WHEN a state premier declares a pandemic lockdown and mandates people to stay at home, what does that mean for our homeless?
As we mark National Homeless Week 2021 (August 1-7) there are 116,000 Australians classified as homeless, and that is just the tip of the iceberg.
For every rough sleeper on the street, on park benches, in public toilets, tents and under bridges, there are 13 others sleeping in a car, couch surfing, in refuges or transitional houses or in severely overcrowded housing.
Homelessness affects our young and old and is closely linked to other key social issues that plague our community.
Family violence is the leading reason women and children seek help for homelessness.
A recently released Equity Economics report ‘Nowhere To Go’ analysed the benefits of providing long term social housing to victims of family violence, and found it is the leading reason women and children seek specialist homelessness services.
Alarmingly, only 3.2 per cent are receiving the long-term housing solutions they need.
Equity Economics estimates that the lack of long term social housing is leading to 7690 women a year returning to violent partners and 9120 women a year becoming homeless.
It’s a vicious cycle.
So too is the cycle for others who are battling to keep their jobs during a pandemic and witnessing soaring housing prices, or simply struggling to pay the rent.
“In the past year we have seen a phenomenal increase in rents … The simple fact is, when people can’t find a place to rent that they can afford, they end up without a home,” Homelessness Australia chair Jenny Smith told a forum today.
The St Vincent de Paul Society National Council has called on the Federal Government to quickly intervene.
“At least 650,000 social and affordable homes are needed right now,” national president Claire Victory said.
“The Society has repeatedly called for the Federal Government to establish a social housing fund of $10 billion to augment the efforts of the states and territories to address the chronic and growing shortage.”
Ms Victory said homelessness was no longer the stereotypical person sleeping rough.
“It’s people like you and me, just one life event away from a devastating change in circumstances – illness including mental ill health, relationship breakdown, loss of a spouse, domestic violence, or the loss of a job,” she said.
Ms Victory said the Government must “drive the implementation of a 30-year national housing strategy”.
‘Every day charities like St Vincent de Paul provide support to people who have nowhere to call home,” she said.
“It’s easy to blame people who haven’t got anywhere to live, but if we continue to neglect the deteriorating supply of affordable housing, a rising tide of homeless families will be forced to seek help from our charities just to survive.”
