SACS: Social & Community Services

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Homelessness - it's not who you think

National Homeless Person's Week - August 4-10, 2008

This week is National Homeless Person's Week and as the largest union covering workers in the social and community services sector, the ASU encourages everyone to become more aware of the real facts behind homelessness. There's a crisis out there with too many Australians sleeping rough every night of the year because there are not enough facilities to house them. Many are children.

The changing face of homelessness

Most Australians still believe there is a typical homeless person. He is single, middle-aged and has a drug and or alcohol problem. He may suffer from a mental illness, and he sleeps on the streets.

It's less common that we identify women, families, children and young people as among the homeless, or those at risk of homelessness.

In a benchmark study, 1000 people were asked to identify the causes of homelessness. Their most common answers were drug addiction (identified by 91% of respondents), mental illness (81 %), domestic violence (81%), and alcoholism (80%). Three out of every four people interviewed said homelessness was primarily caused by the poor decisions of homeless people themselves.

The reality of homelessness is more complex than the stereotype.

Much of what we know about those most likely to experience homelessness is drawn from the Census night count of homeless people conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. In 1996 and 2001 the Census count indicated that on any given night around 100,000 Australians are homeless.

The data shows that common perceptions about who is likely to be homeless, as well as about the causes of homelessness, are largely mistaken. Of the people experiencing homelessness, there is no 'typical' homeless person.

Of the 100,000:

Just over half are adult men.

The causes of homelessness for this group are complex, and include financial difficulty, family breakdown, and mental health issues as well as drug and alcohol abuse.

Over 40% are women.

Overwhelmingly, women become homeless as a result of domestic violence. Women escaping violent partners are often accompanied by their children: one in every 57 Australian children under 5 used a homelessness support service in 2005-2006.

Half are under 25 and nearly 10,000 are under 12.

Young people experiencing homelessness are often running away from homes and families characterised by poverty, violence and drug and alcohol abuse.

One in every four people is a member of a homeless family.

This includes single parent families and couples without children.

One in five is homeless together with their partner.

Couples with and without children often experience homelessness as a result of a financial crisis, such as the loss of a job. This can also lead to a loss of housing.

Almost one in ten are Indigenous.

Indigenous people experience homelessness for a range of reasons including poverty, discrimination in the private rental market, family and domestic violence and lack of access to social housing.

This material was excerpted from Homelessness Australia's brochure "'If only...' resourcing responses to homelessness". A full copy can be downloaded below.

Further information

Visit the Homelessness Australia website here: http://www.homelessnessaustralia.org.au

You can download an events calendar for Homeless Week here: http://www.homelessnessaustralia.org.au/site/events.php

You can promote Homeless Week in your networks with the flyers that can be downloaded below.

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