<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jun/12/decades-of-neglect-calls-for-social-housing-quota-on-new-victorian-developments-as-homelessness-rises>
"Every new property development in Victoria should include a mandatory quota of
social housing, according to advocates for homeless people who have released
new analysis showing spikes in homelessness across the regions and outer
Melbourne.
The report by the Council to Homeless Persons compared data from the 2021
census with the previous survey in 2016. It found the electorate of South
Barwon, which takes in parts of greater Geelong, had the biggest rise in people
experiencing homelessness in that period – a jump of 465%.
South Barwon has also seen a tenfold increase in people living in boarding
houses since 2016. The rise is not only due to an increase in the number of
homeless people, but also more accurate data collection that properly counts
people in a broader range of situations, particularly those living in rooming
and boarding houses.
The electorate of Melton, on Melbourne’s western fringe, also had a large
increase over the five years to 2021, with the total number of homeless people
rising by 134%.
The rate of homelessness in Victoria increased by five points over that period,
from 42 to 47 people per 10,000. There were 122,494 people estimated to be
homeless around Australia on census night in 2021.
The report comes days after
Guardian Australia revealed new data that shows
where people were living immediately prior to seeking housing support, with
local government areas on the outer ring of Melbourne, including Brimbank,
Casey and Wyndham, emerging as hotspots for people falling into homelessness.
Deborah Di Natale, the chief executive of the Council to Homeless Persons, said
the Victorian government’s recent commitments to building social housing were
welcome, “but that is not enough in terms of the decades of neglect we’ve had
here in homelessness”.
“What we need is a long-term plan,” she said."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
