Mercy Law Resource Centre (MLRC) is an independent law centre, registered charity and company limited by guarantee. MLRC provides free legal advice and representation for people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. It also seeks to advocate for change in laws, policies and attitudes which unduly and adversely impact people who are at the margins of our society.

This report is centred on the lived experiences of people with mental health difficulties seeking to have their housing needs met. To incorporate these experiences, we drew on our casework at MLRC and the experiences of our clients. To broaden the perspective of this report we also conducted a survey of people directly impacted by mental health and social housing issues and the frontline workers supporting them.7 The starkest finding from this survey was that all respondents believed that people with mental health difficulties face barriers when trying to access social housing supports. 89% of respondents believed this also applied to people with mental health difficulties seeking access to emergency homeless accommodation. The interaction of mental health, social housing and homelessness can be complex and involves many different elements. This report is focused particularly on the legal and administrative barriers to accessing social housing supports and does not address other important issues, such as access to mental health services or the impact of homelessness and housing instability on mental health conditions.

The conclusion of this report sets out practical recommendations for changes to the law and administrative practices in relation to the provision of social housing and emergency homeless accommodation that, in our view, may alleviate some of the existing barriers. Many of these recommendations echo the National Housing Strategy for Disabled People 2022-2027.