Last week Homelessness Minister John Carey and local Member Dr Katrina Stratton announced that a former hotel on Murray Street in West Perth, operating until recently as the Murray Hotel has been acquired by the McGowan Government and will be transformed into supported accommodation for people sleeping rough in the Perth CBD.

The building, purchased for $5.15 million will be leased to a community housing organisation to provide supported accommodation services to aid some of the most vulnerable members of our community.

The new service will provide 30 rooms for rough sleepers and will mainly accommodate singles, and up to two to three couples, as part of a Housing First supported accommodation model.

Having worked extensively in the community services sector before entering Parliament, Dr Stratton “appreciates the complexities of addressing homelessness in WA”.

The Government hopes to transition the rough sleepers engaging these services into long-term housing options by providing appropriate accommodation and intensive, evidence-based wrap-around supports.

Dr Stratton was “proud to have joined the Minister to make this announcement and be part of a government investing $2.4 billion to improve the quality and accessibility of social housing and homelessness measures across the State”.

The Department of Communities has today opened the tender process to appoint a community housing organisation to provide supported accommodation services at the site. The preferred proponent will also work with existing Housing First Service Providers to provide individualised case management and support.

This new facility will complement current accommodation options in the Perth CBD for people who are sleeping rough, including Boorloo Bidee Mia in Wellington Street and Koort Boodja in Northbridge.