself before it judges others. This will always be another hurdle that we are forced to endure until the rest of you acknowledge these are systemic failures and not those of the individual.
Systemic Continuity and Policy Amnesia
Superficial Commitment to Ending Homelessness
While the Budget touts large numbers, $1.4 billion in additional housing investment, and a total $5.8 billion since 2021–22, the language of “ending homelessness” is conspicuously absent. Instead, the framing is around supply and infrastructure, with homelessness buried within broader housing narratives. There is no measurable commitment to reducing or eliminating homelessness, nor clear articulation of targets, timelines, or long-term accountability for the government or homelessness related funding.
Housing Last
We are halfway through the “All Paths Lead to Home” strategy and Housing First seems like a complete myth at this point as the Budget claims commitment to its principles through projects like Common Ground in Perth, Mandurah, and Bunbury, the actual funding tells a different story. Only $3.1 million is allocated over four years to expand Housing First Support Services in Bunbury. No similar expansions are funded for Perth or other high-need areas. As mentioned previously, and continually, Housing First requires guaranteed wraparound supports, yet no sustained service model is embedded. Instead, we see scattered, small grants to individual programs, uncoordinated across housing, health, and justice systems. There is no evidence of tenancy sustainment funding or rental subsidy schemes that enable clients to remain safely housed while receiving intensive support. Housing First is invoked and used as nothing more than a political brand than a funded strategy.
Not Wrapped
Wraparound supports are fragmented, underfunded, and illusory; true wraparound supports require sustained investment across multiple domains such as mental health, trauma recovery, life skills, healthcare, community connection, and tenancy sustainment. Whereas the 2025-26 Budget includes no new allocation for the Medical Respite Centre, currently the State’s only dedicated homelessness-health facility, funded by an earlier $4.4 million two-year grant, it again misses the opportunity to scale healthcare responses that are critical to Housing First success.
Also, the $10.4 million for assertive outreach in metro areas, with no embedded allied health, case management continuity, or integration with tenancy support. No occupational therapy, social work, or trauma-informed practice funding for those exiting homelessness. No structured life skills programs such as cooking, budgeting, conflict resolution, or interpersonal skills which are essential for sustaining independent living. No peer support funding or pathways to build community networks post-housing. This is not wraparound support, it is a series of disconnected gestures posing as support.
Perpetual Ill-Health
Healthcare post-homelessness requires more than emergency rooms. It requires long term investment that tracks outcomes. This budget includes no dedicated dental care access for those exiting homelessness, despite long-standing evidence that poor oral health is a major barrier to employment and wellbeing. No funding for occupational therapy, which is critical for functional daily living, especially for individuals impacted by cognitive trauma or disability. No integration of GPs, nurses, or mental health professionals into Housing First support teams. Again, and again, the Budget, and Government, utterly fails to understand that stable housing is not the end of homelessness.
Economic Isolation
Economic reintegration is completely missing from the budget. For those of us recovering from homelessness, economic inclusion is essential. Yet the Budget contains no wage subsidies or incentives for employers to hire people exiting homelessness. No apprenticeship or traineeship pathways tailored to people with disrupted education, criminal records, or disabilities. No life skills or digital literacy programs to rebuild confidence and capacity. No funding for microenterprise, social procurement, or self-employment supports. No public-private partnerships incentivised to engage with marginalised workers. Economic isolation will result in homelessness repeating, let’s be clear, economic related homelessness is the result of unsustainable economic practices. A single occurrence of economic related homelessness would be an anomaly, a substantial percentage of homelessness being caused by economic drivers is, by definition, a systemic failure of the economy. The absence of employment and income pathways perpetuates this cycle of systemic economic failure.
Education and Training
Education is both a protective factor and a recovery tool for those post homelessness. This Budget fails to deliver adult foundational education funding for those who missed schooling due to trauma or instability. It offers no trauma-informed re-entry programs into TAFE or university. Provides no literacy, numeracy, or vocational bridging courses designed for those recovering from disadvantage. And completely ignores the need for digital access, tech support, or tuition waivers for people recovering from homelessness. There is no pathway to re-engage with learning, which is vital to economic participation and personal growth.
Tenancy Support
This Budget clearly doesn't consider tenancy sustainment and rental security as any support for those recovering from homelessness. It is absolutely staggering that this is overlooked, especially in the middle of a rental price crisis. This truly feels like a symptom of living in Bizzaro-World, how is this missed!? Even if a person is housed, the risk of re-entry into homelessness remains high without structural support. There are no long-term rental subsidy programs linked to case management or recovery goals. No tenancy guarantee schemes for private landlords to reduce discrimination. No funding for tenancy legal advocacy or housing navigators who work alongside clients. No accessible funds for bond assistance, furniture, white goods, or household setup, all crucial in maintaining housing. This oversight truly shows what our model of Housing First for what it is.
Lack of Accountability
The cynic in me honestly believes that homelessness has become a mechanism for making money at the expense of those of us who are the most economically disadvantaged. I call this the Homelessness Industrial Complex, and dishing out missions to a clear failure of a policy just makes me believe this more. This Budget provides no public-facing accountability framework for homelessness outcomes. It also lacks performance indicators for tenancy sustainment, health recovery, or system exits. Furthermore, it suspiciously fails to embed lived experience into evaluation, planning, or monitoring. Additionally, there are no published metrics for reductions in homelessness or tenancy sustainment rates and funding performance indicators remain generic (e.g., “number of houses built”) without tying back to individual or systemic homelessness outcomes. This results in a systemic accountability failure as outputs are being measured, not outcomes. The absence of evaluation doesn't seem like a neutral omission, accountability is usually embedded within government funding, so its clear absence here feels like strategic silence.
Provider-Centric Prioritisation
Funding still tilts heavily toward construction rather than care: the Budget adds about $630 million in new bricks-and-mortar or finance initiatives ($246 m SAHIF, $210 m Keystart, $101 m Housing Enabling Infrastructure, $75 m Build-to-Rent) but only ≈ $22 million for direct homelessness supports (outreach, Housing First services, Common Ground set-up, youth hub). There is also no evaluation of service provider effectiveness in maintaining tenancies or reducing returns to homelessness. Funding structures still reflect a top-down commissioning model, rather than co-designed solutions with Lived Experience representatives. This maintains a cycle of funding large housing providers and contracted NGOs, rather than empowering communities or addressing systemic causes.
Representation Disenfranchised
There is no visible inclusion of people with lived experience of homelessness in budget design, evaluation of current housing and homelessness programs, or strategic prioritisation of supports or services. This absence reflects a failure to move toward a participatory, client-informed model of social investment. It contradicts contemporary best practice and ignores our wisdom, we are the ones who most deeply understand the barriers to housing stability.
Short-Term Gains Result in Long-Term Pains
A significant portion of funding is still directed toward crisis responses, such as crisis accommodation programs, refuges, and temporary supports rather than systemic prevention or early intervention. This tunnel vision results in no dedicated investment into income adequacy, tenancy protections, or rights-based approaches. This Budget reinforces homelessness as a management issue, not a policy failure demanding upstream repair.
Final Words
This Budget is not a roadmap to ending homelessness, it is a blueprint for maintaining it.
Despite the claims and political theatre, what we are left with is a deeply disjointed, provider-centric, and ultimately hollow set of promises that lack the structural integrity, vision, or moral urgency required to address the crisis at hand. This isn't a failure of resources, it’s a failure of will, a failure of commitment, a failure of representation, a failure of imagination, and most dangerously, a failure of accountability.
The WA Government continues to posture behind the language of Housing First while gutting its core principles, principles that demand not just a roof, but restoration, repair, and reintegration. Homelessness is not a logistical problem, it is a human one that is rooted in systemic failures the Government is failing to address. It is trauma wrapped in policy neglect, economic exclusion baked into greed, and profound social abandonment made palatable by political spin.
This Budget fails to fund recovery. It fails to fund consistency. It fails to fund care. It ignores wraparound supports, it omits employment pathways, and it offers no concrete mechanism for those exiting homelessness to remain stably housed or to rebuild their lives with dignity and support. The omission of lived experience from every stage of planning, delivery, and evaluation is not only negligent, but also strategic. It preserves power for those who benefit from the current system while silencing those who suffer under it.
To those reading this within government, within peak bodies, or within all organisations that see this Budget as something to praise, understand that silence is complicity. Applauding this Budget without asking critical questions is not collaboration, it is cowardice. If you claim to work for those of us who have lived through homelessness, but fail to challenge a budget that so clearly sells us out, then you are not an advocate, you are an accessory.
The Budget isn't just about money, it's about purpose, how to use the State's money to provide equity within. And as this Budget is announced and passed, you aim the blame of homelessness at us while we carry the weight of systemic failure on our backs. What should've been a triumph you have perverted into another way that will continue this blame.
In the end, the Budget doesn’t just reveal what the government values. It exposes what it’s willing to sacrifice. And once again, it’s us.
Footnotes
[1]: WA State Budget 2025 - Volume 1, WA State Budget 2025 - Volume 2 & WA State Budget 2025 - Volume 3
[2]: All Paths Lead to Home - WA Government Homelessness Strategy
[3]: Professional Development Workshops: Understanding Complex Social Issues with Beneath the Surface AU