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Jax Roan: Uniting
Homelessness Network Coordinator - Grampians Region
Rowan Sweeney: Uniting
Children's Resource Coordinator - Central Highlands & Western District Regions
HOMELESSNESS
The 2016 Census recorded 116,000 Australian’s as homeless on Census night. This is an increase of 11,000 people from the previous Census in 2011.
Young people are unable to live at home for a wide variety of legitimate reasons. When accessing homelessness services, they will initially be referred to Reconnect [Berry Street] in order to attempt a resolution with families. The system is deeply flawed. There are 12 public housing properties in the Central Highlands for young people. So where do they go after transitional accommodation? A 27 year old was recently approved for public housing… six years after their application was submitted. There is a move away from one bedroom housing stock, yet we know that the demand and need is for one, two and four bedroom properties. For real system change, we need to be lobbying all tiers of Government for long term and affordable housing. What is currently done in the sector is that we move people from homeless to being at risk of homelessness. We are not funded to really address the issue or the underlying issues. This results in people moving from sleeping rough to transitional housing, but there are no exit options from here; so people often return to couch surfing, sleeping in cars etc.
When making a referral to a homelessness service you are unlikely to get an immediate response. As, for example, there are only three youth male crisis beds in Ballarat. And successfully getting a placement in crisis accommodation equates to being able to stay for 13 nights; and these are always full. So, homelessness becomes very cyclical: car, motel, crisis, transitional… repeat. Also, there is no support provided to physically move people between these options.
The Finnish model effectively ended homelessness over 14 years. How? They built housing! They also connected people to ongoing support to address the underlying issues, as well as improving community support as increasing connectedness and wellbeing for those experiencing homelessness is a fundamental protective factor. This year’s Federal budget sees the homelessness sector cut as of next year [yes, Jax reads the budget in full!]. There were no specific details as to where the cuts are made, but approximately $100+ million is missing. Conversely, the State Government are putting their money where their mouth is. The Street to Home project in Ballarat is a first of its kind in Australia. Now that this is being supported and funded there are ongoing housing and support options for those who were rough sleeping.
Young people quickly transition from young person to adult, in a legal sense, but are not necessarily equipped for the transition. 42% of people experiencing homelessness are under 25 years old. Many are children accompanying parents… but many are unaccompanied also. This is consistently increasing. Family violence and family breakdown are the two main reasons that cause young people to seek homelessness support.
As you can see, this impacts more greatly on females, however this may be related to young males not disclosing family violence as often. The data available is only as good as the information young people choose to tell us, and data is often collected when young people first enter the system, when they may not disclose everything or have the language to articulate their circumstances.
Also, children from the Out of Home Care system are greatly overrepresented: one in three will enter the homelessness sector and have long term housing issues. We know that the earlier homelessness is experienced the more likely a person is to have long term chronic issues. There is currently a campaign – Home Stretch - to raise the age of Out of Home Care from 18 to 21 in order address this [however, this was not in the Budget]. Information on the Home Stretch campaign can be found here: http://thehomestretch.org.au/
Every day in Victoria, homelessness services turn away 92 people. Staff too are frustrated by the system not being able to cope with demand. This is a sector where the issue hits the client and the Worker hard. We really need Governments to commit resources to real action.
When homeless, young people tend to couch surf. The four people counted as sleeping rough in these statistics may have presented at entry point or be engaged with Workers, but it’s likely a significant under count. Data on homelessness is very difficult to collect in Census, due to requirements for name and address.
Homelessness services have finite resources and so people are ranked; those most in need or vulnerable are prioritised. One young person said “I’ve gotta get pregnant, coz I’ll get housing”. Unfortunately, this is true as a young person with a baby will get a two bedroom property…. In about a year. On that, pregnant women are not housed until their final trimester. This can lead to in utero trauma, as the foetus is exposed to high levels of cortisol – a “stress hormone" – that can result in impaired brain function, impacting on attachment, relationships, emotional regulation and executive brain functions. Unborn children are adversely affected by homelessness, yet pregnancy is not often asked about during the assessment process.
Please take a moment to sign up to the Everybody’s Home campaign: http://everybodyshome.com.au/
Ultimately, a long-term strategy with bipartisan support from all parties at all levels of Government is what is required to make change. Eventually, there will be a fantastic housing strategy [check out Canada and New Zealand] that will mean Jax no longer has a job.
QUESTION: Tell us about your Tee Shirt: "Halving Homelessness"?
There is a lot of community good will, and people want to take action. We can halve homelessness, but we need to talk about it, and we need a community response. Or for one year we need to revoke the diesel rebate for mining companies in order to fund a sustainable solution to homelessness. Tiny houses are definitely an option: and we don’t have to create ‘ghettos’… we can create communities.
QUESTION: In terms of housing stock levels in Ballarat - what do you need?
250 houses in 12 months would eradicate the housing wait list. But we will always see growth in service demand until we address the issues underlying homelessness. These days, young people cannot get into share housing accommodation the way we all did in the past. Investors are “Mums and Dads”, whose properties are their nest egg for retirement. And this is not their fault… the Government has created this situation.
What passionate Speakers! Thank you, Jax & Rowan. You are always welcome to speak at BYSN.
To access Jax & Rowan’s presentation in full please visit https://prezi.com/view/6fay6Ey3VU9P6Gvva1UJ/
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