PM urged to tackle homelessness

'Dead wrong' ... Mr Rudd has been urged to follow through on homelessness

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is under pressure to make good on his promise to help the plight of the nation's homeless.

Mr Rudd put homelessness on the national agenda in January, announcing he was forming a committee to improve crisis services and help people get long-term housing.

He also told MPs to learn more about the plight of the homeless by spending a night in an emergency shelter.

"It is dead wrong that in a country as wealthy as ours that on any given night some 14,000 people are sleeping rough," he said at the time.

But Deb Tsorbaris from the coalition Australians for Ending Homelessness says the situation has deteriorated over the past year, and the global financial crisis is already biting the Australian community hard.

"We already know that in one of the last sets of data, the data that is collected from our services, that nearly 3,000 people had had mortgages before they appeared at our services," she said.

"That was at least a year ago, so we would expect those numbers to double or triple. Now that's frightening."

The coalition is in Canberra with a five-point plan to reduce homelessness and holds out hope that action can begin before the end of the year.

"Kevin Rudd has distinguished himself as the only prime minister, in my memory anyway, who has singled out homelessness as an issue that he wants to tackle," she said.

"We have had the white paper delayed. COAG is in a week and at that time there will be discussions between the states and the Commonwealth about huge amounts of money, in excess of $33 billion, and we are keen to make sure that a chunk of that goes to the area of homelessness."

The group's plan includes a proposal to build an additional 250,000 low-cost and community houses by 2020.

Federal Housing Minister Tanya Plibersek says she expects the issue will be raised at next Saturday's Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting.

"I think we are at, obviously, a very difficult time because of the global financial crisis, but the Government's early and decisive action with its $10.4 billion economic security strategy, I think, has certainly given a lot of people comfort and security and our actions on homelessness have been critical," she said.

"But we have got to ask ourselves, not just how the economic circumstances are affecting the number of homeless people, but how successful we are as a community and as governments working together to turn around some of these numbers."

Ms Plibersek says the Prime Minister's commitment to dealing with homelessness "has been full and unwavering".

Financial crisis no excuse for homeless neglect: Greens

The Greens say the Federal Government should not use the financial crisis as an excuse to water down its commitments to homeless people.

Greens Senator Scott Ludlum says the Government's rhetoric on homeless people has not been matched by action.

He says he is worried the Government will continue to stall and blame the financial crisis.

"It is something that's starting to colour the debate, if it's anything the Government's trying to put off or might be politically difficult it's certainly something being raised," he said.

"With due acknowledgment that the world economy is in serious trouble, people are still homeless right across Australia so I think it's time we saw some concrete action."

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MORE than 17,000 NSW workers left or lost their jobs last month in the worst labour market reading in years, fuelling fears the state will suffer the brunt of the coming economic slowdown.

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When pain persists, they arrive
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Fee too much for Block project
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50pc of homeless 'dependent on alcohol, drugs'

New research from the Australian National Council on Drugs (ANCD) shows a large percentage of homeless people are dependent on alcohol and drugs.

The ANCD estimates over 100,000 people are homeless every night with a third under the age of 25.

ANCD executive director, Gino Vumbaca, says a number of these people have problems with alcohol and drugs.

"What the council has found is that the levels are quite high - [they are] six times more likely to have a drug use disorder," he said.

"In some cases almost 50 per cent of people who are sleeping rough are dependent on alcohol and 50 per cent of clients would smoke cannabis on a regular basis."

"So what we're seeing is quite a substantial level of substance misuse amongst the homeless. I don't think that's startling but we've got some figures now to back that up."

Mr Vumbaca says greater focus needs to be placed on people who are homeless and dealing with addictions.

He says in some areas like Canberra the homeless are often overlooked.

"Often people don't see homeless people. They might see one or two people ... who have slept rough overnight ... but we are talking about over 1,000 people on any given night are homeless in Canberra," he said.

"As a result, they are sort of out of the way, out of sight and unfortunately out of our minds sometimes.

"So we don't invest what we need to invest in homeless shelters because we don't see the dimensions of the problem."

Online support

The ANCD in conjunction with the National Drug and Research Institute at Curtin University of Technology have today launched a new support website for people working in the homeless sector.

"Homeless services are often being stretched to capacity dealing with the day to day crisis that people are facing," Mr Vumbaca said.

"This makes it very hard for them to then address any underlying issues."

Mr Vumbaca says the Homeless Information Portal provides information on drug and alcohol use and how to address problems as they present.

"It also provides a database for services who will be able to look at what is in their local area and search for drug and alcohol services and other homeless services that may exist nearby," he said.

"So they can work with them and maybe co-manage clients, given they often haven't got the resources to deal with those client problems as they present on the night when people are looking for a roof over their head."

The ANCD is also working with the Federal Government to help raise awareness of the issue.

Mr Vumbaca says the Government will be releasing a white paper on homelessness and launching a major new strategy in the next few months.

"To make sure that we also invest in the difficult end of the homelessness problem which is people who have significant substance abuse problems, or mental health problems or for a lot of people both," he said.

"There needs to be a lot more support given to homeless shelters and the like to actually address the underlying causes of homelessness."

Qld has highest homeless rate in Australia

The figures show more than 26,000 people were living on the streets in Qld in 2006.

The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures show Queensland has the highest homeless population in Australia.

The figures show more than 26,000 people were living on the streets in Queensland in 2006.

Mission Australia spokesman Tony Stevenson says thousands more are homeless now.

The ABS report shows 105,000 Australians were homeless on Census night in 2006.

He says rapid urban sprawl has reduced the amount of affordable housing across the state.

Caravan parks were one source of affordable housing for many people and that is now not available.

Mr Stevenson says increasing rent prices in mining towns like Mackay and Mount Isa are also forcing people out of their homes.

"There are lots of rural and regional towns that have now become absolutely unaffordable to people who have traditionally lived in those communities," he said.

The report shows the Queensland's homeless population rose by 2,000 in five years and that more than half of Australia's homeless are under 24 years of age.

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More homeless seeking help: report
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Older homeless people 'slipping under the radar'

One of the nation's largest providers of homeless services says official statistics underestimate the number of older homeless people.

The latest figures on homelessness from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare suggest around 11,000 homeless people - about 10 per cent of the total - are aged 50 or over.

But the welfare agency Mission Australia believes the figure is much higher than that.

Mission Australia's spokeswoman Leonie Green says many in this group are slipping under the radar because they tend not to access services in the same way younger homeless people do.

"So they'll remain, as a demographic, unserviced, and certainly in the community where we want to support our most vulnerable people, that's not going to happen," she said.

Ms Green has called on the Federal Government to address the problem in its white paper on homelessness due out next month.

She says as the population ages and accommodation pressures increase, the lack of services will become even more apparent.

"So now is really the time that we need to identify that we have an issue and identify how all of the different governments can work together and to fill that gap that fill these people's specific needs," she said.

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More homeless seeking help: report
A new report shows there has been a substantial increase in the number of homeless Australians seeking government help. The Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) is a federal and state government initiative aimed at providing services and housing to the country's homeless.

Housing rents surge in Sydney
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First mortgages doubled in a decade: ABS
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Funding fall 'locks workers out of housing'
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More homeless seeking help: report

A new report shows there has been a substantial increase in the number of homeless Australians seeking government help.

The Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) is a federal and state government initiative aimed at providing services and housing to the country's homeless.

New figures from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare show 187,000 homeless people used the program in the 2006-2007 financial year, the majority of them being young women.

The Institute's Felicity Murdoch says the increase in the numbers of people using the service reflects a number of new agencies that have been added to the program.

"It definitely shows that there's a need out there for these sorts of services, in that once you increase the scope of the program more people are accessing it and it's a very positive outcome in that people who are requiring assistance are able to get it now," she said.

"What we see is that young females particularly between the ages of 15 and 19 years are particularly likely to become a SAAP client."

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Funding fall 'locks workers out of housing'
People who cannot afford to rent or buy suitable homes have been locked out of public housing because of a drastic fall in national funding, a Sydney conference has heard.

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SYDNEY renters have plenty to gripe about. Not only are their rents soaring but they are also funding the legal machinery used by landlords to evict them.

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MORE than 17,000 NSW workers left or lost their jobs last month in the worst labour market reading in years, fuelling fears the state will suffer the brunt of the coming economic slowdown.

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State and federal governments are being warned of a new wave of homelessness threatening disadvantaged families.

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People are still angry when they lose their houses, but he notices that "people nowadays seem to think, when they take a loan, that it's a risk and that if they take the loan they might end up losing their house".

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The New South Wales Government says it had no warning one of the state's largest building companies was about to collapse, despite receiving more than 100 complaints over three years.

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Homeless 'removed' for World Youth Day?

More Than A Bed....? Sydney's Homeless Speak Out and what a shocker for World Youth Day. So what does it all mean? Should we wait for the Pope or should we give these disadvantaged, marginalised and broken people somewhere to sleep for the week. Jesus?

Kevin Simpson from Homeless Voice says men and woman who normally sleep in the city or the Domain have been moved out by authorities.

"I am a little bit surprised they haven't taken more care of the actual people who Jesus came for and that's the disadvantaged, marginalised broken people," he said.

Homeless Voice says during APEC people who sleep on the streets were offered accommodation in motels but not so during World Youth Day.

Shane normally sleeps in the Domain car park.

"Since the Pope and that's been in town we've had to relocate to this open park and if it rains we're sort of buggered, we've got no wind block," he said.

World Youth Day organisers say all Catholic welfare groups remain in operation.

But WYD coordinator Bishop Anthony Fisher says the soup kitchen offered in the city has had to be shifted to a neighbouring suburb, Woolloomooloo.

"I know some of them have moved in order to ensure the privacy of those homeless people so they're not surrounded by pilgrims, so they can eat their soup in privacy," he said.

World Youth Day: Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims are using venues around Sydney.



Quote: And you can see the photo with the big crowd which is meant to press Bishop Anthony Fisher's point, but hardly. You see we are social beings and I don't think the homeless, broken people would have been bothered by pilgrims. In fact that may have made them feel a lot better about their current plight.

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Tough police powers outlive APEC
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Housing crisis forcing people to sleep rough

SYDNEY's housing crisis is driving people onto the streets.

A Wesley Mission study found 71 per cent of respondents identified the housing crisis as the major reason for them becoming homeless. Of those, 88 per cent said accumulated debt and unexpected financial crisis were factors.

"Contrary to popular perception, while alcohol and drugs can keep people on the streets, they are not the main pathway to homelessness," Wesley Mission chief executive, the Reverend Keith Garner, said.

The study is contained in a report, More Than A Bed: Sydney's Homeless Speak Out, which will be launched today by Mr Garner and Federal Housing Minister and Member for Sydney Tanya Plibersek.

A quarter of respondents said that, before becoming homeless, they had been earning an income greater than that which the Australian Bureau of Statistics terms "medium high" for Sydney.

Mr Garner said the study showed how easy it was for an ordinary person to slip through the cracks to a life on the streets.

The study - conducted over six weeks and involving 206 homeless people staying in six inner-city shelters - found that relationship breakdown was the second leading cause of homelessness and that the trauma of childhood abuse had the greatest impact on the wellbeing of homeless people.

As well, the research found that, despite popular perceptions, most inner-Sydney homeless people had originally come from elsewhere, including outer Sydney suburbs, the Hunter and the Illawarra.

The study also found that once a person became homeless, it was difficult to live a secure life again.

Almost one in five of those surveyed had been on the streets for five to 10 years, while two-thirds had found themselves in crisis accommodation up to six times.

"Since the housing problems and the pressure on people's incomes, there is no doubt that there's more people turning to us for help," Mr Garner said.

Wesley Mission has outlined an action plan to tackle chronic long-term homelessness. It includes an integrated approach for people to gain access to mental health services, addictions rehabilitation, relationship counselling, occupational therapy and legal services.

Related:

Funding fall 'locks workers out of housing'
People who cannot afford to rent or buy suitable homes have been locked out of public housing because of a drastic fall in national funding, a Sydney conference has heard.

Renters must pay for their own evictions
SYDNEY renters have plenty to gripe about. Not only are their rents soaring but they are also funding the legal machinery used by landlords to evict them.

NSW feels the deepest jobs cut
MORE than 17,000 NSW workers left or lost their jobs last month in the worst labour market reading in years, fuelling fears the state will suffer the brunt of the coming economic slowdown.

Welfare services under strain: survey
The number of people accessing community services is on the rise, a new survey shows.

Report warns new wave of homelessness
State and federal governments are being warned of a new wave of homelessness threatening disadvantaged families.

When pain persists, they arrive
People are still angry when they lose their houses, but he notices that "people nowadays seem to think, when they take a loan, that it's a risk and that if they take the loan they might end up losing their house".

'No warning' about Beechwood collapse
The New South Wales Government says it had no warning one of the state's largest building companies was about to collapse, despite receiving more than 100 complaints over three years.

Housing crisis is real: industry
The Housing Industry Association (HIA) says new research highlights the seriousness of Australia's housing crisis.

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Charity calls for petrol relief

A charity is calling for petrol companies to help them cope with the rising cost of fuel.

Mission Australia's uses vans to provide services for homeless people on the streets of inner Sydney.

But it says the vans cost $100 to fill up and it is struggling with the high cost of petrol.

Charity spokesman Daniel Petsalis says it wants petrol companies to make a donation.

"It'd be great to see one of our petrol companies come forward and help us with a donation or talk to us about discounting our fuel costs longer term in recognition for the problem and assisting us," he said.

Mr Petsalis says he wants to see fuel companies donate petrol or offer discounts.

"Charities do have a number of vehicles, other charities do, but Missionbeat's sort of the only one service of its kind across the country that's providing that street outreach and assistance to homeless people," he said.

Report warns new wave of homelessness

State and federal governments are being warned of a new wave of homelessness threatening disadvantaged families.

The St Vincent De Paul Society says there has been at least a doubling in the number of people turning to caravan parks since 2001.

In a report called Residents At Risk, the charity estimates at least 50,000 people across the country are one step away from homelessness and using caravan parks as crisis accommodation.

The report's author, doctor Andy Mark, says state and federal governments need to intervene to "provide more crisis support until more long-term solutions can be found".

Federal Housing Minister Tanya Plibersek says it is going to take some time to fix the problem

"We know that there is a lot of work to do; this is an area that has been shockingly neglected for much too long," she said.

Ms Plibersek says a white paper on homelessness will be released in September.

Community urged to end homelessness stigma

A conference will be urged to seek ways to end the stigma of homelessness.

A conference in Adelaide is considering ways to prevent and respond to homelessness.

Simon Smith, from Homelessness Australia, says the issue affects many people at various stages of their lives.

Mr Smith says a housing affordability crisis has contributed to homelessness.

"The lack of affordable rental accommodation makes it hard for people to get out of homelessness because there just aren't enough affordable housing options for people to move into," he said.

"What we're also starting to see is an emerging group of people who are being placed at risk of homelessness because of high rents in the private rental market or people defaulting on mortgages.

"To really respond to homelessness we need to do three things - we need to work with people to prevent them from becoming homeless in the first place, we need to improve services for people when they are homeless and we need to give them pathways out of homelessness and a big part of that is to create more affordable housing options."

Jo Wickes from Homelessness SA says there is a need to remove the stigma of being without accommodation.

"We need as a state and a community here in South Australia to stop blaming and stigmatising people who are homeless," she said.

"Any one of us could be homeless if the circumstances turned for us at any time and we need to recognise that."

Updated: 9:32 am (AEST)


More accommodation for the homeless and those on low incomes will be provided at Port Augusta and Port Adelaide.

More low-cost housing for SA

A joint federal and state plan will make 80 apartments available for low-income earners and the homeless in South Australia.

SA Premier Mike Rann has met former state thinker-in-residence Rosanne Haggerty in Washington to discuss low-cost housing projects for Port Augusta and Port Adelaide.

Ms Haggerty was behind the model for low-cost apartments that opened in central Adelaide last year.

Mr Rann says Port Augusta will get 40 similar apartments, with on-site support services, as will Port Adelaide.

"It's about providing a home rather than a temporary shelter," Mr Rann said.

Ms Haggerty is pleased about the efforts to tackle housing problems in SA.

"It's very logical that once people have some fundamental stability in their lives they're in a position to become contributors to the community," she said.

The SA Government will contribute $2.8 million from next month's Budget for the project.

Updated: 7:55 pm (AEST)



Domestic violence victims homeless

An investigation has found that the public housing shortage is forcing women in relationships involving severe domestic violence to wait as long as two years for permanent accommodation.

The South Australian Women's Housing Association has more than 500 women and their children on a public housing waiting list.

Last month the Domestic Violence Crisis Centre received 196 calls from women in need of emergency accommodation.

With Adelaide's women's shelters at capacity, more than 160 of them could not be offered a place.

Gilian Cordell from the Crisis Service says the situation is critical.

"We don't know where to advise clients now, we've got to a point where we feel desperate," she said.

Housing SA provides financial assistance for up to six nights emergency hotel accommodation, but domestic violence services say after that many women are being left with nowhere to go.

The State Government says it is trialing a family safety program to ensure adequate services for people in domestic violence are being provided.

'Happy slappers' sentenced

THREE young men who punched and kicked a homeless man in a Sydney park "just for entertainment" and filmed the attack "for a trophy" have been sentenced to 200 hours of community service.

The men, all in their early 20s, of good upbringing and without criminal records, should "hang their heads in shame", the magistrate Anthony Marsden said yesterday.

The practice of attacks on an unsuspecting victim while filming the assault - known as "happy slapping" - originated in London. Films have reportedly found their way onto YouTube.

Downing Centre Local Court heard yesterday that the men - Ismail Akbar Ridwan, 20, Shabeili Malek, 21, and Vanda Dayusman, 21 - were stopped by police in Clarence Street shortly before 1am on April 9 after being tipped off by a witness to the attack.

They found a video on Malek's mobile phone which showed Ridwan and Malek kicking and punching Lance Anderson in the head and body while he lay on the ground. The men were laughing and taunting the victim, the court heard.

Mr Anderson said he was sore all over but had no visible injuries and refused medical treatment.

The men allegedly told police the incident had been "just trivial" but they later disputed saying this.

Their lawyer, Mary Underwood, told the court Ridwan said the assault looked worse on the video than it was. "No doubt the victim will be happy to hear that," Mr Marsden said.

The men were affected by drugs and alcohol and all three had since stopped using drugs, Ms Underwood said.

Malek had said he wanted to apologise to the victim.

Ridwan was also fined $800 for carrying a knife and 66 grams of cannabis, while Malek was fined $300 for carrying one gram of cannabis.

Mr Marsden said he would have sent the men to jail, but for their guilty pleas and lack of criminal records.

Australia facing homelessness avalanche: Vinnies

A leading figure at the St Vincent de Paul Society says homelessness is the worst he has seen it in his 42 years with the charity.

Queensland senior vice-president Brian Moore says middle income earners are joining the ranks of the homeless due to higher living costs.

The Society has warned that the demand for help is so high, it may have to stop providing rent assistance altogether, because costs will increase by more than $250,000 this financial year.

Mr Moore says the problem is close to spiralling out of control.

"There's a lot of people homeless out there and a lot of people are hurting and it's just getting worse," he said.

"The fact is that Australia is facing an avalanche of homelessness, there's no doubt about that."

Premier outlines a caring state

The Premier, Paul Lennon has committed to halving the number of homeless people in Tasmania by the end of 2010, as well as tackling child abuse and social disadvantage.

Mr Lennon told Parliament the Government will fight poverty, mental illness and family breakdown with a Social Inclusion Unit.

A former director of the Catholic Social Welfare Commission will work with the unit, which will be in the department of Premier and Cabinet.

The Tasmanian Council of Social Service has welcomed the move, with the chief executive, Tom Muller saying the unit needs a clear focus.

"From our perspective a social inclusion unit has got to be driving a government agenda to tackle poverty and disadvantage," he said.

The Premier also appointed a housing expert to advise the Government on how to reduce homelessness.

Roseanne Haggerty founded the not for profit housing organisation Common Ground Community in New York, and has also worked to combat homelessness in Adelaide.

Mr Lennon says his first objective will target emergency housing and people who have no home.

The Government recently added $60 million to its public housing fund.

Anglicare's chief executive, Chris Jones, wants an urgent start on halving the number of homeless Tasmanians.

"We need that to happen quickly," he said.

"We need initiatives that will lead to keys to people's homes soon."

Mr Lennon also announced a commitment to reducing the number of children on care and protection orders, as well as increasing literacy and numeracy levels.