Advantages And Disadvantages Of Homelessness In Australia

33.7% of people who are homless will stay homeless for more than a year. This means that a large majority of vulnerable individuals such individuals living in poverty will stay living in a shelter or on the steets for more than a year until they are able to get back on their feet.Having a home is something many of us take for granted and until we face the the reality of seeing more individuals living under briges and on the corner of our communities. Becoming homeless can happen to anyone. Immigrants are more vulnerable to be be homelessness and stay homelessness than a resident (Thurston, Roy, Clow, Este, Gordey, Haworth-Brockman, & McCoy, 2013). They lack social support, not enough resources available, shortage of

The issue of homelessness in regard to shelter in Australia has been prevalent for an extended period of time in the 21st century. Homelessness is the situation in which individuals are unable to attain a permanent and adequate quality of shelter. Shelter is a human right as stated under article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which specifies “Housing” as part of the standard of living required for an individual to maintain their wellbeing. Australia’s law specifies no legal right to shelter, however as a party of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the Australian government must recognise that all individuals should be entitled to “an adequate standard of living for themself and their family”, where one criteria is “adequate housing” as stated in article 11. It is imperative that in order to fulfil both Australia’s obligation to uphold human rights and maintain social cohesion within society both legal and non-legal responses are effective in dealing with both the causes and effects of homelessness.

Due to the relative nature of culture and language, the definition of homelessness varies across the world. What is a common thread among nearly all definitions is the difficulty in locating and retaining permanent residence and integration into normative society. (Elliott & Krivo, 1991, 114) Some of the stereotypes about the behavior of homeless people are true.

Homelessness is all our responsibility. Waking every morning in a warm bed in a secure house for some Australians is only a dream. Every day more and more people are becoming or are at risk of becoming homeless as the global economy crumbles away and monetary resources become harder to find. What is homelessness: the Australian Government Department of Health (2005) defines homelessness as a person who is without a conventional home. Homeless Australians have become disconnected from family and friend and has few, if any resource and very little prospect of achieving financial independence without Government assistant. This assessment will talk about Australia’s history with homelessness, it will go onto to talk about the Government’s role

stink. We give abuse rather than compassion, beatings rather than sympathy and avoiding eye contacts rather than addressing an issue with more vigorous action. It is clear that change must come from within ourselves but the real question is, Are we willing to

Homelessness is defined as the situation of an individual or family without stable, permanent, appropriate housing, or the immediate prospect, means, and ability of acquiring it. It is the result of systemic or societal barriers, a lack of affordable and appropriate housing, the individual/household’s financial, mental, cognitive, behavioral or physical challenges, and/or racism and discrimination. Most people do not choose to be homeless, and the experience is generally negative, unpleasant, stressful and distressing6. Homelessness is a problem that affects every Canadian town or city, and is one that is dealt with using a variety of different methods.

According to a report issued in 2005 by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, approximately 100 million individuals are homeless globally (Bywaters, Eileen, and Napier 150). This population has no shelter and must sleep in doorways, on sidewalks, under bridges, in incomplete buildings, and in parks. They also resort to places such as public buildings and bus and railway stations. Night shelters are also significant, as they offer a roof over their heads. The issue of homelessness is extremely pervasive and its causes are varied. At the most basic economic level, poverty and unemployment are core factors that spearhead homelessness. This is because the destitute simply lack the capacity to obtain and maintain shelter.

The National Alliance to End Homelessness, a non-profit organization that voices the issue of homelessness, enlightens, “On a single night in January 2014, 578,424 people were experiencing homelessness – meaning they were sleeping outside or in an emergency shelter or transitional housing program” (The State of Homelessness in America 2015). Staggering statistics similar this inspired Matt Lynch to write his article titled ‘The Homeless Lack a Political Voice, But Not American Ideals’ and it also motivated Anna Quindlen to express her emotions in ‘Homeless.’ Both articles posed by Lynch and Quindlen contain comparative flaws, which range from logical fallacies to the utilization of unfair information. Each writing, however, incorporates multiple pieces of significant information relative to the topic at hand, yet Lynch’s work manages to pull ahead with the addition of minor, yet important, details that Quindlen failed to propose.

The Homeless are a vulnerable population. Homelessness is a social issue that anyone can almost be subjected to despite his or her age, race, ethnicity or geographical background. Kornblum (2012) defined homelessness as… “as a social condition in which people do not have regular housing and are forced to sleep in public places, public shelters, or facilities designed for homeless individuals and families” (p.280). The homeless population faces several adversaries in their lifetime of being homeless. Their adversaries are a lack physical and emotional disabilities, and possibly drug abuse. Grant some are homeless by choice, whereas most are homeless by mishaps, but nevertheless, they are humans deserving to be treated with fairness, dignity,

The axis of inequality that will be focused throughout this paper is the social class. Social class is defined as a group of individuals who are categorized according to class (i.e. poor, middle, and upper) due to their income, wealth, power, and occupation. Social class is socially constructed by the way we view how much income and wealth a person possess (Ore, 20011a, 10). In reality it is much more than that. According to the text, poverty is not only the shortage of income, but it is the rejection of opportunities and choices that leads a person to a standard way of living (Ore, 2011a, 10). Stereotyping also contributes to it being socially constructed. These stereotypes influence us by defining who is who based on their principles in each class category. This can cause some to feel worthless.

Homelessness is described as ‘The state of having no home’, however, it is much more than this. A home isn’t a place to sleep, it is where you feel comfortable, a place where you feel safe and protected; And although so many of us have the luxury of having a place we can call home, many don’t, in fact over 0.5% of people are homeless on any given night, while this may not seem much to you, however accounting for Australia’s population, over 255,657 people are homeless on any given night. This number is even more concerning when you discover that people under 18 years of age make up 27% of the homeless population to make matters worse over 17,845 children under 12 years old were counted as homeless. Image if your son or daughter slept every night on a park bench, wondering if they would have any food tomorrow, fearing for their safety; how would that make you feel.

A homeless person is an individual without a permanent, stable housing situation who either spends his or her nights on the streets or in temporary facilities, such as shelters and abandoned buildings. Throughout history, society has been “holding the poor, rape or incest victims, minorities, or the handicapped responsible for their misfortunes” (Zur). Society has been blaming the homeless for being in the position they are in. However, upon closer inspection, it must be noted that “children under the age of 18 accounts for 39% of the homeless population…battered women who live in poverty are often forced to choose between abusive relationships and homelessness…[and] 40% of homeless men have served in the armed forces” (Who Is Homeless?). It is clear that those who are homeless are not

Youth homelessness in Australia has become a massive issue. Every over 105,00 people are homeless, which is shocking to me as I thought it would be becoming less as there should be more help out there. (Homelessness Australia, 2012 ). In 2001, there were a total of 9% homeless. According to the 2011 census, 42% of

This report analysis the number of homelessness by classify in four categories, such as marginally housed, tertiary homelessness, secondary homelessness and primary homelessness (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2006, p. vii). Homelessness can be defined as members of community that are living unconventional accommodation, and facing the accommodation situation is below the minimum community standard (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2006, p. vii). In recent years, the number of persons in different categories of the homeless population was increased. For example, from 2001 to 2006, the number of people sleepers out was increased from 14158 to 16375.

The word “homeless” is used to describe many different kinds of people with a variety of problems; the “homeless” includes veterans, the mentally ill, the physically disabled or chronically ill, the elderly on fixed incomes, men, women, and families that have lost their source of income, single parents, runaway children who’ve been abused, alcoholics and drug addicts, immigrants, and traditional tramps, hobos, and transients (Martin, 1999). In “Helping and Hating the Homeless”, Peter Martin claims that although these people all have different backgrounds, histories, and reasons for not having a “home”, they are categorized and stereotyped by society and all looked down upon for being “homeless”. He addresses his readers, those that pass by