Launceston Benevolent Society chief executive officer John Stuart said reduced government funding, and people who have an ongoing over-reliance on services, can lead to the state's most vulnerable slipping through cracks in the system and not receiving the help they need.

"We're finding more and more people are wanting, but we have a limit that they can come and get vouchers on a three monthly basis but because we have done that for so many years they've got used to it, and we're trying to get them away from relying on just getting vouchers," he said. Mr Stuart said the organisation gave out almost $150,000 worth of food last year, not including vouchers for groceries at IGA, Coles and Woolworths. He said his focus now is on giving food in place of vouchers.

"Once they leave here with the vouchers probably 80 per cent of them do the right thing and go and get food, but the other percentage probably try to flog them to get cigarettes or drugs or whatever, so we're trying to cut out the ones we think might be rorting the system a bit," Mr Stuart said.

Family services team leader Nicky Gray from Launceston City Mission agreed, saying 90 per cent of people "did the right thing" and only came for help when desperate.

"We're only talking a small percentage of people who are over-relying on the system... there's a very small percentage that would probably build emergency relief into their budget," he said.

"I think a lot of it is to do with financial literacy, it might be that they have spent money on other things which they felt was a priority at the time, only to find themselves short at the end of the week.”

Mr Gray said many of the people who use the City Mission services are using it as a last resort, and would prefer to not need the help.

Some who might have once been provided for by more than one of the five major emergency relief outlets in Launceston can no longer access multiple services. "We're one of the five, and what we try to do is network together fairly closely and we have what we call the One Service Agreement," Mr Gray said.

"We try to stop those who will over-rely on service providers.. any client who comes to our service signs a consent, and we say ‘don't go to other services.’ If we see 10 to 15 clients, that would be generated into a daily list which would be forwarded to the other agencies and they would have their own database of clients, and when most people come to us, we then ask for their details, do a check on our system and a check on the other service providers’ systems, to make sure they aren’t double dipping or triple dipping."

Mr Stuart and Mr Gray both said they had seen people reach out for help who have never asked for relief in their lives, and if over-reliance continues some of the most in need might miss out.

Child Support

Anita Reeve from the Salvation Army said one of the gaps in services the organisation is aware of relates to child support. 

“Where parents are separated and one parent has over 35 per cent care, when [the children] go to the other parent they have no means of financial support. They are often on Newstart, and we get people who are coming in asking for help for when their children come of a weekend because they get nothing to look after them,” she said, “The kids are often sent to the parents with no clothes or food, they might just send them in the clothes they are standing up in, and they have to build up a supply of clothes and feed them while they are there which is quite challenging.”

Pets

Ms Reeve said finding housing if you are homeless or displaced and own a pet is also a major issue in Tasmania. “Some people would argue that they should just get rid of their pet, but for a lot of these people that is their only friend or close companion and there is a lot of studies which show how good a pet is for their mental health,” she said, “A lot of people now are relying on private rental, and a lot of homeowners just don’t want pets.”

Youth at Risk

The state government is currently working to develop a Youth at Risk strategy after identify an area of concern, young people between the ages of 12 and 16, who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.

Some of these young people find being placed into care is not the best option for them.

Due to be completed by the end of the year, the strategy will aim to provide support, guidance and targeted interventions, across government agencies, to at risk young people who are struggling with homelessness or mental health or drug and alcohol issues.

In Parliament on May 24, Minister for Human Services Jacquie Petrusma said the strategy will focus on therapeutic custodial youth justice options, but also hopes to address broader issues.

“It includes those involved in risk-taking behaviours who are not yet in the youth justice system but may have the potential or are at risk of getting into the youth justice system or the community youth justice system,” she said. “Other issues that are also being scoped as part of the broader strategy are youth at risk of homelessness or experiencing homelessness, drug and alcohol misuse, those experiencing mental health difficulties, including those expressing suicidal ideation or self-harming behaviours.

Outreach

Hetty Binns, St Vincent de Paul regional president, said ultimately service providers work together to provide a holistic approach to support the overall well being of all people who seek services.

“We’re not really in the position of preventing people from falling through the cracks, we’re here in the position of catching people who do fall through and to provide a safety net and help them get a basic level of support,” she said.

“With the Vinnie’s Van, the idea is to get to know people and if they are having problems we can help forward them onto appropriate services.”