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Advance to Zero (AtoZ) has won a Bronze World Habitat Award, in partnership with UN Habitat, for introducing an innovative, data-driven and community-centred approach to ending homelessness in Australia. The AtoZ programme helps local services to end homelessness in a structured, multi-layered way, gradually reducing homelessness in specific segments of the population, with a focus on with a focus on people experiencing rough sleeping, First Nations people and people aged 55 years and over.
Australia faces a severe housing crisis, with over 122,000 people currently experiencing homelessness. For a long time, services have been struggling to respond to increasing numbers of individuals in desperate and immediate need. AtoZ, led by the Australian Alliance to End Homelessness (AAEH), helps homelessness services track and understand the problems faced by individuals experiencing homelessness, analyse that data to identify trends, and put targeted, culturally-sensitive solutions in place.
The results speak for themselves: Since 2018, AtoZ has expanded to 29 communities, providing homes to over 4,000 people. The program has achieved measurable reductions in homelessness in three communities. In the community of Geraldton, for example, homelessness was ended for people aged 55 and over who were rough sleeping.
AAEH has also influenced national policy discussions and secured government funding for other related homelessness initiatives. The organisation now hopes that the federal government will support Ato Z as an upstream solution, to curb and reduce functional homelessness in Australia for good.
The programme took inspiration from the 2013 World Habitat Award winner Community Solutions who pioneered the approach in the USA with the Built for Zero 100,000 Homes Campaign. Now, AAEH has adapted the proven solution to Australia with AtoZ, an aspect that was praised by the Award judges.
David Ireland, Director of World Habitat, said: “AtoZ shows it’s possible to adapt a great methodology for eradicating homelessness to a new context. It proves that communities are best placed to drive local, incremental solutions to end homelessness, they just need the tools to build effective data-driven approaches and the right support from government.”
David Pearson, CEO of AAEH, said: “Winning a World Habitat Award is an incredible honour for the Advance to Zero movement. It shines a global spotlight on our efforts in ending homelessness, starting with rough sleeping.
This recognition will really encourage the local communities doing this hard work, inspire hope and reinforce that homelessness can be ended in Australia. It will also help us engage governments and funders, and ensure that even more people can access housing and build a brighter future.”
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