Sydney Zero to cut rough sleeping in Inner Sydney

Sydney Zero is an action-orientated, collaborative effort to make rough sleeping rare, brief and non-recurring in Inner Sydney.

The City of Sydney, the Department of Communities and Justice, homelessness services and philanthropists have come together to implement the Sydney Zero project.

The PAYCE Foundation is the founding philanthropic partner of ESSC.

The project is a place-based response, operating within the Sydney local government area. It is a person-centred approach, providing support to all people aged 18 and over who are living on-the-streets or in crisis or temporary accommodation.

A Local Leadership Group, drawn from senior representatives from participating organisations, will maintain oversight of the implementation and ongoing performance of Sydney Zero to ensure it meets its purpose.

Key to the success of Sydney Zero are the adoption of collaboration practices including embedding a simplified By-Name-List (BNL)

The BNL is a digital tool used on the street which gathers information from people and facilitates a coordinated response to their needs.

PAYCE Foundation and End Street Sleeping Director Dominic Sullivan said the BNL program had been simplified to assist workers on the front line access the information required to find solutions for rough sleeping.

“It also reduces trauma and disengagement for people experiencing homelessness by reducing the number of times they need to tell their story and by facilitating a speedier and more effective response to the person’s needs,” Mr Sullivan said.

“Too many people, particularly in Inner Sydney are sleeping rough, but we believe Sydney Zero will make a difference as it will deliver better case co-ordination – the key to finding long term solutions for homeless people living on the street.”