Australia's homeless hidden in plain sight | ABC News

the underbelly of a Sydney freeway has been Lee Anthony's home for most of this year you're on your own it's exposed it's unsafe he's one of the new hidden homeless well-educated a former I.T professional who can no longer work due to failing mental health it's not supposed to happen you're not supposed to fall so low I try to be real with myself and go you failed it's like you you fumbled the ball you had you had chances you had opportunities as much as everyone else a roll of the dice on life also LED former nurse Jasmine Taylor to the streets in the sugarcane city of Bundaberg I'm on leave at the moment but it's unpaidly she's on the social housing waiting list as are these pensioners who live in a park nearby I was very uh out of it I was very um dubious to the homeless I used to um time to get off the behind and go and get a job and it might be homeless but when I get put a homeless I open my eyes up I've actually seen a lot of people that really got put homeless they shouldn't be homeless in Melbourne former academic James camps in green spaces around the city his relationship broke down during covert and he struggled to find anywhere to live when the lockdowns lifted people got kicked out of their homes I was among those people and it was simply not enough houses out there to rest we couldn't bounce back the 34 year old says many of the streeties he meets are just like him reminded every ten homeless people I've personally interacted with have come from the same situation they are where they are because of relationship breakdown they were like the average Aussie on the Gold Coast not far away from units with million-dollar ocean views there's another story of Despair here hidden on the side of the road is Katie Blackman's makeshift Bush Camp I try not to allow it to get to me um but I have my moments the 49 year old is one of the fastest growing group of homeless people older women her future is Bleak I wish the Fairy Godmother would wave its wand at me um but yeah the situation on the ground is the most serious that I have seen the level of financial deprivation the acute and chronic mental anguish and distress because people simply cannot now make ends meet I'm here in Brisbane where many tent cities like this one keep popping up it's kind of a snapshot of what we're seeing right around the country now Advocates say it's really hard to get an accurate picture of the numbers because the situation is so fluid but the last census did find that one in 200 people were of no fixed address on that night in 2021 but of course that was well before the cost of living crisis started to bite the government's housing Accord is promising 30 000 social and affordable homes over the next five years Advocates say we need 10 times that and we need them now we are here today in 2023 with this situation because of bad policy decisions and failures over the last 30 years after four months on those Sydney streets Lee finally has somewhere safe to live ah it's my lucky day he's been handed the keys to a one-bedroom public flat starting to mentally identify that hey this is my little place now I've actually got a place for myself now wow to me it's literally like winning the lottery big change so wonderful to happen I wish it would happen for everyone is is the challenge to all the homeless people need need such a change there's no furniture just his old blow up mattress but it's a start Lexi Hamilton Smith ABC News

Channel: ABC News (Australia)

Views: 183,386

Keywords: Australia, abc, abc news, news, homeless, homeless australia, homeless people, homelessness in australia, cost of living crisis, cost of living australia, sleeping rough, no fixed address, australian news

Id: 0x7adDuDrdc

Length: 4min 33sec (273 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 03 2023