THE winter chill is adding to the suffering of tens of thousands of people sleeping rough in Queensland and putting care agencies under high pressure.
An extreme lack of affordable rental properties has forced legions of city and regional Queenslanders to resort to sleeping in cars, couch surfing or staying in short-term accommodation such as backpackers’ hostels.
On any given night an estimated 9,700 people in Brisbane are homeless. Hundreds of people sleep rough in Brisbane’s CBD on benches, cardboard boxes, in doorways and under bridges. Many more settle for a bed in a crisis centre or a mix of low-cost boarding houses in nearby suburbs.
On the Fraser Coast, best known for its idyllic beaches and island retreats, Centacare has found more singles, families and elderly people forced into homelessness because of a squeeze on the rental market since COVID-19 border restrictions were lifted.
“Single women, young and old are a rising number in referrals,” Centacare’s Jodie Anson, Service Delivery Manager, Housing, based in Hervey Bay, said.
“Many have jobs and children and have been given notice to leave as owners either wish to return, dramatically increase the rent, or cash in on the high market,”
“We respond to community concerns by outreaching – attending sites where tents are popping up, or vehicles being occupied for living.”
In Queensland a staggering 20,000 people are experiencing homelessness—this is 1 in every 200 Queenslanders according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
It can mean people who are sleeping rough, as well as people who are staying in temporary, unstable or substandard accommodation.
Women over 55 are the fastest growing group suffering homelessness.
They are vulnerable to unexpected events such as the death of a partner, a health crisis or divorce, and often have little or no superannuation.
“We have an ageing population, a high cost of housing, and a significant gap in wealth accumulation between men and women across their lifetimes,” Age Discrimination Commissioner, Dr Kay Patterson said.
“Limited services are available for older women who are renting, working and have modest savings.”
The St Vincent de Paul Society National Council has consistently called for a huge injection of public funds to ease a chronic shortage of safe, affordable housing.
“We know that, from statistics, 160,000 people in Australia pay more than 50 per cent of their income on rent,” St Vincent de Paul Society’s Queensland chief executive officer Kevin Mercer said as he prepared for last winter’s Vinnies CEO Sleepout.
“Those people are at risk, as well as a number of others who are only one or two pay cheques away from being homeless.”
In Queensland, the St Vincent de Paul Society has more than 500 crisis accommodation properties, and that number is increasing each year.
The crisis in affordable accommodation is highlighted on the Fraser Coast and Wide Bay region where the vacancy rate is just 0.08 per cent. Moreton Bay has an even lower vacancy rate of 0.02 per cent.
In response, Centacare provides two vital services across the Fraser Coast.
Crisis accommodation helps people access private rental accommodation and overcome their barriers in accessing the rental market.
“We have limited crisis accommodation for women or families,” Ms Anson said.
Homestay accommodation program helps families and individuals who are at risk of becoming homeless. It provides support to maintain their independent accommodation or where there is a need, to access more affordable accommodation.
Ms Anson said currently “numbers are far exceeding our resources” with “all providers working as best as they can together to assist”.
Catholic Social Services Australia has repeatedly raised the issue of a lack of affordable housing across the country.
The new Labor Government in Canberra has promised to create a $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund which will build 30,000 new social and affordable housing properties in its first five years.
