| His eye is on the sparrow |
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| Tuesday, 22 April 2008 00:00 |
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A shocking new report from the National Youth Commission (NYC) — the result of the first national independent inquiry into homelessness since 1989 — has found that the number of homeless young people in Australia has doubled in the last two decades. Homelessness is not always about a complete lack of shelter: it is defined by Australian federal law as “inadequate access to safe and secure housing”. Being “roofless” and living on the streets or in deserted buildings is known as primary homelessness, but there are invisible forms of homelessness like moving between friends or family, refuges or hostels, or living in boarding houses with shared amenities and no lease on a long-term basis. Homelessness is a human rights issue, because the homeless often suffer from an inadequate standard of living and don’t have access to education, healthcare, privacy or security. Findings suggest that over 90% of homeless people have experienced some form of serious trauma and well over half have been assaulted or witnessed violence. Chris Talbot, executive manager of research and development at UnitingCare Wesley in Adelaide, manages the policy unit that deals with housing and homelessness. He says the report raises many important issues and reinforces what people on the ground have been saying for years, including the acknowledgment of the disturbing increase in the level of youth homelessness. He also says the report reminds the church it can never sleep in regards to major policy and advocacy issues.
“It’s because in those formative years people don’t develop social connections, they don’t have family and other community support, they don’t develop skills for living or earning income,” says Chris. “Homelessness itself tends to produce mental ill health. Homeless people are more subject to abuse and exploitation and, particularly those who get involved with drugs, there is a danger of developing lifelong patterns.” The report and other research shows the factors contributing to youth homelessness are complex and often underestimated. “Youth homelessness is connected with family violence and abuse, drug issues, inadequate preventative mental health and lack of educational opportunities,” says Chris. “If you’re looking at prevention and not just immediate crisis response it’s those broader issues that need to be looked at.” Although the initial signs are promising, whether or not the new federal government steps up to address homelessness as comprehensively as needed remains to be seen. “One of the first things Kevin Rudd did was tell everyone in his government to go and visit homeless shelters. But it’s not just about people showing up in shelters,” says Chris. “This society has not invested in appropriate and affordable accommodation for a couple of decades at the level it should have. Both the rental vacancy rate and the home purchasing rate at the lower end of the market are enormously tight. And when we’re talking about people who have experienced other forms of severe disadvantage, housing alone isn’t going to be sufficient. It requires supportive communities and social services at least in the medium term. Even if we were able to manufacture 100,000 units of housing tomorrow we’d still have to provide other supports.” While UnitingCare agencies like Wesley work with homeless people in keeping with their broad Christian commitment to the poor and marginalised, all members of society can and do play a part in the response to homelessness. “You never know when a kind or generous act will have a long term benefit as well as an immediate form of assistance,” says Chris, suggesting an attitude of compassion is the greatest contribution an individual can make in helping the homeless. And he maintains a solution is possible. “It’s a question of social priorities,” he says. “I heard someone say the other day that there’s no single problem we can’t solve but we can’t solve all problems at once. We just need to be clear about what are the most important things to do.” Unpack the issues...
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Living on the streets is known as primary homelessness, but there are less visible forms of homelessness: moving between friends or family, refuges or hostels, or living in boarding houses with shared amenities and no lease on a long-term basis. Meera Atkinson investigates.
According to Chris, studies have demonstrated that long-term youth homelessness is a predictor of lifelong homelessness. The reasons are clear.
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