Society & Culture The Homeless Epidemic

[Cruyff14]

Working in the CBD, I see a lot of homeless people. But it seems to be more prevalent than ever before.

Flagstaff Station exit on William Street has about five regulars that are there every morning. As soon you hit the top of the escalator you're greeted with a stench of the unwashed. It will be horrible in the summer I'd be imagine.

I've seen a new guy this week on my way to work on Queen Street who has a trolley full of stuff and is willing to give out "free kisses and hugs."

I'm not near Flinders Street often, but there was a period there where they had their own shanty town thing going on.

One of the regulars at Flagstaff the other morning had a Samsung and a full pack of cigarettes, baffling.

Is cost of living that high that it's sending more people homeless? Or have they had nothing and not managed to get their life together? Are they drug addicts? Alcoholics?

Should the government be doing more to help these people out? Would they benefit from it, or would they just take advantage of it and waste the opportunity?

Is it as bad in other cities as Melbourne?

 

[edgie]

It's worse.

In Broken Hill, around the time of the Sydney Olympics, when they cleaned the joint up, where do you think the NSW government relocated all their homeless? As far away as possible. Here.

 

[Bomberboyokay]

Should the government be doing more to help these people out?

Yes.

 

[edgie]

How can the governments do more?

I mean, there's taking over and re-purposing abandoned industrial buildings to provide shelters, and the like, but for the most part, cost of living is high because companies and individuals want too much money for things. People sell their houses for stupid amounts and stupid people pay it cause Australian's earn too much money. Everyone here earns a lot of money. Australian's are also notoriously unable to empathise with people who have less money than them. We're becoming americanised like that.

 

[ioppolo]

In response to the OP, a bit of column A, a bit of column B. Some people have just hit the bottom of the turd barrel, others threw it away at drugs and alcohol.

 

[M Malice]

Purely anecdotal but the vast majority of the homeless would be suffering from some form of addiction, be victims of current or historical abuse or have psychological problems or a combination of said problems, one can generally lead to another and so on.

IMO a small minority would be purely economic homeless.

 

[Dav]

I find it unsettling how little governments and society do. Homeless people are seen as the problem rather than homelessness. It's especially bad up here in Darwin where you have to deal with the stigma against homeless people on top of the lowkey racism.

 

[Bomberboyokay]

Homelessness: Australia’s shameful story of policy complacency and failure continues

A decade after the launch of a national campaign against homelessness, the trends are all going the wrong way. A new annual report highlights what’s gone wrong and what must be done.

theconversation.com

 

[woota]

Is cost of living that high that it's sending more people homeless? Or have they had nothing and not managed to get their life together? Are they drug addicts? Alcoholics?

Should the government be doing more to help these people out? Would they benefit from it, or would they just take advantage of it and waste the opportunity?

Is it as bad in other cities as Melbourne?

It's a confluence of factors usually stemming from mental illness and/or substance abuse. In the case of the very young homeless, (ie teenagers) it's sometimes caused by abusive homes that they're trying to escape from.

There are other people who are temporarily homeless, who are on the street because they've reached rock bottom in terms of losing their job/having no means to afford accomodation etc. These people can be a homeless from a few weeks up to a few months, or even a few years.

I haven't been to melbourne so I can't answer that one, but here in perth the homeless get looked after reasonably well (there's food vans and all of that).

 

[mr bagcroft]

I used to think it was bad here..
Then I went to San Francisco and L.A

 

[Shupe]

Boy oh boy, wowee. Where do I start?

I've been in the Homelessness sector for the past 6 years. Not in Melbourne, but I'm sure the issues are all much the same.

I don't think I've met too many people over the years who haven't experienced some sort of trauma, which has directly (or indirectly) led to their homelessness. If they are one of the 'lucky' ones who haven't, and instead it's a purely economical reason (let's be honest, most are only a couple of paychecks away from not paying rent etc), then they sure as hell experience trauma once on the streets.

To me, it's a systemic issue. The whole system is broken.

• There has been no new funding for years, despite the issue becoming worse. Government has been taking money away.
• There is no accountability for services. Contract managers are a joke and I'm certain my reports don't get read.
• Those who are sleeping rough are often seen as 'too hard'.
• Mental health/AOD use. These two need to work in collaboration. However these days MH workers say it's because they're on meth, AOD workers say they're using as a coping mechanism due to prior MH indicators, trauma etc.
• Due to contracts/funding etc, services filter who they support. They take the easy ones, the 'quick wins' because they get stats and report on it. Everyone can see what a fantastic job they are doing. Well done. Sigh.
• Contracts also dictate how many people you work with, for how long etc. This does not work (see above point). Those who have significant issues fall through the cracks, as they often need years of support.

I could go on and on and on and on. I think education is important and to break the stigma surrounding homelessness. I'm happy to contribute to that conversation. It's also important to recognise that sure, there are some bad eggs out there. They're the ones that are often reported on. You also can't force people into accommodation, people have to be ready to accept help/change. Some aren't at that stage yet, and that is OK. It's about being ready to act and having the resources for when they do come asking.

There's also a whole cultural element that gets ignored as well. Our public housing system does not work for our indigenous population. It's a mess.

 

[Dancing Potato]

I've worked in the Melbourne CBD for 9 years now. When I first started out I would see the occasional homeless person on my way to and from work. These days I pass at least half a dozen each day, sometimes more. It's absolutely been slowly getting worse for a long period of time.

Addressing the issue is in the interest of everyone - economically, morally, for the benefit of our health and welfare systems and even just for amenity and tourism.

There are so many contributing factors and several systems need a complete overhaul. Mental health for one. Drug laws and support for another.

Providing additional shelter and services is good but it's treatment of symptoms. Governments need to address the root causes.

I'm glad that the Royal Comission into Mental Health is occurring in Victoria. That's a start.

 

[Andre]

• Mental health/AOD use. These two need to work in collaboration. However these days MH workers say it's because they're on meth, AOD workers say they're using as a coping mechanism due to prior MH indicators, trauma etc.

This one shits me no end. It's not just homeless people where this occurs. My late brother had mental health issues and alcohol issues. Those addressing alcohol were 'we don't deal with MH', those with MH, get off the booze. Buck passing all round, until the almost inevitable 'death by misadventure'. I'm centre-Right, so I don't support money pissed down the drain, but spending the money for a combined response for those in these situations (homeless or otherwise), sure costs a lot now, but (just being a cold hearted economic issue only bastard) you've got a reasonable chance of turning at least some into future taxpayers. Or at least reducing the amount of money on those who'll deal with them (social, police and/or prison) for the decades to come.

Perhaps the arguments need to be reframed along these lines to get it through to people who don't give a s**t about them as people, that money spent on addressing the issue, is actually going to be good for them (taxpayers) in the long run, not a burden. The current piecemeal treatment is just worse for everyone.

 

[Power Raid]

It's a huge problem.

We turf our unemployed and especially those with mental health issues, out of our communities. Well give them a few hundred bucks a week on the dole and shun them out of society with no way of engaging or participating.

I know people don't like the concept of working for the dole.............but look beyond the blinker of "cheap labour" for a moment. This is easily dealt with, through a variety of mechanisms.

EVERY individual has the right to participate in society, even if they are worth $1 an hour, $1 a day or even if their contribution is negative from a financial sense. Humans need other humans, especially those falling through the cracks in our social welfare, health and criminal justice system.

We need to rethink how our system works for those not cut out for modern life.

 

[Smoooothy]

I used to think it was bad here..
Then I went to San Francisco and L.A

exactly what I was thinking

under every bridge, on most freeway exits, most street corners

 

[Scotland]

We spend upwards of $7,500 per person per year on welfare expenditure and have a homelessness problem. What a sad state of affairs.

 

[Shupe]

I'm centre-Right, so I don't support money pi**ed down the drain, but spending the money for a combined response for those in these situations (homeless or otherwise), sure costs a lot now, but (just being a cold hearted economic issue only bastard) you've got a reasonable chance of turning at least some into future taxpayers. Or at least reducing the amount of money on those who'll deal with them (social, police and/or prison) for the decades to come.

Firstly, sorry to hear about your brother. It certainly would've been a tough and frustrating circumstance for you, not to mention your brother.

Secondly, I think you touched on an important point here. Sinking some money into services is a hell of a lot cheaper than the cost these people have in our hospital, justice, corrections systems.

 

[Andre]

Firstly, sorry to hear about your brother. It certainly would've been a tough and frustrating circumstance for you, not to mention your brother.

Thanks, it was 10 years this month, but I doubt the buck passing has reduced at all in the interim period.

Secondly, I think you touched on an important point here. Sinking some money into services is a hell of a lot cheaper than the cost these people have in our hospital, justice, corrections systems.

That's it. This is an issue, that if people stop to think through fully is something everyone on the political spectrum should be able to get behind, even if for wildly different reasons.

 

[burge13]

We spend upwards of $7,500 per person per year on welfare expenditure and have a homelessness problem. What a sad state of affairs.

Is that really the figure. $7500 per person on welfare?! Where the hell does all the money go?

 

[Gough]

Properly fund mental health and start approaching drug use as an addiction that needs to be treated rather than a crime. I wouldn't like to have either a mental health problem or be seeking help for addiction issues and be beholden to the public system. I'm not going to listen to a politician of any persuasion talk about the scourge of ice without also talking about drastically increasing funding for public rehab places and not just using the judicial system as a dumping ground for addicts.

 

[Scotland]

Is that really the figure. $7500 per person on welfare?! Where the hell does all the money go?

Well the budget amount is $192b and the population is 25m so that's a rough average figure.

It goes on aged pensions, Newstart, NDIS etc. We hand out money to those who don't need it over those who do.

 

[edgie]

I dunno, I know that substance abuse and mental health are huge factors, but lots and lots of people are afflicted by those who aren't homeless. There's more to it. I honestly believe we are overlooking the economic despair side of things.

 

[burge13]

Well the budget amount is $192b and the population is 25m so that's a rough average figure.

It goes on aged pensions, Newstart, NDIS etc. We hand out money to those who don't need it over those who do.

Mental it's that much. People want to raise Newstart too; love to know where the money will come from...

Every trust housing complex built anywhere near me gets trashed within months to the point they're unusable. I haven't a clue what the fix is but simply throwing money at a problem rarely fixes them.

 

[kickazz]

I dunno, I know that substance abuse and mental health are huge factors, but lots and lots of people are afflicted by those who aren't homeless. There's more to it. I honestly believe we are overlooking the economic despair side of things.

Yeah I think the flow on effect of rediculously high property prices is a factor.

A nice house in a nice area becomes out of reach for someone with a million dollars.

So the nice house in the average area now is marketed to that person with a million. The folks with 800k that could previously afford it now have to look elsewhere.

And so it goes, similarly with rent. I know a friend who was struggling a bit and still had to pay a significant amount of their income on renting a smelly 1 bedroom unit in a crap suburb in regional Victoria.

Then you have places like the Half Moon caravan Park in Brooklyn, Melbourne (one of those permanent / semi permanent resident setups) get knocked down because there is more money to be made putting units or something else there.

As we get collectively wealthier, prices go up and those at the bottom struggle more. The system we have of rent, bills etc is designed to keep poor people poor.

Perhaps we need more lower paying jobs (even a lower minimum wage?) but we also need much more affordable / public housing to go with it. That way people can still feel connected, can still contribute (even if the market values their contribution low in dollar terms) and still have some ******* dignity.

 

[Scotland]

Mental it's that much. People want to raise Newstart too; love to know where the money will come from...

Every trust housing complex built anywhere near me gets trashed within months to the point they're unusable. I haven't a clue what the fix is but simply throwing money at a problem rarely fixes them.

The age pension is $50b of it. Obviously not something we should scrap but I look at people my parents age that are eligible for part pensions and it's a rort. Family tax benefits and childcare assistance eat up another $25b. I'm not really across the NDIS roll out but that has introduced around $20b in new expenditure and disability support pensions have been unaffected. Newstart is a relatively small piece of the pie.