Homeless people in Brisbane: What happens if you are not 'ordinary'?

Many people who write about homelessness appear to assume that there is somehow a level playing field, and that all homeless people are equal, and that they all want some kind of housing which provides a roof over their heads.

Let me disabuse these writers because they are completely wrong on both counts. There is no level playing field, homeless people are no more equal among themselves than are the non-homeless. What is more, many homeless people do not want a roof over their heads. They require housing appropriate to their own particular needs, and this may well be a park bench, a squat or underneath a bridge.

The groups I would not count as "ordinary" homeless are as follows:

• Indigenous people
• People who don’t want a roof over their heads
• Mentally ill people
• Young people (12-25)
• People just released from jail
• Women

Indigenous homeless people, for example, should not be expected to move into our European-style housing and be grateful just because we offer it to them. Many of them would rather sleep out, while others may well be happy to move into housing appropriate to their needs. However, it would be very arrogant indeed to assume that non-Indigenous architects and builders are capable of designing and building such culturally appropriate housing without considerable input from the Indigenous people themselves.

There is currently a trial project in place in New Farm Park, whereby a section of public space, which had been used for many years by mainly Indigenous homeless people, was provided with toilets, showers, a barbecue, some shelter and some privacy screening by the Brisbane City Council. Needless to say the NIMBY (not in my backyard) syndrome was alive and well, with quite a few local residents complaining that the new initiative spoiled the area’s ambience! Other residents, however, were very supportive.

Clearly then, Indigenous, and other people who wish to live in public spaces, are not "ordinary" homeless people. Nevertheless, they have a right to put their point of view and be listened to. The whole question of the use of public space for this purpose needs to be addressed in a full and frank manner, and appropriate initiatives put in place. In the meantime the Brisbane City Council’s initiative spearheaded by the local councillor, David Hinchliffe, and the lord mayor, Jim Soorley, in New farm Park is a bold attempt to confront the issue head-on. It may not be the perfect solution, but at least something has been done. Pause a moment to consider other alternatives:

• Offer them European-style housing? They just don’t want it.
• Sit down with them and design housing appropriate to their needs? It wouldn’t do any harm.
• Forcibly remove them from the park and relocate them? This is not an option in a democracy.

Now YOU try to think of a few options and see how far you get!!!

Another population of homeless people (perhaps as high as 40 percent of the total) have a mental illness of some sort or another. Many of them will have been discharged from an institution in the past without being given sufficient support to acquire the necessary life skills. Often the cause of the mental illness is not known, nor in many cases is the fact of whether their homelessness was caused by their mental illness, or because of their mental illness, they were unable to access accommodation.

Clearly this population must also be described as non-"ordinary", and therefore will require special support regarding accommodation and life skills. Most hostels will not accept an obviously mentally ill person as this would be likely to disrupt the other residents.

However, there is often difficulty in providing them with accommodation where they have to look after themselves, particularly if they have been discharged from an institution. They may have absolutely no knowledge about budgeting, shopping, cooking, personal hygiene, their entitlements, how to fill in forms, how to catch public transport, communication skills, other general social skills, etc.

I have to lump young people (12-25) in the non-"ordinary" category because they often have particular traits, while not necessarily absent in the other groups, sometimes present more serious problems among young people:

• They are much more likely to suicide, especially the males
• They are much more likely to experiment with drugs
• They are much more likely to suffer abuse, both violent and sexual
• They are much more likely to be involved in crime
• They are much more likely to have sexual orientation problems
• They are much more likely to be moved on by the police for just hanging around with a ring in their nose or the knees/seat out of their jeans
• They are much more likely to be mugged
• They are much more likely to support one another
• They are much more likely to live in a squat
• They are much less likely to access an adult homeless hostel
• Many of the younger ones move between friends’ houses so they won’t have to go home

This is a very difficult age group to work with as they often resent adult authority or intervention and think they can cope with anything that comes along without help.

People just released from jail are another group with special needs, especially if they have been long-term prisoners. Many of them will be without family or friends, and many of them will lack appropriate life skills to live satisfactorily in the outside world without some measure of support. In view of this, I do not class them as "ordinary" homeless people either.

To categorise homeless women as not "ordinary" may sound strange, but I have done so for a variety of reasons. Although the Report of the Homelessness Taskforce Where did you sleep last night? found that women accounted for only 15 percent% of the homeless people counted, it also found that most of the women counted were in the under-25 age group. In addition, the facilities available for homeless women in Brisbane (apart from crisis centres) are minimal.

There are only 17 beds for homeless women (14 at Anglicare, New Farm and 3 at the Sisters of the Good Samaritan, Lutwyche), whereas there are more than 300 available for homeless men (mostly at the Salvation Army, Spring Hill and St Vincent Community Services, South Brisbane). No "drop in" centre specifically for women exists in Brisbane.

There is strong anecdotal evidence, too, that very often a homeless woman will choose the lesser of the two evils, and will go home with a man for the night rather than sleep on a park bench and risk being raped.

Besides a pressing need for more accommodation for homeless women in Brisbane, there is also a pressing need for a "drop in" centre specifically for women. It is envisaged that this centre would supply a whole range of in-house and referral services for women, and would include:

• Toilets and showers
• Meals
• Child minding
• Library
• TV and radio
• Games/sports
• Gymnasium
• Swimming pool
• Female counsellor
• Accommodation service
• Employment assistance
• Clothing library (confinement gear)
• Female hairdresser
• Female masseur

Women’s health issues such as:

• Female doctor
• Female dentist
• Personal hygiene
• STDs
• Contraception
• Pregnancy
• Pap smears
• Mammograms
• Mental health/depression

Children’s health:

• Immunisation
• Nutrition
• Scabies
• Mental health/depression

Classes/courses on various life skills issues such as:

• Shopping
• Nutrition
• Cooking
• Sewing
• Filling in forms
• Job applications
• Job interviews

Education:

• Literacy
• Computer learning
• Art

Why should the "drop in" centre be only for women? Experience has shown that joint centres tend to be dominated by the men. Also, a woman who has just fled from a domestic violence situation certainly does not want to access a centre full of men. Even women from non-violent situations don’t necessarily want to be ogled at a "drop in" centre.