Homelessness and Human Rights

This article examines the effectiveness of the 'indirect' (political rather than judicial) methods of implementation employed by Australian governments to fulfil their international human rights obligations by using the national Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) as a case study. The case study reveals that the main problems with indirect approaches to human rights implementation are the lack of independent accountability mechanisms and the related absence of effective remedies in the event of a violation. Despite these shortcomings, the author suggests that there are many ways in which indirect implementation can be strengthened and urges critical engagement with Australian governments towards this end.