Homelessness In Australia.

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Homelessness

 In

Australia

‘Any person or family that without any direct fault on his or her part does not have suitable housing is the victim of an injustice’ Reported by Pontifical Commission Justice and Peace: The Church and Homelessness, III2.

Twenty years ago homelessness in Australia was mainly confined to ‘ the old derelict wino on a park bench’ however today they have been joined by younger unemployed men, the confused and mentally ill, woman and children fleeing violent domestic situation and young people with no one to care for them. Services to homeless people are being stretched to capacity. The Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) indicated that in 1996-97 almost 147,000 people used homeless services across Australia but that 304,000 requests for support and accommodation were not met. By 1998-99 the number of assisted had risen to an average of 16,500 a day. Mission Australia estimates that this could be only one-fifth of the actual number of people in need.

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        Homelessness is directly related to the rising cost of housing. A recent Saint Vincent de Paul report found that housing costs were a major cause to the creation of disadvantage in Australia. They found that the housing crisis is greatest in capital cities and while housing cost are rising Shelter NSW in 1999 calculated that $231 million had been cut from public housing funding over the past 5 years. As well much of the current public housing is old and rundown and there is a $150 million maintenance backlog.

        More widely, many low-income earners are unable to adapt ...

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