Lack of funding forces hostel closure

A South Hedland hostel which has been housing the homeless for more than 30 years has been forced to close its doors after failing to secure long term funding from Federal and State Governments.

Bunara Maya has served as a homeless shelter since the 1980s.

The facility was built through a joint venture with the State Government and in conjunction with drug and alcohol services offered by the Bloodwood Tree Association.

The embattled hostel has already faced closure four times since March, 2015, after losing operational funding from the Aboriginal Advancement Strategy.

Since that time, Bloodwood have looked for alternative funding options from the State Government and within the community, surviving on transitional funding from the Federal Department of Indigenous Affairs, which is due to expire on June 30.

Bloodwood Tree Association assistant chief executive Bob Neville said with the funding deadline looming, the remaining residents of the hostel, including youth with mental and physical disabilities and the elderly, were relocated into alternative accommodation last Friday.

Mr Neville raised concerns about the flow-on effects of the hostel’s closure on their clients and the community.

“Two or three of our clients went to the other hostel in South Hedland, a couple have managed to secure public housing and the rest have gone back to stay with friends and family,” he said.

“Although everyone managed to find a place, whether its adequate or suitable accommodation I don’t know.

“Most have moved in with friends and family, which creates more overcrowding and now the hostel is shut, they don’t have access to vital services they were receiving.”

Mr Neville said he was concerned some clients would relapse back into a cycle of drug and alcohol abuse and offending without access to the hostel’s drug and alcohol rehabilitation services.

“Port Hedland has seen a dramatic rise in both drug and alcohol use and crime, including domestic violence and abusive behaviours, and there is an obvious correlation in the rise of homelessness and those other anti-social behaviours,” he said.

UWA School of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences Professor of addiction medicine Gary Hulse agreed Bunara Maya played an important role in breaking the cycle of drug and alcohol abuse in Hedland, through a Memorandum of Understanding with the Hedland Health Campus and Wirraka Maya Health Service.

“The memorandum of understanding ... means people who are who are discharged from Hedland Health campus could be transferred to residential accommodation at Bloodwood under the care of the AMS to monitor their post discharge situation and their path from withdrawal,” he said.

“You’ve got something that’s already owned by the Aboriginal community, there’s a commitment to run it, a commitment to be part of a process which allows people to be taken from hospital where they’re withdrawn right through to being managed back into the community.

“Now Bloodwood Tree has lost funding, which is really unfortunate because the State and Federal Governments were aware of this initiative ... something that was going to be provided for some of the most needy individuals, with a physician to co-ordinate and facilitate patients and their medical records between those facilitates.

“It is a very cost effective utilisation of existing resources ... there’s no other withdrawal service like it in the Pilbara.”

Mr Neville said Bloodwood Tree would continue to look for other funding avenues with the hope of re-opening the hostel again in the future.

“We are still doing things in the background to turn this around ... I have a meeting on Thursday in Perth with the Regional Resources Unit,” he said.

“It makes me angry that we have a facility sitting empty, but unless we’ve got funding for a program, we can’t use it, particularly counselling services for drug and alcohol and mental health issues.

“We’ve got to make this happen now ... we need better outcomes for Aboriginal people and it’s not just housing, it’s other areas like training and jobs too. Its got to be the whole lot if we are to break the cycle of homelessness.”

Federal Minister for Indigenous Affairs Nigel Scullion told theNorth West Telegraph in January his Department had provided the hostel with 18 months of transitional funding but further funding would have to be sought from the WA Government as homelessness, housing and tenancy support were primarily matters for State and Territory Governments.

State Housing Authority commercial operations general manager Nigel Hindmarsh said although his department built the Bunara Maya Hostel through a joint-venture agreement with Bloodwood Tree Association, it did not provide operational funding for crisis accommodation.

Labor member for Mining and Pastoral said it was time for the State Government to step up and take responsibility to keep the hostel’s doors open, after presenting a petition to parliament containing 161 signatures from the Hedland community.

“The Bunara Maya Hostel has serviced the community of the Town of Port Hedland for nearly forty years, offering a bed and meal to the homeless, as well as ongoing support for personal, family and medical issues including mental health, drug and alcohol, family violence, housing and unemployment services,” he said.

“Your petitioners therefore respectfully request the Legislative Council to undertake an enquiry into the need for ongoing funding for the Bunara Maya hostel which assists with the community in providing a valuable service to the homeless in Port Hedland that would otherwise not be helped.”