A proposal to turn an unfinished, 1,000-bed quarantine facility near the Brisbane airport into crisis housing for women and children escaping domestic violence has been met with a mixed response by the city’s housing and homelessness service sector.
Brisbane’s mayor, Adrian Schrinner, told the Courier-Mail the $400m Pinkenba facility could be retrofitted to tackle the “twin scourges of a housing crisis and domestic violence” this week.
“While I’m sure there will be bureaucrats who argue this facility wasn’t designed for this purpose, cars weren’t designed to be permanent accommodation either, however that’s the tragic alternative for an alarming number of people right now,” he said.
But the chief executive and founding member of not-for-profit Micah Projects, Karyn Walsh, said the housing crisis was not something that could be remedied by a “quick fix”. Walsh backed the mayor’s “call to action” and said “all ideas are of value”.
“But you’ve got to do it properly and plan and have the right people at the table,” she said.
The redevelopment of the army barracks is a joint project between the state and federal governments. Walsh said she had not heard of the mayor’s idea before it hit the headlines.
“We’d just love to see governments get together and do a proper planning process around what land is available,” she said.
While Walsh said any parcel of land could be discussed for housing options, she questioned whether the Pinkenba site would be “fit for purpose” for those escaping domestic violence. “Public health facilities are not designed for long-term housing strategies,” she said
“So they’re not easily translated, that you just change what it’s built for and do something else. You really want people to have security of housing, not just inappropriate, crisis housing.”
Michelle Debert, the homelessness assessment and referral team coordinator of community organisation Communify Queensland, said she “completely agreed” with the mayor’s proposal.
She said the proposal came at a time during which women and children trying to escape domestic violence could not find shelter due to a lack of refuge vacancies and were in desperate need for more funding.
“It’s really hard seeing anything sit empty right now, if it can be utilised for something much needed,” Debert said.
Q Shelter’s executive director, Fiona Caniglia, agreed that “amid a housing crisis, all options should be on the table”.
But she said while Schrinner “makes a valid point about the current state of play” she stressed crisis accommodation should, ideally, “be located near support services and systems”.
Q Shelter also warns the housing crisis is likely to be exacerbated in the absence of a long-term vision for affordable housing.
On Monday Q Shelter released a 46-recommendation report into the legacy opportunities for social and affordable housing in the lead-up to the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games.
“The report warns that large-scale events like the games will cause displacement of existing populations without early interventions to prevent rising rental costs and ensure adequate housing supply,” Caniglia said.
Among its recommendations is a call to “prevent a focus on crisis management close to and during Brisbane 2032 including a reliance on temporary crisis accommodation”.
