Practice · Tool or method
Common Ground Housing Model
- Homelessness, Housing
Common Ground Model for delivering supportive housing based on Housing First Principles.
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About this practice
Sourced from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) in collaboration with MGS Architects and Mind Australia for the City of Port Phillip on behalf of the Inner Metropolitan Partnership, this practice manual provides detailed guidance for delivering Common Ground and other congregate supportive housing based on Housing First principles.
What makes it different: Built on a review of Australian and international best practice, and developed through consultations with government, housing and support service providers, and people with lived experience of homelessness, this manual covers both the housing and the support service model in a single integrated resource. It provides guidance that is adaptable to different locations and project scales across Australia.
What it covers:
- The eight Housing First principles (Homelessness Australia framework) and Common Ground operating principles
- The complete project delivery process: Initiating → Planning → Delivering → Evaluating
- Service model design — how to operationalise Housing First across required services, case coordination and case management, and asset and tenancy management
- Detailed guidance on the structural separation and close coordination of tenancy management and support services
- Tenant mix, eligibility criteria, intake and assessment processes
- Building design and performance — four design principles across three scales (place, community, home)
- Australian case studies: Elizabeth St Common Ground (Melbourne, 2010); Gungahlin Common Ground (Canberra, 2015); Brisbane Common Ground (2012); Camperdown Common Ground (Sydney, 2011); Ozanam House (Melbourne, 2019)
- Evaluation frameworks covering tenant outcomes, service utilisation, financial management, and broader housing and homelessness impact
Who developed it: Tom Alves, Nicola Brackertz, Christian Roggenbuck (AHURI); Laura Hayes (Mind Australia); Rob McGauran, Katherine Sundermann, Natalie Kyneton (MGS Architects). Published 2021. Commissioned by the City of Port Phillip on behalf of the Inner Metropolitan Partnership (Cities of Melbourne, Port Phillip, and Yarra).
Licence: CC BY-NC 4.0 — free to access and adapt for non-commercial purposes with attribution to AHURI.
Who it’s for
Organisations and funders wishing to implement the Common Ground model for addressing homelessness and housing insecurity.
Target population
**Primary audience:**Housing organisations and community housing providers developing or operating a Common Ground or congregate supportive housing project; local and state government agencies planning or funding congregate supportive housing; service providers and case managers delivering support within a Common Ground model; architects and design professionals engaged for a Housing First facility.**Tenant populations served:**People with experience of chronic homelessness and complex support needs including mental ill-health, experience of complex trauma, alcohol and other drug misuse, chronic disease, and/or brain injury. Very low-income and low-income households facing housing stress. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people; women and children who have experienced family violence; people with disability; people with mental illness; people exiting custodial arrangements; people from CALD backgrounds; LGBTQI+ people.
How it’s delivered
- Group work
- Residential
- In-person
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