Introduction
Every day in states across the Australia, homeless women, men and children walk the streets, often begging for money, carrying plastic bags or pushing shopping carts filled with what little personal possessions they own. It is hard to comprehend that in a country as affluent as Australia with an average annual GDP of $US44,073,81 per capita there is such a large amount of people in the community who do not have homes (Jericho, 2013). Over the last couple of decade’s homelessness and poverty has become a serious issue due to the increase in unemployment rates in Australia (Abs.gov.au 2013).
This investigation will be looking at how being homeless affects an individual’s life as well as looking at what the State and Federal governments
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Women and children are overwhelming affected by this, with one in two homeless women with children in homeless services are escaping domestic violence (Homelessness in Australia 2012). In addition to domestic violence the other frequent seen causes of homelessness are, lack of affordable housing, intergenerational poverty, unemployment, mental illnesses and young people exiting state care (Homelessnessaustralia.org.au, 2015).
A common misconception is that mental health and drug addiction are the main circumstances for people being homeless(Roger, June 2015) .Although there is a link between the two circumstances most homeless individuals develop mental health issues and drug addiction after living on the streets for a long period of time (Homelessness in Australia 2012). Amongst these individuals teenagers living on the streets are at a higher risk of developing drug addictions and mental illnesses, mainly due to how young and impressionable they are (Homelessness in Australia 2012). According to Youth Of The Streets, a non-profit organisation that helps youths living in difficult substitutions find better living accommodation. Within the first 5 days of being homeless young people are at a high risk of developing a drug addiction (Homelessness in Australia 2012. Evidence suggests that
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(Humanrightsactionplan.org.au). The cost of living in Australia is currently higher than other developed countries, on average living in Australia is 12% most expensive than other developed nations such as the United States (Janda, M. 2015). In addition to the high cost living, record low numbers of affordable homes have also contributed to the increase in homelessness (Homelessnessaustralia, 2015). It is estimated that’s there’s a shortage of nearly 500,000 homes across regional South Australia are available for low and moderate income earners to rents or buy (Humanrightsactionplan.org.au). It is not surprising that this shortage has increased the number of people living in boarding houses and on the streets. (Homelessnessaustralia, 2015. Although the Federal government does provide supported accommodation, there is simply not enough (Homelessness in Australia 2012). While Australia is still considered a rich country, if there is a large inequality between social classes it could harm the country’s economic prosperity. Further increasing the gap making more Australian’s at risk of experiencing financial difficulties (Holmes, D.
Homelessness is an unsolved issue occurring day to day, worldwide. What the main focus of this essay will be are the homeless youth in Canada dealing with drug addiction and substance use. Homelessness is a rising problem here in Canada, there are 10,000 homeless youth on the street, a guaranteed 2000 on any given night. There are so many different aspects you have to deal with along being homeless, not only are they living life on the streets without a shelter, food or money, but the challenges they face daily just adds to it. They face physical abuse, verbal abuse, police brutality, weather changes, starvation, stress, addictions, mental illness, and other various problems.
This opinion piece, titled “why are we really ashamed about Melbourne’s homeless crisis?” written by Jamila Rizvi for the herald sun, takes on a concerned tone while discussing the issue of homelessness in Melbourne. Various persuasive techniques have been used to make the reader question their belief. The article is aimed at people who are around the homeless often, tourists coming for the Australian Open and commuters in the CBD. This piece makes us question why we are actually ashamed of the homeless in Melbourne.
Table of Contents Executive Summary 2 Introduction 3 Discussion 4 Key Findings 4 Planning for action 5 Executive Summary Introduction Homelessness is an everlasting issue within the vast area of the state of Queensland, with it also being an increasing issue in the region of Logan city. There are twelve hundred and twenty-nine people experiencing homelessness in the region and unfortunately 29% of the homeless population is made up of 355 young people (Queensland Youth Housing Coalition, 2016). The Social Ecological Model, Social Justice and Ottawa Charter are frameworks that will help provide better understanding of the issue. They also assist in creating a diffusion action plan to fend against the issues.
Recently, homelessness has become a major social issue in Canada. Throughout the essay, the causes and significance of homelessness in Canada will be discussed as well as the history of the homelessness in Canada. In Canada, the homeless was not significant until 1960s where homeless came to mean the
Many would argue that allowing beggars, rough sleepers and public drug users to camp on our streets tarnishes Melbourne’s reputation as the ‘most liveable city in the world’. It makes the city shabby and unwelcome for visitors and regular users of the CBD. However, the fact that there is homeless individuals in the first place, opposes that statement. Think about it, if Melbourne were to be the ‘most liveable city’, then why is it that when we walk around the streets of Melbourne, there is an inevitable number of hopeless individuals despondently begging for help? These people should not be made to suffer any longer, especially at the hands of the people who are elected to protect their welfare.
The most significant disadvantage of homelessness is the damage it does, both physically and psychologically, to a person's health. Those forced to live on the streets or in temporary housing are at a greater risk of being injured by other people or being ill with a contagious disease themselves, both of which can spread to others. Homeless people may have mental health problems due to the stress and trauma of not having a place to call home (Southworth & Brallier,2023). Children, particularly younger children, are especially vulnerable to the effects that can arise due to their family's lack of stable housing. Homeless children usually face difficulties attending school, obtaining the essentials, and dealing with much more anxiety and unpredictability than other children.
Melbourne, one of the capital cities of Australia, has once again been voted as the most liveable city in the world and is filled with rich, working-class and homeless citizens alike. Here, we deal with artisan coffee, food from nearly every culture imaginable and fancy houses with highly crippling mortgages. Here, we are happy with our everyday lives and able to wake up after a sound sleep without fearing the stability of our careers or the possibility of losing our homes, our families, our dignity, and pride. So what is stopping us, blinding us, allowing us to become so greedy and xenophobic that we neglect, fight tooth and claw to avoid, taking in people who have been displaced in their own home countries and witnessed horrors that we can
Homelessness is usually a result of several of complicated issues. First, domestic and family violence is considered to be the most common reason why people become homeless. Domestic and family violence is that one person uses abuse and/or violence to control his/her spouse or other family members through fear (Domestic Violence Prevention Centre, 2016). Therefore, victims prefer to stay outside all day in order to avoid being at home which is considered as nightmare. Second, financial difficulty is another major cause for homelessness.
The prevalence of homelessness and housing stress in Sydney puts increasing pressure on their resources and capacity. As the cost of living rises, more individuals and families may face difficulties finding affordable housing, which exacerbates the need for support from NGOs like Oxfam and World Vision. Struggling to meet the growing demand can impact their ability to provide comprehensive assistance and may lead to gaps in service provision. Government funding plays a crucial role in supporting the work of Oxfam and World Vision.
Youth homelessness in Canada is not a new phenomenal, it has become more and more severe over the past 20 years. “One third of homeless individuals on the streets are under the age of 25”(Cino, Rose). It is a significant social justice issue in Canada. Within our community people are increasingly aware of the sight of youth sleeping in parks, asking for money and sitting on sidewalks. Youth homelessness is caused by tragic life occurrences such as abuse, illness or unemployment, while many falsely assume homelessness is a choice.
These factors include, but are not limited to, lack of affordable housing, economic insecurity, behavioral health, etc. Research has found that the main contributing factors for children living in homeless families are the lack of affordable housing, poverty, and domestic violence (Aratani, 2009). Similarly, mental illness, substance abuse, and lack of affordable housing are the top contributing factors of homelessness among unaccompanied youth (Aratani, 2009). In addition to analyzing the factors that can cause homelessness, the article explores the impact that homelessness can have on youth. For example, homelessness can often lead to food insecurity since food supplies can be scarce, which can then have a negative impact on the child/youth’s overall health.
In the United States homelessness has been a substantial problem for decades. The reason for homelessness is greatly debated especially
This says that homeless people must progress through a continuum before they can become secure in their environment. In this experiment residents enter an emergency facility and complete the extensive work available there then they proceed to housing and complete the emotional/educational work required there, and then they move onto permanent housing that provides additional securing services. The process ends with these people becoming fully self-sufficient and being able to afford available housing. This shows how homeless find housing first, with support services offered at different times. This indicates that housing, in and of itself, provides stability.
Homelessness is not a new issue as it has already existed for many years ago and the existence of homeless people is often being ignored. The reasons why they end up sleeping on the streets is largely because of individual factors (Main, 1998), which is contributed by structural factors (Cyndy Baskina, 2007). It is unsure whether homeless people choose to end their lives in this way or are among the victims of situations? Many researchers contribute homelessness to structural factors but advocates of human rights debunk this and highlights that the main reason for homelessness is due to mostly individual
In the article “Rights of the homelessness “ ( www.theage.cim.au ) one homeless woman who lives in Melbourne said “Even though I am homeless, I am still a useful member of society and not some no-hoper; I have many skills to offer.” In some country , they have homeless people who have intelligent mind than any other normal people. However, they become homeless because of societies’ mistakes. In conclusion, we can prevent the problems of homelessness but societies make worse