Stats on who’s getting housing

THE State Government has released figures on how many people have been housed in cabins, hotels and other accommodation with its $500,000 assistance package after Housing Minister Roger Jaensch was unable to answer the question on Wednesday.

A Government spokeswoman said of the people camped at the Hobart Showground and Berriedale foreshore, 31.6 per cent had been rehoused into cabins, hotels or other accommodation options.

She said an additional 26.3 per cent were being assisted into accommodation and 42.1 per cent had declined help from Housing Connect. The Government could not provide additional information and did not give the total number of people included in the figures.

The release of the percentages comes after Mr Jaensch was repeatedly asked at a press conference on Wednesday to provide a figure on how many people had been moved into emergency accommodation as a direct result of the funding.

The Government has said the $500,000 assistance package was aimed at boosting Housing Connect’s resources to extend work the organisation was already doing.

Shelter Tasmania has emphasised the homelessness at the Hobart Showground highlights a larger, less visible problem across Tasmania.

According to Census data only about 8 per cent of homeless people live in tents or improvised dwellings or sleep out.