Paved with good intentions: The road home and the irreducible minimum of homelessness in Australia

Despite public interest and public inquiries as long ago as the 1989 Human Rights Commission and the consequent increase in funding by the Hawke and subsequent governments, the 2006 rate of homelessness in Australia was 32 per 10 000, only marginally better than the 34.8 per 10 000 of 2001. This article explores the reasons for the apparent failure to fulfil past promises and the weaknesses in current strategy. It argues for an explicit policy framework containing the assumption that there is an irreducible level of homelessness, and that there should be an assessment of the cost-effectiveness, probability of success and timeliness of each known remedy, in order to achieve the irreducible level.