A rightfully responsible Australia

So what is Australian poverty and homelessness? Unfortunately, homelessness does not take any stereotype. It hits the young and the old, the educated and the low-skilled, migrants, white-Australia and our Indigenous communities and is made up of 60% men and 40% women.

This is not an issue for one side or one level of government. We all have a role to play. It is far too easy to side-line the beggars and the transient as hopeless and victims of their own decisions. Lacking empathy is not the country I want our next generation to be brought up in.

Homeless people suffer mental health issues, are victims of sexual and physical violence and lack access to a goodnights sleep. Could you handle looking after all of your belongings every night while being fearful of your safety? In January, I gave this a go. For a week I spent time experiencing homelessness first-hand. My peers immediately noticed a disintegrating attention span and ever-present exhaustion. After a couple of days I was already feeling isolated and distant from my typical life.

There's a growing trend to fine and prosecute homeless people for begging and for being nuisances, which is not the manner in which to deal with this issue. The data also shows us that these things do not work. Should the policy-makers think logically, they would realise that it will lead to actual crimes like stealing and robbery. From passive to aggressive.

To ignore homelessness is moronic. Homelessness spans our nation in its various forms. We should take action to lessen homelessness, not to make it invisible.