Our approach
Four years ago, NSW’s leading homelessness organisations, the NSW Government, the City of Sydney, along with individual philanthropists, came together with the shared mission to end rough sleeping in NSW by establishing The End Street Sleeping Collaboration (ESSC).
As a unique, cross-sector partnership, the End Street Sleeping Collaboration was founded in a recognition that no single organisation or strategy, regardless of how large or successful it may be, could solve a complex social challenge, like ending rough sleeping, at scale.
Since establishment, our role has been, and continues to be, to support the collaborative efforts of the whole of the sector at an individual, local and systems level with the shared goal of making rough sleeping rare, brief and non-recurring in NSW.
Our approach
Our approach is built around developing a comprehensive understanding of the experiences faced by individuals rough sleeping. We do this by empowering those with lived experience to share their journeys, collective narratives, and encounters within the system on scale.
These stories are collected and housed within the By-Name List (BNL). This resource ensures that collaborative teams are equipped with the knowledge of individuals currently experiencing rough sleeping fostering a person-centred response. Whilst the aggregated data provides insights for systems change at both a local and State level.
By harnessing the power of individuals’ stories and channelling them towards positive change, the sector works collaboratively to achieve the shared goal of making rough sleeping rare, brief and non-recurring in NSW.
DRIVING ENHANCEMENTS TO THE HOMELESS SYSTEM THROUGH INDIVIDUAL,
LOCAL AND SYSTEMIC LEVELS
Individual: Understand a person’s circumstances and what success looks like for them (as well as what has been attempted in the past). Allows us to reduce trauma, improve care relationships, and make better decisions.
Local: Understanding people’s interaction with housing & support services over time improves our capacity to deliver person centred, evidence informed supports to people. This allows us to improve responses to homelessness in a local area.
Systems: Aggregating people’s stories and journeys through the homelessness system allows us to identify resource, policy, and practice barriers at a macro level, helping us understand how the system can be changed to improve outcomes & experiences of care.
History of ESSC
2017 – Taskforce established from leading NGO’s
2018 – Leaders Symposium engaged the whole of the sector
2019 – IGH Vanguard City Commitment signed by NGO’s, City of Sydney and NSW Government
2019 – ESSC entity established as the project backbone for operational delivery
2020 – 1st goal of 25% reduction in City of Sydney achieved
2020 – Launch of By-Name List / COVID housing
2021 – First upgrade of By-Name List based on sector usage feedback
2021 – Community Collaborations commence across Northern Rivers, Illawarra
2022 – BNL 2.0 launched
2022 – Community Collaborations commence across Western Sydney, Penrith and Parramatta
2023 – Sydney Zero launches