We need to get serious about homelessness

In May 2012, Wesley Mission Victoria, in conjunction with the Tenants Union of Victoria, published Open For Inspection?, a research report detailing the impact of private rental stress in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne.

The report found: “Interviews with service users and workers, including those working in homelessness services, indicated that the crisis accommodation…services funded by the Commonwealth and State government National Affordable Housing Agreement often provide…a minimal response…”

Not surprisingly, the report also showed that more support is needed. Programs such as SHASP help stabilise those already struggling to maintain their homes - before they break down.

As we mark Homeless Persons’ Week, it is critical that the federal and state government work together and alongside community service organisations and the whole community to remove this “obscenity” from our social landscape. To reduce homelessness in this country, both federal and state governments must build more houses; while crisis services are in desperate need of more funding, not less, to provide a preventative response to people at risk of homelessness.

Let’s make sure that one in 38 Australian children under four have something more to look forward to than homelessness.