Supported Accommodation Program in Brisbane

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

Zig Zag believes appropriate housing is a basic human right of all young women and we aim to provide safe, affordable and secure accommodation.

Zig Zag offers accommodation to young women who are on their own or sole parenting, between the age of 16-25 years, who require some support but are able to live independently.  Our accommodation is women’s only and is medium-term, which is 3-6 months.

Who is Zig Zag accommodation for?

  • Women who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless

  • Young women with or without children

  • Women aged 16 to 25 years

  • Women who have a low income

  • Women who have some independent living skills

  • Women who wish to live on the Southside of Brisbane

  • Women who require some support

At Zig Zag, we provide supported accommodation which means young women who are housed with us will have a housing support worker to meet with regularly. Young women and support workers will work together to find long term housing and young women can 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 women.

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 two housing support workers and a tenancy management worker. The Zig Zag team are available to assist within working hours only as we do NOT have an afterhours or weekend service.

Young women may 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 women 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’.

Young women 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.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

As Zig Zag receives many referrals of young women for a vacancy, Zig Zag has a process that may take anywhere between 1-3 weeks before a tenancy can move in. This allows time for young women to be referred to the vacancy, for all young women to be considered to see who is best fit and who may be in most need of the property, and to allow time to set up interviews for young women and support workers to meet and ask questions.

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.

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How to find out about our supported accommodation?

If you are looking for accommodation for yourself or a young woman you are supporting, call and ask to speak with a housing worker to see if you are eligible for our housing.

There are three housing workers at Zig Zag. You can contact the office between the hours of 9am to 5pm (Monday to Friday) on 3843 1823. If a housing support worker isn’t available, leave a message and we will contact you as soon as possible.

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