Fears of funding cuts amid rising rates of homelessness in the Illawarra have prompted a national community service organisation to embark on an ambitious plan.
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Mission Australia chief executive Catherine Yeomans was in Wollongong on Thursday, meeting with staff to discuss the region’s concerns and garner support for the organisation’s campaign to halve homelessness by 2025.
According to the latest data – collected as part of the 2011 Census – 971 men, women and children go without a permanent place to call home on any given night across the Illawarra.
The figure includes 521 people in Wollongong alone.
“Sometimes it can look like rough sleeping, but that’s not the only face of homelessness,” Ms Yeomans said.
“It’s people in crisis accommodation, people sleeping in their cars [and] couch-surfing.”
Ms Yeomans said homelessness didn’t discriminate and could happen to those who least expected it.
“Many of us are only one or two major life events away from homelessness – a loss of a job, a family breakdown, perhaps a health issue,” she said. “Quickly things can spiral out of control and we can find ourselves at risk or experiencing homelessness.”
Homelessness is increasing across the country and Mission Australia has called for a continued injection of government funding to help turn that trend around.
Of particular concern, Ms Yeomans said, was the lack of a federal government commitment to homelessness funding beyond the current end date of June 30, 2017.
The funding is offered by the Commonwealth and matched by the states.
Ms Yeomans said a commitment by the year’s end would provide certainty to users of the homelessness services, as well as staff.
“It’s already a crisis situation. We actually have a housing affordability crisis right across the country and that is playing into the homelessness issue that we’re facing,” she said.
“Some of this funding supported women who are fleeing family and domestic violence with children, it supported young people who are facing homelessness, helping them get the right start in life. “Without those supports in place, we can only expect to see homelessness continue to increase.”
Despite conceding halving homelessness by 2025 was an ambitious plan, Ms Yeomans said it was achievable.
“We’ve got to challenge ourselves otherwise we’re not going to focus the time, attention and resources [needed] in order to address this issue,” she said.
The National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness will be discussed at a meeting of state and federal ministers on Friday.