Supported Accommodation Program in Brisbane

element

Zig Zag provides medium-term supported accommodation to women and gender diverse young people age 16 to 25 years who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.

Zig Zag’s Housing Program provides a range of services to young women and gender diverse people who are homeless and/or experiencing any form of housing injustice and insecurity.

Our housing and homelessness services include a supported accommodation program, mobile and outreach supports, centre-based support and group work and activities. The Zig Zag housing team is guided by the needs and voices of young people, is flexible, responsive, and not time limited.

Young people and support workers will work together to find stable and secure housing options and address any other areas that may be impacting on the young person’s life such as mental health, drug and alcohol, legal issues or pregnancy and parenting support.

Zig Zag accommodation is for women and gender diverse young people who:

  • are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless

  • are with or without children

  • are aged 16 to 25 years

  • can live independently with some support provided by Zig Zag

  • are comfortable with medium-term housing and engaging in support to find long term housing

At Zig Zag, we provide supported accommodation which means women and gender diverse young people who are housed with us will have a housing support worker to meet with regularly. Young people and support workers will work together to find long-term housing and access support, resources and information around many areas of life.

What we can’t do

Unfortunately, we do NOT have emergency accommodation so we are unable to provide housing straight away. If you are in a crisis and need accommodation immediately, see our Support Hotlines page for more information.

We believe appropriate housing is a basic right of all young people.

Some areas of support include

  • pregnancy or parenting issues

  • getting into education or employment

  • access to health services

  • issues with Centrelink

  • accessing other housing services

  • legal issues

  • accessing counselling or other community services

  • linking in with social and recreational groups

Our Housing Support Team

The staff in the housing team at Zig Zag include three housing support workers and a tenancy management worker. The Zig Zag team are available to assist within working hours (9am-5pm) only as we do NOT have an afterhours or weekend service.

You can request to speak to a housing support worker and ask questions and obtain information at any time when accessing Zig Zag. Once housed in a Zig Zag property, young people will meet their housing support worker, who is there to assist you with your own personal goals and needs plus assist you to have a ‘great tenancy’.

Women and gender diverse young people living in Zig Zag properties will also meet our tenancy management worker. The tenancy management worker is the person who responds to any renting or property issues, such as organising maintenance repairs and providing you with information about moving into the units, signing your lease and other relevant Residential Tenancy Act documents, paying rent, and give you your keys.

More Information

You can download the Department of Housing Application form and begin completing the form yourself. Once you have submitted the application form to Department of Housing, the Department will process you application and wait times for housing will depend on your level of need. If you need support to prove to Department of Housing your level of need, you can contact a Zig Zag housing support worker or a worker from another organisation to write and submit a support letter on your behalf.

If you would like support completing your application form or need a support letter you can contact a Zig Zag housing support worker and we can support you the complete this process.

Download the Department of Housing Application form

If you are about to be evicted and need support to advocate for your tenancy to be sustained, you can contact the RTA to find out your Rights and Responsibilities and for support advocating on your behalf. The RTA can talk with your landlord, to help find a way to remedy breaches and find a resolution.

You can also contact QSTARS for tenancy advice and advocacy on 1300 744 263.

For further information around this process, or for support navigating these systems, you can contact a Zig Zag housing support worker.

If you have received a breach at your current property and are unsure as to how to remedy the breach you can contact the RTA to find out your Rights and Responsibilities and for support advocating on your behalf.

You can also contact QSTARS for tenancy advice and advocacy on 1300 744 263.

For further information and support on how to remedy a breach, or to receive support to advocate to your landlord, you can contact a Zig Zag housing support worker.

If you need to leave your current housing due to experiencing family or domestic violence, you can contact DV Connect or DVAC to seek support, understand your options and find alternative, safe housing.

DV Connect: 1800 811 811
DVAC: (07) 38163000 or (07) 4642 1354

If you are unsafe and in immediate danger, contact the police on 000.

If you are in crisis and need housing immediately, please contact the Homelessness Persons Hotline on 1800 474 753 or contact Brisbane Youth Service on (07) 3620 2400.

If you are experiencing financial hardship, you can call the Wesley Mission ‘Brisbane Relief Hub’ on (07) 321601576 or at 316 St Pauls Terrace, Fortitude Valley or you can contact the Salvation Army on 1300 371 288.

You can call and speak to a Zig Zag housing support worker for information or support around financial emergency relief.

Young women who transition from Zig Zag’s supported accommodation to long term independent housing may still engage with Zig Zag housing support workers for information, advice and support to help sustain their tenancy. At Zig Zag, we understand many young women do not have previous rental experience and may have many questions or find the experience of living independently to be overwhelming at times.

We also understand that there are many experiences that can impact young women’s tenancies, including lack of previous tenancy history, systemic discrimination, experiencing domestic and sexual violence, complex mental health concerns (including complex and intergenerational trauma), substance use, limited parenting support, social isolation and disconnection from community, disruptions to education and experiences of financial hardship and poverty (Micah Projects, 2016; AIHW, 2016-17). As many of these issues are interrelated, Zig Zag aims to provide holistic support to young women as they transition into long term independent housing.

Young women can also be referred to Zig Zag vacancies using the Queensland Homelessness Information Platform (QHIP). QHIP is an online database which is used by homelessness services in Queensland to make referring young women easy, private and safe and to ensure your request for housing doesn’t get lost.

If you are a young woman looking to be referred to a Zig Zag vacancy on QHIP, you can contact Zig Zag, the Homelessness Persons Hotline or another Specialist Homelessness Service provider (such as Brisbane Youth Service) to put your details into the QHIP database and send the referral.

If you are a service provider looking to refer a young woman on QHIP, please make contact with a Zig Zag housing worker prior to discuss the vacancy prior to sending the referral on QHIP.

womens shelter brisbane

How to find out about our supported accommodation?

If you are looking for accommodation for yourself or a young person you are supporting, call 3843 1823 or email intake@zigzag.org.au to speak with an intake worker.

get in touch