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

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: