Homelessness essay - Grade: A PDF

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3. Contemporary issues concerning shelter

Issues that must be studied: • affordability • discrimination • homelessness

• identify and investigate these contemporary

• social housing including public housing, cooperative housing and community housing.

issues involving the provision of shelter and evaluate the effectiveness of legal and non legal responses to these issues

Homelessness is a broad term which encompasses a diverse range of people and experiences. While everyone has a different experience of homelessness, at its very core, a clear definition of homelessness is about absence: an absence of a home, a safe place to live, security, choices and control over one's life. Homelessness is therefore a lack of one or more of the elements that represent 'home'. The definition has been constructed from a conceptual framework centred around the following elements: Adequacy of the dwelling; Security of tenure in the dwelling; and. control of, and access to space for social relations.

The Australian law system responded to the issue of Indigenous Australians being targeted with discrimination with the effective introduction of the Anti Discrimination Act 1997 (NSW). Through this legislation, estate agents and landlords are unable to exercise discriminatory actions which prohibits an individual or ethnic group from purchasing and loaning a property. Furthermore this allows Australia to immediately enact and exercise their international obligation as stated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 7 “All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination.”. This ultimately highlights the need for Australian laws to reflect the high demand in distinguishing practices which restricts others in practicing their human rights. Fair Trading Commissioner Rod Stowe has evidently expressed “I think it is about trying to make sure that we educate people that it is against the law to discriminate against others when it comes to supplying goods and services and that people should have equal access in all of these areas.”, which demonstrates the changes the legal system has embarked, in order to sufficiently address the issue of discrimination whilst demanding different forms of shelter.

Homelessness is a broad term which entails an individuals absence of adequate dwelling, security of tenure, and ability to control/access property. In regards to Australian shelter, homelessness is a significant contemporary issue within society, as according the 2011 national census, there are 105,237 people who are homeless in Australia, which is a rate of 49 people to every 10,000. Such figures are extremely alarming, as they have not decreased since 1996, despite Australia’s growing economic prosperity. Additionally, the growing presence of homelessness in Australia, is a reflection of Australia’s failure to fulfill international obligations, as signatory to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), both of which state that adequate housing is an individual right. Thus, despite the numerous legal and non legal responses to homelessness, they are ineffective in reducing and reversing the reality and negative impacts of homelessness in Australia, especially considering their lack of protection for individual rights and their inability to meet society’s needs. In regards to legal responses to the issue of homelessness, the Coalition invested $230 million over two years to extend the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness (NPAH), which is effective as it will financially support non-legal initiatives and organisations, such as the Speciailist Homelessness Service (SHS) collection, to combat the issue of homelessness across Australia. The SHS collection, is an effective non-legal response to homelessness, which was introduced in 2011, which utilises funding from Australian governments to deliver specifc services to targeted groups, such as the youth and people escaping domestic violence, whilst also providing general services to people facing housing crises, thus proactively diminishing the prevalence of homelessness, by supporting people who are homeless, as well as those who are at imminent risk of becoming so. Therefore the SHS is effective considering its resource efficiency, whilst it also gains public awareness, through various campaigning initiatives, as well as applying pressure on various Australian governments to more firmly and effectively deal with homelessness, through their constant interaction with governments party’s and government personnel. Moreso, according to a report released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), concerning the SHS in 2015, the collection provided “6.6 million nights of accommodation to the homeless”, thus reflecting their effectiveness in proactively protecting individual rights, as well as meeting the needs of society, by supporting large proportions of the nation. However, despite this further government funding is required, as according to an article published by ABC, ‘Thousands of Australians still turned away from homeless services”, published in 2015, “an average of 329 people a day still get turned away”, thus increased funding will assist specialist agencies in dealing with the increased demands for homeless services.

Additionally, as a legal response to homelessness, on the 11th of June 2016, the Liberal party stated that they have “committed $1.6 billion over five years under a National Partnership Agreement Assistance Services with States and Territories”. Which is effective, as such an agreement in meeting society’s needs by strengthening national unity and partnership, in order to proactively reduce the prevalence and impacts of homelessness in Australia. Furthermore, in 2008 the Federal Government released the ‘Road Home Report’, which was a national plan to deal with homelessness, and committed $1.1 billion dollars to the plan. The report had three strategies which included “turning off the tap” (which involved early intervention to prevent homelessness, which incorporated a policy ‘no exits into homelessness’, where by individuals from prison, hospital and mental health services, were provided with accommodation, thus protecting their individual rights), improving services (so homeless people would spend less time in emergency housing and focus on long-term housing), and breaking the cycle (which involved an increase in the availability of affordable housing to end homelessness). Whilst this national plan in theory protects individual rights and meet society’s needs, it is overall ineffective considering that by 2020 homelessness won’t be abolished in Australia, as despite continued financial commitment from the government, prior to extending the plan in 2012, it was not re-evaluated, hence the objectives are not effectively targeted, and hence are unable to guarantee effective outcomes in the future of homelessness in Australia. According to Homelessness Australia, which is a national body providing advocacy for the homeless sector, 23% of homelessness is caused by housing crisis and inadequate/inappropriate dwellings, which refers to the lack of availability of public housing. Hence, proving that despite the government's ambitious commitment and funding to numerous initiatives, it is inadequate in improving the accessibility of public housing, and therefore is ineffective in combating the increasing rates of homelessness within Australia. Despite the ‘Road Home Report’, youth homelessness is a prevailing issue across Australia, specifically in NSW which has the highest percentage of homeless young people aged between 12-18, than any other state. Such highlights Australia’s insufficient protection of individual rights, considering their failure to uphold their international obligations to the Convention of the Rights of a Child (CRC), to which the nation is a signatory, which explicitly states that when children are left disadvantaged, “state parties shall implement material assistance, to ensure nutrition, clothing and housing”. Additionally, the extensity of youth homelessness in Australia, also violates article 27 of CRC, which states “the right of every child to a standard of living adequate for their holistic development”. Furthermore, according to the Youth Homelessness report (2012), published by the the Australian Human Rights Commission “trends and census data hghlight the lack of properly resourced and coordinated support services for homeless young people”. Moreso, due to limited resource efficiency and the government's delayed response to homelessness, overcrowding is a significant and detrimental aspect of homelessness. People living in severe overcrowding are considering to be homeless because they do not have control of, or adequate access, to space for social relations. Inhabitants in overcrowded dwellings are usually unable to pursue social relations, have personal living space, maintain privacy, or have appropraite access to necessary facilities, therefore overcrowding encrouches on individual rights and freedoms. Unfortunately, social housing and housing commission are often overcrowed, thus further jeopardising the health and safety

of the occupants. According to an article entitled ‘Overcrowding on the rise as more crammed into homes’, published by SMH in 2016, “the number of people living in severly crowded housing has jumped a massive 31% since the Howard government, despite ambitious government initiatives”, which was further reflected in the 2011 census considering that “21,000 people were living 12 or more people to a house”, which is a gross infringement on individual rights according to article 25 of the UDHR which states that “everone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and wellbeing of himself and of his family”. In conjuction, despite the attempts of legal and non-legal responses and measures to reduce the issue of homelessness, the current procedures and resources are ineffective in dealing with the issue, and allowing the impacts and prevalence of homeless to become widespread, considering issues of overcrowding, youth homlessness, increased domestic violence issues and prevailing homelessness amongst the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) commmunity. Therefore, to combat the issue of homelessness, especially in NSW, which according to the ABS has the highest population of homeless people in the country, it would be advantageous to increase resource efficiency and accessibility to mechanisms, such as public housing, so to better protect individual rights and freedoms and meet the needs of society, whilst substantially defeating/abolishing the presence homelessness in Australia.

Link back to how the just sign back on without re-evaluating

Resource efficiency is a leading cause of homelessness

Speci Housing crisis 13% Inadequate or inappropraite dwellings Thus highlighting that resource efficiency is a signficant cause of homelessness The lack of resource efficiency regarding shelter, is

Homelessness Australia (HA) is the national peak body for homelessness in Australia. We provide systemic advocacy for the homelessness sector.

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Shortage of affordable and available rental

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Long-term unemployment

accommodation

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Severe and persistent mental illness

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Domestic and Family Violence

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Exiting state care (if you are not eligible for social

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Intergenerational Poverty

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Financial Crisis

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Reduced housing commission

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Exiting prison

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Severe overcrowding/ Affordability crisis

housing)

Article25.UDHR  (1)Everyonehastherighttoastandardoflivingadequateforthehealthandwell-beingofhimselfand ofhisfamily,includingfood,clothing,housingandmedicalcareandnecessarysocialservices,and therighttosecurityintheeventofunemployment,sickness,disability,widowhood,oldageorother lackoflivelihoodincircumstancesbeyondhiscontrol.

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) Article 11 States: ‘the States Parties to the present Covenant recognise the right of everyone to an adequate standard of living for himself and his family, including...housing”. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) Article 14(2)(h) ‘enjoy adequate living conditions, particularly in relation to housing, sanitation, electricity..”.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 25- ‘Everyone  has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and wellbeing of himself and his family, including food, clothing and housing’. Convention on the Rights of the Child Article  27: ‘recognise  the right for every child to a standard of living adequate for the child’s physical, mental, spiritual moral and social development’....