Campaign targets lack of housing
Housing support services across Gippsland want community members to support a national campaign designed to raise awareness of the plight of hundreds of local people who face homelessness and the lack of affordable housing available to them.
Gippsland Homelessness Network co-ordinator Chris McNamara said more than 6220 people in Gippsland presented to specialist homelessness services in 2015-16 – 38 per cent of those people were homeless and 62 per cent were at risk of homelessness.
Ms McNamara said homelessness was not just people sleeping rough in Melbourne’s central business district.
“We not only need to prevent homelessness but to end homelessness and to do this we need more affordable homes for those on a low income,” she said.
According to 2016 ABS Census 92 persons were homeless in Baw Baw on the night of the count. This included people in improvised dwellings such as tents, sleeping rough, staying temporarily in other households, living in temporary lodgings, supported accommodation and in severely overcrowded dwellings.
A further 123 people in Baw Baw who were not classified as being homeless on Census night but were living in some form of marginal housing and may be at risk of homelessness.
“The causes of homelessness are multiple, challenging and hard for both clients and services to resolve particularly when there is a limited supply of social housing and affordable private rental properties for those on low incomes. The key causes of homelessness in Gippsland are financial difficulties, lack of supply of affordable housing, family violence, family breakdown and eviction from a current rental property,” Ms McNamara said.
“The experience of homelessness can be a traumatic one, and the longer it persists, the more existing problems are exacerbated and new problems develop. For families and children, homelessness can cause disrupted schooling and lead to poor educational attainment. For individuals, homelessness can lead to the onset of a multitude of health, mental health and substance misuse issues.
“Preventing homelessness in the first place by saving tenancies or getting people back into housing quickly, is the best way to minimise the ongoing cost of homelessness, both individual and societal.
Ms McNamara said the state funded Private Rental Assistance Program (PRAP), managed in Baw Baw by Quantum Support Services went a long way in preventing and ending homelessness and housing crisis by rehousing people capable of sustaining private rental; supporting at risk households to sustain affordable and appropriate housing in the private rental market and assisting people who currently live in crisis, transitional and social housing to become independent in the private rental market.
“The Tenancy Assistance and Advocacy Program (TAAP), Tenancy Plus and the Aboriginal Tenancies at Risk program delivered by Quantum Support Services for the Region is seeing great results in saving tenancies thus preventing homelessness.”
Homelessness services across Gippsland are this week lobbying state politicians to inform them and suggest solutions to alleviate homelessness as the services struggle to assist singles and families to access, secure and maintain safe, affordable, appropriate housing.
Council to Homeless Persons (CHP) chief executive officer Jenny Smith said underlying all homelessness was a lack of affordable housing for people on low incomes.
CHP and the Gippsland Homelessness Network is encouraging people to support the national Everybody’s Home campaign by going to www.everybodyshome.com.au and signing up.