Social Problems Within The Australian Society

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.

“One diverse population that has continued to increase over the quarter of a century is composed of people who are homeless” (Baggerly & Zalaquett, 2006, p.155). Homelessness has become a growing problem in society because more and more people are finding themselves to be homeless and not knowing where to turn. Many people do not

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

Other factors can be domestic violence. Many women have to choose between abusive relationships or homelessness, and nearly 25% of single homeless women said they became homeless because of an abusive relationship in their previous place of residence.(1) Health care afford ability is a minor reason for homelessness, but a reason none-the-less. More than half of people living in poverty or homelessness had no health care of any kind.(1) The reason for homelessness is an easy question to answer, how many homeless there are in the United States is a harder one.

Homelessness has become an evolving epidemic of our time, and the health implications associated with being homeless makes it that much worse. Homeless people are at major risk for premature death and a wide range of health problems such as HIV, skin blemishes, and much more. It is very difficult for homeless people to fix their health issues due to the difficulty of accessing health care possibly because of missing health cards, or simply because of the stigma placed on them when they enter a public facility. Whatever the problem may be that is forcing more people to become homeless, it must be solved, and quickly before our world turns into a travesty.

Homelessness is often accompanied by many other problems such as mental disorders, substance abuse issues, isolation from family and friends, and poor general health. Often time’s people that suffer from homelessness experience a lower quality of life than those who have a place to call home.

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.

Seeing homelessness develop is a process that the older generation can say they have been apart of. The young generation, on the other hand, cannot say they have seen the development of homelessness. People who are thirty years old or younger have grown up believing that homelessness was always part of the landscape. The younger generation has come to believe that there have always been homeless people sitting on park benches. When an individual is asked what they see most in a large city like Chicago or New York, ‘homeless people’ is a common response. According to the United States Census Bureau, 320.8 million individuals currently live in the United States of America. Imagine the proportion of individuals that do not own a car or even a house to live in. The National Law Center on Homelessness and poverty did studied to conclude that in America more than 3.5 million people experience homelessness each year. Those concerned with the issue of homelessness are curious as to what events had to have happened that lead to the individuals living on the streets. The reasons are different for each and every person. Some of the more major issues that contribute to this are lack of affordable housing, declining welfare assistance, and most importantly, mental illness. Resolving the issue of homelessness is very possible with new ways of housing and treatment for the mentally ill. The relation between the homeless and the mental illness has risen, and the United States as a whole

Structural factors of homelessness affect people due to circumstances and out of the control of the individual while individual factors are individual apply to the surroundings of a homeless person. Structural factors such as the availability of low-income housing and higher rental of housing exacerbate on the already burdening individual factors. 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 factors, which are health problems, poverty, and family breakdown also the domestic violence of women and child. Addressing the driving causes is the most significant strategy to minimize the homelessness population. Future research must put more attention on individual causes without denying the reality of structural causes (Main, 1998). Based on my research, individual factors are the main cause while the structural factors put more pressure on burdening individual factors that lead to

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.

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

The Problems and causes of homelessness are closely intertwined, with many of the problems of homelessness also sharing common source with the causes of homelessness. Narrative comments are included. There are three central themes that are highlighted in the cases. Mental health plays a large role in the cause and problem of homelessness as displayed by Stephanie’s experience as “her parents asked her to leave home. Stephanie had suffered from anxieties and bipolar”. Abusive relationships are also experienced frequently amongst the participants illustrated by Lauren and her children as it is noted “her husband was manipulative and abusive to her and the children”. Exposure to drugs is another theme of homelessness demonstrated by Elle’s

This report is concerned with the connection between homelessness its historical framework and the governance of the pervasive ‘victim blaming’ ideologies and the social issues it brings to society. Structural issues create different risk levels among certain populations. (Heinz, 2005, p. 61) The homeless have been regarded historically as objects of empathy and disparagement in the media, political, and the economic domains. (Farrugia, 2011a) These sentiments are tied to how homeless people view ideologies of productivity, personhood, and stability within the culture of Australia. (Heinz, 2005, p. 61) This study inspects how these ideologies are associated with the relationship amongst the capitalist economy, and homeless

Many reasons for worsening situation of homelessness in the country have been reported but none has gathered as much support as poverty. Poverty alone accounts for major increase in homeless households while other possible reasons include loss of job, eroding job opportunities, lack of public assistance and lack of affordable housing facilities. Despite these being powerful reasons, they are all linked to one major reason i.e. poverty.