The Rainbow Lodge is the oldest and largest provider of post-release housing in New South Wales. It only has room for eight people at a time.
The organisation can provide its housing and programs to 32 people each year, while about 20,000 people are released from prison in the state each year.
This shows the huge need for more housing for people leaving prison, a key factor in reducing reoffending and improving rehabilitation.
“Generally for every person who comes here, four or five miss out,” The Rainbow Lodge manager Claude Robinson told About Time. “We just don’t get to work with enough people.”
Located in Glebe in inner Sydney, the Rainbow Lodge provides three months of accommodation for men leaving prison in the state, along with case management, access to an on-site psychologist and group sessions.
It’s one of many housing programs for those returning to the community around the country. But there are not nearly enough to support people leaving prison, and a lack of housing is a key reason why people are denied parole, and why they may reoffend after release.
The Rainbow Lodge will soon undergo a small expansion, and the Labor Party’s election win and housing commitments have led to some hope in the sector that more housing will be available for those leaving prison, helping with rehabilitation and reducing recidivism.
The Rainbow Lodge recently expanded its services to provide housing to those on bail, which can then be used as a mitigating factor at sentencing.
To do this, two new beds are being placed in a shed at the back of the two-storey house, while new accommodation is being built with funding from the state government. After both of these projects are completed, the Rainbow Lodge will have 13 beds.
The program has been found to have reduced re-offending and help people find longer-term housing. “If you come to Rainbow Lodge and complete the program, your chances of transition back into the community are really positive,” Robinson said.
“The best way to get housed coming out of prison is to go into a program like Rainbow Lodge or Glebe Housing or a rehab program. It gives you somewhere safe to go and those organisations work with you to get you housed.”
Labor’s election win in May means it will go ahead with its planned $1.2 billion to build new crisis and transitional accommodation for at-risk groups, including older women, younger Australians, and those fleeing family and domestic violence.
The Victorian government is also several years into its $6.3 billion Big Housing Build scheme, with more than 100,000 homes being built or completed.
These are positive developments, but far more needs to be done, Vacro senior policy and advocacy advisor Abigail Lewis said. “We are seeing more available housing stock because of the Victorian Labor government’s Big Build and its investment in our post-release supported housing program, which is encouraging, and the federal Labor government’s commitment to spending on housing will similarly make a difference, but it’s nowhere near enough to meet demand,” Lewis told About Time.
“We need governments to invest heavily in building more homes and making them more accessible to the people who need them most, and that includes people coming out of prison.”
The Rainbow Lodge is the oldest and largest provider of post-release housing in New South Wales. It only has room for eight people at a time.
The organisation can provide its housing and programs to 32 people each year, while about 20,000 people are released from prison in the state each year.
This shows the huge need for more housing for people leaving prison, a key factor in reducing reoffending and improving rehabilitation.
“Generally for every person who comes here, four or five miss out,” The Rainbow Lodge manager Claude Robinson told About Time. “We just don’t get to work with enough people.”
Located in Glebe in inner Sydney, the Rainbow Lodge provides three months of accommodation for men leaving prison in the state, along with case management, access to an on-site psychologist and group sessions.
It’s one of many housing programs for those returning to the community around the country. But there are not nearly enough to support people leaving prison, and a lack of housing is a key reason why people are denied parole, and why they may reoffend after release.
The Rainbow Lodge will soon undergo a small expansion, and the Labor Party’s election win and housing commitments have led to some hope in the sector that more housing will be available for those leaving prison, helping with rehabilitation and reducing recidivism.
The Rainbow Lodge recently expanded its services to provide housing to those on bail, which can then be used as a mitigating factor at sentencing.
To do this, two new beds are being placed in a shed at the back of the two-storey house, while new accommodation is being built with funding from the state government. After both of these projects are completed, the Rainbow Lodge will have 13 beds.
The program has been found to have reduced re-offending and help people find longer-term housing. “If you come to Rainbow Lodge and complete the program, your chances of transition back into the community are really positive,” Robinson said.
“The best way to get housed coming out of prison is to go into a program like Rainbow Lodge or Glebe Housing or a rehab program. It gives you somewhere safe to go and those organisations work with you to get you housed.”
Labor’s election win in May means it will go ahead with its planned $1.2 billion to build new crisis and transitional accommodation for at-risk groups, including older women, younger Australians, and those fleeing family and domestic violence.
The Victorian government is also several years into its $6.3 billion Big Housing Build scheme, with more than 100,000 homes being built or completed.
These are positive developments, but far more needs to be done, Vacro senior policy and advocacy advisor Abigail Lewis said. “We are seeing more available housing stock because of the Victorian Labor government’s Big Build and its investment in our post-release supported housing program, which is encouraging, and the federal Labor government’s commitment to spending on housing will similarly make a difference, but it’s nowhere near enough to meet demand,” Lewis told About Time.
“We need governments to invest heavily in building more homes and making them more accessible to the people who need them most, and that includes people coming out of prison.”
There are a number of programs across Australia run by state and territory governments with an aim of helping people leaving prison to access housing.
In Victoria, the Maribyrnong Community Residential Facility Transitional Support Program, run by Jesuit Social Services, provides temporary accommodation and services for men leaving prison who would otherwise be homeless, with room for 44 people at one time.
The Enhanced Housing Pathways program in Victoria was also introduced in 2016 and assists people leaving prison who are at risk of homelessness with individual support. Programs such as this need to be expanded and better funded, Council for Homeless Persons CEO Deborah Di Natale said.
“We need to expand innovative programs to provide people coming back into society with the support and self-care skills they need to successfully integrate,” Di Natale told About Time. “Ensuring people have the right housing, and are equipped with the right skills, can break the cycle of recidivism.”
Also in Victoria, the Reintegration Pathway, run by Corrections Victoria, offers pre-release assessments and pre and post-release support programs, with a focus on housing, and the ReConnect program assists those with high-level transitional needs for up to nine months after they leave custody.
Justice Connect offers the Closing the Revolving Door project, which helps those in prison to keep their housing on the outside and resolve unpaid debts.
In the ACT, the Justice Housing Program provides accommodation to people who may have been incarcerated due to a lack of housing, with 10 houses now available for three months at a time.
In Queensland, the Post Release Support Accommodation Service works with men who cannot get parole as they do not have suitable housing, providing temporary residential accommodation and help to access longer-term options.
The South Australian’s Integrated Housing Exit Program provides housing for 12 months for some people who have served a sentence of less than one year.
A lack of access to stable housing is a key reason why many people reoffend and return to prison. It’s also a main reason why people are denied parole and
kept in prison for longer. In Victoria, a lack of suitable accommodation was listed as a reason for more than 60 percent of all parole denials in 2023-24, while a third of people who withdrew their applications did so because of this reason.
In Tasmania, just under 30 percent of parole applications were deferred due to a lack of housing in the community.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, a third of people in prison in Australia had experienced homelessness while in the community, and more than half expect to be homeless when they are released. And someone who does experience homelessness after leaving prison is twice as likely to return to prison within nine months than those with housing.
Robinson said federal and state governments need to spend far more on housing and programs for people leaving prison.
“We are willing to imprison people but not very willing to reintegrate back into the community,” he said.
“If we are serious about making the community safer, we need to be imprisoning less people and offering more alternatives to prison, and funding more rehabilitation beds and services like ours.”
There are a number of programs across Australia run by state and territory governments with an aim of helping people leaving prison to access housing.
In Victoria, the Maribyrnong Community Residential Facility Transitional Support Program, run by Jesuit Social Services, provides temporary accommodation and services for men leaving prison who would otherwise be homeless, with room for 44 people at one time.
The Enhanced Housing Pathways program in Victoria was also introduced in 2016 and assists people leaving prison who are at risk of homelessness with individual support. Programs such as this need to be expanded and better funded, Council for Homeless Persons CEO Deborah Di Natale said.
“We need to expand innovative programs to provide people coming back into society with the support and self-care skills they need to successfully integrate,” Di Natale told About Time. “Ensuring people have the right housing, and are equipped with the right skills, can break the cycle of recidivism.”
Also in Victoria, the Reintegration Pathway, run by Corrections Victoria, offers pre-release assessments and pre and post-release support programs, with a focus on housing, and the ReConnect program assists those with high-level transitional needs for up to nine months after they leave custody.
Justice Connect offers the Closing the Revolving Door project, which helps those in prison to keep their housing on the outside and resolve unpaid debts.
In the ACT, the Justice Housing Program provides accommodation to people who may have been incarcerated due to a lack of housing, with 10 houses now available for three months at a time.
In Queensland, the Post Release Support Accommodation Service works with men who cannot get parole as they do not have suitable housing, providing temporary residential accommodation and help to access longer-term options.
The South Australian’s Integrated Housing Exit Program provides housing for 12 months for some people who have served a sentence of less than one year.
A lack of access to stable housing is a key reason why many people reoffend and return to prison. It’s also a main reason why people are denied parole and
kept in prison for longer. In Victoria, a lack of suitable accommodation was listed as a reason for more than 60 percent of all parole denials in 2023-24, while a third of people who withdrew their applications did so because of this reason.
In Tasmania, just under 30 percent of parole applications were deferred due to a lack of housing in the community.
According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, a third of people in prison in Australia had experienced homelessness while in the community, and more than half expect to be homeless when they are released. And someone who does experience homelessness after leaving prison is twice as likely to return to prison within nine months than those with housing.
Robinson said federal and state governments need to spend far more on housing and programs for people leaving prison.
“We are willing to imprison people but not very willing to reintegrate back into the community,” he said.
“If we are serious about making the community safer, we need to be imprisoning less people and offering more alternatives to prison, and funding more rehabilitation beds and services like ours.”
