Homelessness Week 2025
Lived Experience at the Frontline: Trust, Insight and Lasting Change through Housing First
We all know finding housing ends homelessness. But enabling people to stay housed takes trust, time, and support from people who truly understand.
Housing First is a model that does just that. It gives people safe, secure housing first, without conditions, then wraps support around them to meet their needs. The model began in the United States in the 1990s and has been used in Australia since 2011, when Bridge first piloted the ‘Platform 70’ Housing First program. But so far in Australia, the model been funded as ad hoc, temporary, or pilot programs.
That needs to change.
With more than 280,000 Australians reaching out to homelessness services in 2023–24*, the scale of the challenge is growing. Long-term homelessness is rising (25% increase in the past five years*). Government needs to permanently fund Housing First as a proven solution to end recurring homelessness.
One of Housing First’s greatest strengths is how it’s delivered. Since leading the nation’s first pilot at Bridge Housing, we’ve seen firsthand how staff with lived experience of homelessness build the kind of trust that helps people stay housed for the long term.
From Lived Experience to Skilled Support
Our workforce brings together diverse skills: tenancy and housing management, support pathway expertise, and crucially, lived experience. Staff with lived experience are trained professionals who also bring the insight of personal experience.
They understand:
What it feels like to walk into a home after years of rough sleeping
How trauma shapes daily life and decision-making
How to bridge life skills gaps essential to sustaining a tenancy
What helps someone stay engaged, even when things feel overwhelming
This deep understanding is not just important; it’s the foundation of trust. When someone feels heard and respected, they’re far more likely to stay connected to support and stay housed.
A Human-First Approach to Homelessness
Many people exiting homelessness have had tough experiences with institutions. They may have felt judged, ignored, or bounced between services.
Housing First is different. It focuses on people as individuals, meets them where they are, and moves at their pace.
“When I started at Bridge, I was part of the Housing First program team,” shares Laura, who now leads our new Customer Care Hub. “The Housing First approach takes a specialised, individualised approach to all of our tenants. It involved taking the time to understand the reasoning and needs of each tenant.”
This is how we avoid the impersonal, institutional response that can push people away. Instead, our focus is on human connection.
More Than a Job: “I Can’t Imagine Doing Anything Else”
Many of our staff with lived experience describe their work as deeply meaningful:
“It’s been a long journey for me to get to this point—to understand how and where to best use my skills to create the greatest impact in homelessness,” says Housing Manager, Dean. “I love my job.” Dean draws on his experience of homelessness and social housing to help tenants define their sense of home.
Laura also shares, “It’s the most rewarding job I’ve ever done. I can’t imagine doing anything else.”
Our lived experience staff are highly skilled and deliver better outcomes for tenants, teams, and programs. They walk alongside tenants, building trust.
“I know firsthand that sometimes you just need somebody who’s not going to give up on you.” says Laura, who experienced periods of homelessness in her teens.
Designing Better Services—From the Inside Out
Lived experience doesn’t just shape frontline support—it drives how we design and deliver programs.
At Bridge Housing, our lived experience staff contribute to co-design, team feedback, and tenant engagement strategies. They help us continuously improve from the inside out.
This isn’t just good practice—it’s smart strategy. Diverse teams create better solutions.
When lived experience is embedded at every level, support remains respectful, relevant, and responsive.
Proven Model, Proven Outcomes
The Housing First model has already shown strong success in Australia. The Together Home program, funded by the NSW Government and delivered by community housing providers like Bridge Housing, has helped hundreds of people move out of homelessness.
An independent review by the Centre for Social Impact* found that Housing First achieved housing stability for over 85% of participants, many of whom had experienced chronic homelessness.
This is what real change looks like. It gives people the stable foundation to rebuild their lives with dignity.
Moving Forward
Ending homelessness in Australia requires more than the crisis response as we saw during the Covid-19 pandemic. It will take a long-term commitment to permanently fund Housing First.
And it will take strong, diverse teams to walk alongside every person who wants to exit homelessness.
At Bridge Housing, we’re ready.
Bridge has successfully implemented seven Housing First programs
Platform 70 (2011)
Connect 100 (2015)
Step to Home (2018 and 2023)
Together Home (2020, 2021 and 2022)
Sources:
New report finds housing and homelessness crisis is driving a wellbeing crisis – Homelessness Australia
‘Grim’ numbers as Australians experiencing long-term homelessness rises by 25 per cent – ABC News
https://www.csi.edu.au/research/together-home-program-evaluation/
https://assets.csi.edu.au/assets/Together-Home-Evaluation-Final-Report-October-2024.pdf
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