Dealing with Homelessness in Australia Essay examples

The most comprehensive government intervention dealing with homelessness and mental illness was first witnessed in 1990 when the Homeless Mentally Ill Initiative was launched by the UK Department of Health. This initiative was meant to identify and offer health services to the homeless mentally ill persons that were not under statutory health services. Specialist hostels were also funded so as to provide high level care for these persons. The Housing Corporation was also required to provide move on housing to these persons. The team that was appointed to undertake these tasks had agreed that home provision as well as mental health service provision were needed if the government was serious about dealing with homeless persons with mental health problems. This

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.

Homelessness is a growing epidemic across the country. This terrible misfortune has led to many unsuspecting people leading impoverished lifestyles, and facing the horrific and heart-wrenching tragedy of abandonment. The purpose of this essay is to not only persuade the readers to get involved in ending homelessness on local and national efforts, but to embrace new and creative ways of helping to end this rapidly growing problem, by taking action to end this catastrophic situation. Also, I will demonstrate the causes and effects of the homeless resorting to violence, by using comparison and contrast to examine the views and standpoints on helping the forgotten, so that we might end this calamity once and for all. In an increasingly

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.

Homelessness is a serious problem in our society. Every night in our nation thousands of people are on the streets. This type of behavior is considered deviant because it does not reflect the norms and values of our society. In many cases the homeless people in our country are treated as total outcasts. Many of these people have severe mental disorders. Some are victims of an economy that has failed them. One may ask how such harsh situations exist in such an advanced society. With all the money and programs created to help people it seems ridiculous that this behavior exists. In a society where people have so much how is it possible that there are still people that have so little. The homeless are humans, no different than anyone else.

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.

Research has shown that those who first experience homelessness at a young age are more likely to experience persistent homelessness in adulthood. Homelessness has large costs to the Australian community in terms of health, justice and community services and this cost increases the longer the person has been homelessness. Young people who experience homelessness are more likely to disengage with education and employment ans to be exposed to factors which are detrimental to their health such as drug use, inadequate nutrition, limited access to medical care and school, unsafe sexual encounters and violence. Even though our nation is experiencing its highest level of economic success since the 1970s and the lowest unemployment rates for several decades youth homelessness in Australia has more than

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) releases yearly data on people receiving assistance, and turned away, from homelessness services. The number of people getting help, and being turned away, has increased over the past three

Imagine for a moment, that you don’t have a home and bed to go to. Instead, your sleeping without the reassurance of safety. Not knowing when your next meal and shower might be. This is what life is like for 105,000 homeless Australians every day. (Australian Government, 2017)

“Homelessness is about people rather than merely shelter and is often exacerbated by a number of other issues including poor physical and emotional health, disability, drug and alcohol issues, and financial problems.” When you see people sleeping and begging on the streets, you think that’s all there is but in fact they only make up 5% of all the homeless people in Australia. Homelessness has become an increasing problem throughout Australia. I contend that the City of Melbourne’s response to homelessness should be enforced into the rest of the country as it is thoroughly thought through and brought results to the place of Melbourne. I will argue this through explaining the approach from the City of Melbourne, the factors leading to homelessness, the diversity of this and share a life story with you all about a woman named Deb.

Homelessness is a prevalent and progressive issue within Australia that is particularly susceptible to women and children. The homeless are a hidden minority of people with limited access to government and agency resources. The experiences of homelessness often results in the loss of basic determinants of health such as a substantial home, food or education. The National Health Care facility defines homelessness as more than just ‘sleeping rough’. Contrary to popular belief, homelessness can happen to anymore or more so “an individual who lacks housing including an individual whose primary residence during the night is a supervised public or private facility” (2012,HomelessnessAustralia). There are currently 105, 237 homeless people in Australia (2012, Homelessness Australia) and thus it is imperative for the government to adhere to the needs of the homeless by breaking the cycle of unsubstantial living conditions. Being homeless is a violation of basic human rights such as the right to education, the right to liberty and security of a person and the right to freedom from discrimination (WordPress, 2016). Many of those who are sleeping rough suffer from feeling disengaged from the community and subsequently loose the will to reengage themselves and move forward. A primary solution to preventing homelessness is to create a non-discriminative, supportive environment for their current population (WHO, 2016). This may be achieved through the use of case

Homelessness has always been a major social issue for cities across the nation but in recent years it is reached astonishing proportions. In this essay I will try to summarize ten recently published articles and each of the authors view of homelessness. First I will discuss some of their opinions of the causes of the recent increase of homelessness and who or what is to blame. Next we will look into just a few of the effects of homelessness, both to the homeless and those around them. After that we will explore possible solutions that have been tried or proposed.

Throughout the United States, homelessness and poverty have become an overwhelming issue. From people losing their jobs to others having to give up their homes, nearly 14.5 percent of Americans experience some type of poverty. This could look like a small percentage to some but in reality, it's more than 45 million people. While this number may be decreasing, the stereotype of those who are in poverty still remains. It is often thought that those in poverty are non-educated addicts and are generally criminal people. This, however, fails to be proven true. In my personal experiences, it was believed that the homeless and impoverished were of a lower social level and it was easy to assume the poor were in their walk of life for more reasons than simply not having money. Drugs, crime, and poverty all seemed to have the same definition.

     Homelessness as an issue in today's society is largely ignored. To many, the problem of homelessness is invisible or barely noticed. When these people do see the homeless it is found in the form of beggars who need to “pull themselves up by their bootstraps” or mentally ill people who “just can't help themselves”. In either case the central point remains; the homeless must be people who are incapable or unwilling to help themselves. After all, wouldn't they stop being homeless if they just tried? These sorts of rationalizations cover a more disturbing truth; that for many in today's society, the spectre of homelessness is more pressing of a problem than helping those who are already on the