SEVENTEEN homeless services across Queensland have been warned they could be forced to close because of a funding battle between the state and federal governments.
The Queensland government has accused federal Labor of leaving the agencies with an uncertain future because it has replaced a five-year national fund with a one-year deal.
But the Federal Government has accused Queensland of trying to shift the blame for its own cuts to services.
Despite signing the deal on Thursday, Queensland Communities Minister Tracy Davis accused federal Labor of ditching its plan to halve the number of homeless by 2020 and refusing to match money offered by the state.
"Kevin Rudd's homelessness plan is now in tatters," Ms Davis said.
"The Commonwealth can't on the one hand promise to halve the rate of homelessness by 2020, but on the other hand only provide funding to the middle of 2014."
Before signing the deal, Ms Davis wrote to several charities warning their funding could soon dry up.
One of these is Common Ground accommodation in Brisbane, which former PM Kevin Rudd cited less than a year ago as proof of federal Labor's commitment to tackling homelessness.
Federal Housing Minister Mark Butler defended the one-year deal as a "transitional arrangement".
"Service providers now have the certainty they need about next year's funding enabling them to continue providing critical support to some of the most vulnerable Australians," Mr Butler said.
Queensland is likely to receive up to $30.45 million next year under the deal, but the Federal Government says the state must agree to guarantee funding to tenant advisory services in return.
Ms Davis said the state would spend $50 million next year and urged the Federal Government to match this.
But the Federal Government claims the $50 million includes federal funding.
"The Federal Government is offering to increase the level of funding to the Queensland Government for homelessness services, but instead of accepting that new funding, they've chosen to use homeless Australians as a political football," Mr Butler said.
The move came as the state last week scrapped an annual $190,000 grant from the Department of Communities to the Queensland Public Interest Law Clearing House's Homeless Person Legal Clinic.
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