Housing First 'Down Under': Revolution, Realignment or Rhetoric?

The emergence of Housing First as an approach to ending chronic homelessness has gained widespread attention around the world. A Housing First approach has much to offer – it has shifted long held assumptions about people who are chronically homeless and who have complex needs, re-affirmed the importance of housing, and helped to consolidate the link between evidence and practice. In the Australian context, Housing First has also broken the long standing and often acrimonious debate about whether support or housing is the most important factor in resolving homelessness. While the shift towards providing direct access to permanent housing has the potential to enhance existing service responses in Australia, there are concerns that many of the complexities and challenges that services face in implementing a Housing First approach have been ignored. This article considers the ambiguity, limits and risks of a Housing First approach from an Australian perspective