This National Homelessness Week, August 3-9, the St Vincent de Paul Society is urging the Australian Government to take “Homelessness Action Now” by recognising housing as a fundamental human right and making it a national priority.
Every night, more than 122,000 Australians are without a home. Across the country, an average of 350 people are turned away from homelessness accommodation every day because the services they need do not have the capacity to respond.
“No one should be turned away when they have nowhere safe to sleep,” St Vincent de Paul Society national president Mark Gaetani said.
“Homelessness is not a personal failure; it is a policy failure. The theme of this week could not be clearer: Australians want homelessness action now because we overwhelming believe everyone deserves a safe, secure and affordable place to live.”
The society is calling on the government to take three immediate steps:
1. Treat housing as a human right. The society continues to call for housing to be recognised as a human right and for the National Housing and Homelessness Plan to be legislated.
2. Expand social and affordable housing. The society is calling for investment strategies to restore social and affordable housing to at least 6 per cent of total housing stock within a decade, and to 10 per cent over the longer term.
3. Fund specialist homelessness services properly. The society is calling for specialist homelessness services to be funded to $670 million per year. With 350 people turned away each day, the current level of resourcing falls well short of community need.
“Our experience and research reveals that too many people are just one life event away from housing stress – losing a job, falling ill, ending a relationship, or experiencing family and domestic violence. All these pathways cost the state more money to remedy,” Mr Gaetani said.
The society provides a range of housing and accommodation services in every state and territory, which may include short-term crisis accommodation, transitional housing, medium to longer-term community housing, accessible housing for people living with disability, and homelessness services.
“This National Homelessness Week, we are asking the government to match its rhetoric with resources,” Mr Gaetani said. “Australians overwhelmingly believe everyone deserves a decent life. Treating housing as a human right and funding the services and stock to make that right real, is where action must begin.”
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Action needed now as homelessness crisis deepens across Australia (St Vincent de Paul Society)
