Issue

Homelessness in Australia

You may find it annoying to have to make your bed - but spare a thought for those with no bed to make. There are 105, 000 people in Australia right now who don't know where they will sleep tonight.

Submitted 10/11/2005 By Amy Views 361336 Comments 30 Updated 13/10/2008


Photographer : sensemaybenumbed

No fixed address

"I walked behind this guy the other day.
A homeless guy asked him for money.
He looks right at the homeless guy and says ‘why don't you go get a job you bum’.
People always say that to homeless guys like it is so easy.
This homeless guy was wearing his underwear outside his pants.
Outside his pants.
I'm guessing his resume isn't all up to date."

Underwear goes inside the pants—Lazy Boy

What is the issue?

Adequate housing is a human right and is part of having a quality of life. However, each day 105, 000 Australians are without safe, secure and affordable housing.

  • Tonight half of Australia's homeless will stay with friends or family.
  • About 2 in every 7 will find a bed in a boarding house.
  • A lucky 1 in every 7 will find a bed in the homeless service system.
  • 1 in every 7 will sleep rough on the streets of our cities and towns.

Definitions

Homelessness is usually defined as not having a house to live in. But, it is also about having little or no safety or security. A homeless person may have no shelter at all or a shelter that compromises their health or safety.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) defines homelessness as:

  • currently living on the street
  • living in crisis or refuge accommodation
  • living in temporary arrangements without security, for example, moving between the residences of friends or relatives, living in squats, caravans or dwellings, or living in boarding houses
  • living in unsafe family circumstances, for example, where child abuse or domestic violence is a threat or has occurred
  • living on a very low income and facing costly expenses or a personal crisis.

Who is homeless?

There is a common view that homeless people are middle-aged, alcoholic men who sleep on a park bench. However, this cliché is becoming more and more inaccurate. While anyone has the potential to become homeless, there are some groups who are way more vulnerable. Young people under the age of 25 make up half of the homeless population. One in every 51 girls aged 15 -19 used a homeless service last year. The number of children using homeless services has increased by around 15, 000 in the last couple of years.

Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders are also largely over represented. Although they make up only 2% of the country’s population, they make up 18% of the clientele in homeless shelters. The scariest statistic is probably that in Australia one in 200 people face homelessness every night.

Why is it happening?

There are many reasons why people become homeless. These can be:

  • poverty
  • unemployment
  • not enough affordable housing
  • poor physical or mental health
  • intellectual disability
  • drug and alcohol abuse
  • gambling
  • family and relationship breakdown
  • domestic violence
  • physical and/or sexual abuse.

All these factors can cause a person to become homeless. They can also be one of the reasons why a person remains homeless. For example, drug and alcohol abuse can be both a cause and a result of homelessness.

What are we doing about it?

The main organization which advocates for the homeless community is called Homelessness Australia. They aim to promote community awareness of homelessness, and they also get on the government’s back about creating and implementing proper policies which will help the problem. They think that the only way to tackle the issue is to work on:

1) Early intervention – so people don’t become homeless in the first place

2) Access to temporary accommodation and basic services

3) Support and assistance for those trying to get back on their feet

Luckily it seems like the government is taking notice of the facts. In the 2008 budget, the federal government put $150 million towards new homes for people leaving homelessness. They also run the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) – which is where (if there is enough space) homeless people can find shelter, food and a bed.

But with so many complex factors contributing to the problem, we still need more money and more ideas to make sure that every Australian has their own bed to make in the morning.

This page was updated by kate elise

How do I know this?

Australian Federation of Homelessness Organisations, http://www.afho.org.au/  

Australian Institute of Heath and Welfare 2005, Homelessness FAQs, http://www.aihw.gov.au/housing/sacs/faqs.cfm  

Homelessness Australia http://www.homelessnessaustralia.org.au/site/index.php  

‘Homelessness in Australia’, Parramatta Sun (7 May 2008) http://parramatta.yourguide.com.au/news/local/news/general/homelessness-in-australia/765841.aspx  

Mackenzie, D & Chamberlain, C 2001, Counting the Homeless, Australian Bureau of Statistics, http://www.countingthehomeless.com.au.  

Mission Australia, http://www.mission.com.au  

Universal Declaration of Human Rights article 25 (1), http://www.un.org/Overview/rights.html

Discuss Now

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Jelstrup 06-Dec-2006

There is one very important aspect to homelessness that most of us lucky non-homeless people don't really realize.
Homeless people in Australia (and most western countries) are not homeless because of a lack of housing. Generally the government provides some sort of accommodation for people who have left or lost their homes. So why then are homeless people still homeless?
There is a problem (they have no home) the government provides a solution (they produce a unit). Problem solved. If these people are homeless it must be because they choose to be.....
Yes, that's an easy way out for the complacent.
The aspect that we overlook is that living on the street is not the ACTUAL problem. At least, it's not the cause. Most homeless people are homeless because they don't fit into our conventional concept of "having a home", "being at home", "creating a home", which often involves a high degree of loneliness. They simply can't cope with that kind of lifestyle. And that is the root of the problem and until the system learns to accommodate people who wish to lead a more sociable life, where support and companionship is at hand, there will always be homeless people.
Start with the cause, not the result. Because the homeless want more than life in a lonesome unit, and who can blame them..?

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BottledGrace 21-Nov-2006

Homelessness shouldn't really be too much of a big deal, anyway. It's really quite a travesty that it is so big of a deal. As the first line of Amy's article states- adequate housing is a human right. Not to mention all the other related human rights- self-determination, right to health, and so on. Each person has a right to these things, and each state has an obligation to provide them. It's a terrible shame that basic facts such as these aren't mentioned more often- it really is the first and last stop, the bottom line. Homelessness should not be an option; certainly not in a, 'developed,' country such as this. How quickly our leaders forget their obligations; a home, safety and security is not a privillige, we have not been extended a favour if we have access to one.

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misshannah 21-Nov-2006


Check out Josie's awesome story , she did some amazing stuff to draw attention to homelessness in Aus.....she is an inspirational example and someone I am proud to know!!!!

http://www.actnow.com.au/Stories/Actions_Speak_Lou...


misshannah.....

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Rach 13-Oct-2006


Josie - I completely agree with your point. I've seen a homeless woman I know transform – not just trying to exist till the next day, but with dreams and life goals: because she has hope. I think this is because a few people came along and treated her with the respect and courtesy that every human deserves, gave her self-respect and hope.

I always notice that this Issue of Homelessness is highlighted as being a Hot Topic.
Yes, we can do what we can to help individual homeless people we know, (Once I gave this homeless woman the contact details for her nearest homeless refuge. Not sure whether she'd ever tried it, or had access to the information before, but I gave it a go, and then it was in her hands.) but I think it could be beneficial to question the social structures which put these people on the street in the first place. Can we look into our welfare system, or mental health system, the help available to those suffering domestic violence, or addictions, who fall through these gaps in the system, who cannot get help?

Can we not write to ministers of Parliament and question what is being done about these issues?

The number of homeless young people across Australia (aged 12–18) on any one night is 26,000. Please fix my maths, but my scrawlings estimate that 1 in every 100 kids is homeless. I don’t think we need to look too far to find someone we personally know affected by homelessness. How many kids in your grade at school had nowhere to go?

(
How do I know this? http://www.youthfacts.com.au/index.php?option=disp...

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Josie 09-Oct-2006

Another way to help ... just talk to a homeless person - reach out, give them the time of day and the respect and human dignity they deserve. There's a person beneath the surface and you'll find they really appreciate it when someone stops and cares.

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