Homeless

Each night in Australia 105,000 people are homeless, including 7,500 families. Each June leading Australian CEOs and business leaders sleep rough for one night in support of the Vinnies CEO Sleepout.

Contrary to common perceptions about homelessness, 44 per cent of homeless people are women, many of these accompanied by children. It is a shocking fact that more than 12,000 Australian children under the age of 12 are experiencing some form of homelessness. A further 22,000 young people aged 12 to 18 are homeless, most of them estranged from their families. That’s more than 34,000 kids without a place they can call home.

Speaking at the recent launch of the Vinnies CEO Sleepout 2012, Dr John Falzon, St Vincent de Paul Society CEO, National Council said: “Children who are homeless are more likely to become homeless later in life and raise families who, in turn, also become homeless. You can guess why we haven’t solved the problem.”

Continue reading "I once was lost but now I’m found, thanks to Vinnies" »

Welcome to this week’s I Call Bullshit, a regular column where we take a look at codswallop and propaganda, logical failures and brain farts. The big news today is the Government’s plan to pay families to look after asylum seekers.

Last year, to ease pressure on detention centres, the Government started releasing more people into the community on bridging visas – but there’s still not enough room.

So now they’re going to use the Australian Homestay Network - a network of households who have already signed up to look after international students. The Government will cover the costs of room and board – about $140 per asylum seeker per week.

Continue reading "ICB: House the homeless before asylum seekers?" »

This is an edited extract of a moving and deeply personal speech a man called Ian gave at the launch of the St Vincent de Paul Society’s CEO Sleepout. The actual event is tonight. Visit the website if you want to help out.

You’ve never met me, you don’t know me.  My name is Ian and I was an addict for 15 years. I started when I was 15 when a dealer dropped a packet of heroin in front of me and my mate. Three days later we were injecting. The dealer looked after us.  He gave us a job which was to carry his little wraps of tinfoil for him - it was my first job.

He and his dealer mates were my role models at the time. My dad was alcoholic and had left early on and my mum struggled to raise me and my three sisters. All but one sister became drug addicts too. 

Continue reading "I was a homeless drug addict. Then I hit rock bottom." »