Holiday Visits

As you seek your “fun in the sun” this Christmas holiday you, your children or your friends may consider taking an eye opening detour past one of the many aboriginal communities doted around WA to get an idea of living conditions in these communities. Or find out where there are drop-in centres, or community services for the homeless etc.

In northeastern Perth, at  Cullacabardee,  you can visit a small Noongar Aboriginal community, based on Baal Street, a drug rehabilitation retreat, located off Gnangara Road in the suburb’s northeast. You could also visit such places at Gnangara, Badjaling, Ninga Mia Village(Kalgoorlie), Iragul, (Norseman). For maps and places to visit see the links below.

WA map: http://www.dia.wa.gov.au/Documents/Maps/maps%20sept09/WAComsA4.pdf

Goldfields: http://www.dia.wa.gov.au/Documents/Maps/maps%20sept09/GFComs_A4.pdf

Perth/Wheatbelt: http://www.dia.wa.gov.au/Documents/Maps/maps%20sept09/MWComs_A4.pdf

counting homeless

A new report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare puts the number of homeless in Bunbury @ 276, about 227 in Preston and Vasse. The South West had a higher rate of homeless that Perth (57 per 10,000 compared to 47 per 10,000). There were nearly 1200 homeless in the South West. There were 6720 homeless in Perth and 6671 in regional WA.

For more: http://www.aihw.gov.au/publications/index.cfm/title/10760

Social housing

Applications for more than 27,000 dwelling have been received in round two of the National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS). Under NRAS the Federal Government plans to build 50,000 new rental properties by 2012 that will be rented out at 20% below market rate in return for a Government incentive of $8000 per property per year over 10 years. In the second round 1644 will be built in WA. In the first round 401 went to WA.