The Pros And Cons Of Homelessness In Australia

1.1 What are the disadvantages of the homeless?

The disadvantages the homeless face include a variety of things:

Lack of security

Lack of storage (belongings are carried)

Lack of hygiene (no showers, cleaning products etc.)

Lack of money

Lack of education

Lack of health services

Lack of relationships with society

Lack of a permanent household

(guides.sl.nsw.gov.au, n.d)(peacefrog-homelessness.blogspot.com.au 2012).

Another disadvantage that occurs because someone has one or more of these traits is social exclusion (missionaustralia.com.au 2016). This is when an individual is excluded from society as a result of being different and in many cases the difference is being poor. Smith said that “Getting food everyday and basic shelter are big issues. The most important are food and shelter and the homeless don’t have that guarantee. One guy came one time (to the Valley) and he said he hadn’t eaten for 6 days.”

1.2 Who are the homeless?

The homeless in Australia has a broad category as to who they are as half of the amount of homeless are under the age of 24. In that population however, 10, 000 are children (salvationarmy.org.au 2015). The amount of homeless in Australia was said

to be around 105,237 since the last census in 2011. The previous amount of homeless was 89,728 from the 2006 census displaying an increase of 17% (homelessnessaustralia.org.au 2016).

Although the next census is on August 8th 2016, research from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare displays that this year, around 256,000 people in Australia still need assistance with specifications unclear as to whether they are homeless or not (homelessnessaustralia.org.au, 2012). Nevertheless, the fact that there is an increase in homeless of 17% within the span of 5 years should be noted.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 39% of the homeless live in severely crowded dwellings, 20% in supported accommodation, 17% with friends/family, 17% in boarding houses 6% in improvised shelters and 1% in temporary lodging (homelessnessaustralia.org.au 2016).
A survey conducted of 516 homeless people (Dec 2015)(cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au 2015). in Sydney found that:
The average age of the homeless was 42
The average time spent being homeless was 5 years and 4 months
82% of the homeless were male, 17% female and 1% transgender
73% were Australian, 17% Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders and 15% were from other countries
35% were disabled (all on a disability pension)
60% were living on the street
8% were war veterans
Although this survey was an extremely small sample of the large 106,325 homeless, it is still valid data that gives an idea on who the homeless are. It appears that a large majority of the homeless are Australian males with the average age of 42. This could mean a variety of things, for example, younger aged homeless people receive more support from organisations or female homeless people receive more support. Although neither of these things could be correct, one piece of data that should be noted is the average length of time these people have been homeless which was around 5 years and 4 months. This suggests that support is not reaching many people or is not as effective as it could be and as a result people are still living in homelessness. Mission Australia says that because a lot of the homeless stay in temporary housing with friends and family, not many people actually realise how many homeless people there are in Australia (missionaustralia.com.au 2016).

According to the statistics from the Salvation Army, the amount of homeless in each State/Territory are:
New South Wales - 27,374
Queensland - 26,782
Victoria - 20,511
Western Australia - 13,391
South Australia - 7,962
Northern Territory - 4,785
Tasmania - 2,507
Australian Capital Territory - 1,364

(salvationarmy.org.au 2015).

1.3 Causes for being homeless?
Homelessness is more common than what one might think.

Glenda Stevens the CEO of Homelessness Australia, said that “People are more likely to experience homelessness than diabetes, asthma or arthritis.” Stevens later went on to say that almost 2,350,000 Australians have experienced homelessness in their lives (homelessnessaustralia.org.au 2012). The cause for being homeless can be complex and hard to understand in some cases. Individuals can be involved with substance abuse and having mental health issues. Some factors that can be the leading cause for homelessness are housing affordability and availability. Over time, housing costs have shown a slow increase and availability has been lower than the demand. Both of these things make housing expensive to have and hard to find (see Appendix

A).
The survey mentioned earlier also found that:
49% had experienced trauma (abuse)
53% were arrested and jailed
65% were arrested
44% were a victim of violence
72% had substance abuse
53% had mental health issues
All of these could either be the cause of homelessness or an effect of homelessness so therefore, it is difficult to make conclusions from this data. Nevertheless nearly half of the population surveyed display unhealthy behaviour regarding drugs or suffer from traumatic memories.
The Department of Social Services give first priorities to the homeless that face domestic violence as it can be seen as a common trait among the homeless suggesting it is a common cause for homelessness (dss.gov.au 2016). Other causes for homelessness according to the DSS also include lack of income, debt and gambling. Mission Australia reports that the top reasons for people becoming homeless include: unemployment, mental health issues, substance abuse, gambling, financial problems and grief (missionaustralia.com.au 2016).
Other data from the ABS in Appendix A, show that housing costs are slowly increasing and availability decreasing. Since homelessness and housing are two relatable variables, it can be said that housing availability and costs are also causes for homelessness.