Thousands in struggle
Study reveals depth of ‘national shame’
ALMOST 4000 people are either homeless or struggling to keep a roof over their head in Cairns.
The shocking statistic is revealed in a suburb-by-suburb study of people seeking help from homelessness support services across Australia.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data have revealed the worst affected areas in the Cairns council area as experts label the statistics as “our national shame”.
MORE than 3975 people are either homeless or struggling to keep a roof over their head in Cairns in what experts have called “our national shame”.
A suburb-by-suburb study of people seeking help from homelessness support services across Australia paints a harrowing picture, showing the extent of the housing affordability crisis is much deeper than people sleeping on the streets.
The worst affected areas in the Cairns council area in 2017-18 were Cairns City with 2372 people in crisis and Manoora with 202, according to Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data.
AIHW spokesman Matthew James said it was important to note close to six in 10 clients across Australia were not homeless when seeking assistance but were at risk.
Perhaps the most heartbreaking data related to the age of people needing help.
More than 47,600 of those on housing agencies’ books nationwide were children aged nine or under, which could be due to the thousands of mothers reported fleeing family violence.
Homelessness Australia chairwoman Jenny Smith said those sleeping rough represented only 7 per cent of people experiencing homelessness.
The majority are in crisis accommodation, rooming houses or couch-surfing.
“It’s quite horrendous to think nearly 289,000 people are accessing these services – and it doesn’t reflect the so many more people who are in crisis,” Ms Smith said.
“Support services are hav- ing to turn away more than 230 people a day across Australia.
“Right now we’re the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff trying to triage who needs the most help, but we’d much rather be at the top of the cliff preventing people from falling.”
Ms Smith said governments needed to work together on a national plan to fight the issue, with measures such as tackling negative gearing and capital gains tax, introducing inclusionary zoning and investing more in social housing.
While the Victorian figures were the highest – 116,872 seeking help in 2017-18 compared with 71,628 in NSW – Ms Smith said Victorian support services had a “clearer front door system” and could provide more accurate data.