As Australia’s most marginalized group and one of the most poverty-stricken First Nations peoples worldwide, the housing market continues to leave Aboriginal Australians out in the cold. Addressing Aboriginal homelessness requires empowerment, cultural security, self-determination and community leadership. In Western Australia (WA), Aboriginal-led community housing provider Noongar Mia Mia (NMM) is doing groundbreaking work in fostering a culturally responsive housing sector that listens to Aboriginal voices and treats culture as a birthright and great strength.
Background:
“We can’t wait another 50 years. We need to see this shift and change. We can’t just keep looking forward to it otherwise we will miss the boat… Housing is a human rights and social justice issue – how are we going to grow and nurture young people without having a home?” - Carol Innes (former Co-Chair, Reconciliation WA) Metropolitan Aboriginal Housing Forum.
Most recent Census data found one in 28 Aboriginal people were homeless across Australia. This figure was 10x higher than the number of non-Aboriginal people experiencing homelessness. In Western Australia (WA), these statistics are even more acute, with Aboriginal people being 13x more likely to experience homelessness; as of the end of 2021, Perth’s Aboriginal population are 25x more likely to be sleeping rough. In WA’s 10-Year Strategy on Homelessness, State Government acknowledges that:
“Non-Aboriginal people’s ways are not culturally effective and do not offer long term solutions for addressing homelessness in Aboriginal communities. Self-determination and self-management are still relevant today as when it was first proposed in the 1970s to empower and take control to overcome homelessness.”
The legacy of colonialism is felt deeply in WA. In fact, 55.6% of people living in WA are either Stolen Generations survivors or their descendants. This is the highest percentage in Australia, far above the national average of 36%. Research suggests that approximately three-quarters of Australians harbour negative biases against Aboriginal people. This leads to a sense of alienation and being unwelcome in their own land, and a prevalent and deep distrust of mainstream systems, organizations and workers.
Despite Australia being a signatory to the UN Declaration of Indigenous Rights, there remains little Aboriginal representation in the housing and homelessness sectors.
WA faces a rental crisis that has driven many Aboriginal people into homelessness. As a result, many choose to stay with family to have a roof over their heads, and “overcrowding” puts that tenancy at risk – both because of lack of suitable housing for extended families and punitive settler-colonial constructs penalizing “overcrowding”.
About the Initiative:
Founded in 2000, Noongar Mia Mia (NMM) is the only Aboriginal-owned-and-operated community housing provider (CHP) which exclusively serves Aboriginal people and their families in the Perth Metro Area. It is also the largest Aboriginal-led CHP in Noongar country.
In 2016, NMM started its evolution from a culturally secure housing provider and property manager to a service offering tailored, holistic supportive housing. NMM now houses up to 380 people across 91 tenancies, and delivers three mutually reinforcing cultural programs:
- Boola Moort (Many Families) – a culturally-secure psychosocial support program for tenants and their families
- Moorditj Mia (Strong Home) – Australia’s first Aboriginal Housing First Support Service, offering culturally-secure homelessness outreach services to Aboriginal people. Find out more at: Moorditj Mia – Aboriginal Housing First Support From The Heart.
- Mia Moort (House Family) – NMM’s research & advocacy program.
These programs offer a promising alternative to mainstream supports. Frontline staff “yarn” (have respectful conversations that flow naturally without an agenda, share stories) with their “mob” (community members). NMM follows cultural protocols and takes cultural values into account. The insights that frontline staff get while on the ground informs the research of Mia Moort, and that research informs the way NMM frontline staff work to ensure continuous improvement.
To date, Mia Moort has released two main reports: the Noongar Cultural Framework & Housing First Principles, and Why Aboriginal Homelessness Needs a Cultural Approach.
The Why Aboriginal Homelessness Needs a Cultural Approach report aims to raise awareness in the broader community about cultural considerations and the importance of self-determination and a cultural approach to housing and homelessness solutions.
The Noongar Cultural Framework & Housing First Principles report demonstrates a culturally grounded Noongar approach to housing and homelessness. NMM recognizes that culture and language differ immensely between First Peoples across the globe, and that language is important to effectively communicating culture. This report is specific to the Noongar context, but NMM believes that information about the approaches that the organization has taken to get where it is today can be useful in other First Nations cultural contexts, particularly in terms of the centrality of connections to land, kin, and cultural knowledge & practice.
To build on the principles from the Cultural Framework, NMM worked closely with Leah Watkins (co-author of Housing First Principles for Australia), as well as stakeholders from Zero Project Housing First Coordination for WA and the WA Alliance to End Homelessness, to identify where mainstream principles fall short and what culturally-effective principles could look like. These principles cannot be implemented without understanding the cultural context, so our work is designed to be read in conjunction with the Cultural Framework.
We have consulted with various stakeholder groups during the creation and implementation of our initiative including:
- Lived experience advocates
- Caseworkers
- The Australian Government
- Housing, homelessness and support sectors
and more.
Community Impact:
NMM launched the Framework and Principles at a well-attended event delivered collaboratively with Shelter WA. At this event, Aunty Millie Penny delivered a speech highlighting the pressing need to unlock transformative systems change:
“There have been many reports written about Noongar people, about Aboriginal peoples across Australia, but a report alone will not drive the change that so desperately needs to be seen, changes that as Elders we have been pushing for, for decades now… Continuation of Sandra’s work will enable her to actively present, teach and inspire the Housing and Support sectors all around WA.”
NMM’s next step (pending funding) will be to create a practical service model and training module, delivered to housing sector stakeholders (both frontline, leadership, and Government) across Noongar country while empowering other communities to adapt this process to their cultural settings. NMM aims to create an understanding of how to work in a culturally responsive way so that the housing sector is equipped to effectively work with Aboriginal people, and the WA and Australian Governments can deliver on their commitments to closing the gap.