Michael Reardon has spent the past year living in his caravan after running out of other housing options.
Key points:
- Tasmania’s social housing waiting list has more than doubled in eight years
- Service providers report that they cannot meet even half of the support request
- New census data will provide more accurate figures on how many Tasmanians sleep poorly
The 55-year-old said it was a situation that made him feel depressed.
“It’s embarrassing, it’s degrading, and at the moment it’s not very warm,” Reardon said.
“There’s a stigma around homeless people: they’re all substance abuse people and so on, I don’t do any of that and I’m homeless.”
Mr Reardon said it was an “icy cold” walk to a toilet or shower from where his caravan was parked.
“There are a lot of people in this place here who have to walk 50 to 60 meters to go to the toilet or shower, it’s freezing cold and a long walk in the rain,” he said.
“If it weren’t for friends and family and the Salvation Army, I’d probably be really hungry.”
Salvation Army Don McCrea with Michael Reardon, who says he appreciates the organization’s support. (ABC News: Lucy MacDonald)
Growing list of public housing
In 2014, when the Liberals came to power under then-Prime Minister Will Hodgman, there were 2,054 applicants on the public housing waiting list.
At the time, priority applicants were waiting for about 19 weeks to obtain housing.
By April 2022, the number of applicants had more than doubled to 4,382.
The waiting time had reached 90 weeks, or almost two years.
Don McCrae, the Salvation Army’s manager of housing, homelessness and corrections, said private rents were no longer a viable option for many.
“Private rentals are out of reach these days for people with Centrelink income,” he said.
“And that means most of the people we see depend on community housing.
“So we’re seeing more people fighting, we’re seeing more people in caravan parking lots, we’re seeing more people sleeping poorly.”
TasCOSS says more homes are needed urgently.
McCrae said the latest census, which would begin publishing data in June, would provide a more accurate picture of how many people were homeless in Tasmania.
“Across the state, about 250 people were sleeping badly in the last census [in 2016]”He said.
“We know it has increased significantly. Eighteen months ago we had 358 people in our books in the greater Hobart area who were suffering from a primary homelessness situation, that is, they were not surfing the couch, they were not in boarding houses or shelters. or in prison or hospital, they were actually sleeping outside.
“In this census we worked closely with the people who took the numbers and provided information on where the people were, so we now have a better indication than ever.”
Demand for aid exceeds supply
Launceston City Executive Director Stephen Brown says the organization has seen a significant increase in the number of people seeking emergency assistance last year. (ABC News: Craig Heerey)
Although census data have not yet been released, the massive increase in the need for aid is already evident for community service providers.
The Launceston City Mission is one of several organizations providing emergency assistance to Tasmanians.
This covers support such as bill payments, food, vouchers and baby products, averaging $ 100 to $ 120 per appointment.
CEO Stephen Brown said the Launceston City Mission had seen a significant increase in the number of people seeking emergency help just last year.
“We now have an average presentation at our Family Emergency Services Center here on Frederick Street [in Launceston] and Burnie, where we do emergency relief sessions for 210 to 220 people a month, “he said.
“At the same time, we can’t make appointments for about 300 people or families a month.
“So the demand is much greater than our ability to see people right now.”
The Tasmanian private rental market is not affordable for many. (ABC News: Loretta Lohberger)
Brown said about a quarter of people seeking emergency support were those in insecure housing situations, either homeless or facing homelessness in a matter of weeks.
“That’s 25 percent more than the previous year,” he said.
“We are seeing very difficult situations, I just relieved myself in the last 10 minutes and they are taking care of a family that will be sleeping in their car tonight and it is a family of six and the youngest. The child is six weeks old.” .
Adrienne Picone, executive director of the Tasmanian Social Services Council, said official figures underestimated the number of people fighting.
“There are thousands of Tasmanians who really live in dire circumstances without a safe space to call home,” he said.
“What we know now is that homelessness disproportionately affects young people, and about 37 percent of all homeless taxpayers are under the age of 25.”
Tasmanian Social Services Council executive director Adrienne Picone says the houses should be built “as a matter of urgency”. (ABC News: Selina Ross)
During the 2020-21 financial year, specialized services for homeless people in Tasmania were unable to help with 15,593 requests for assistance.
Figures from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare show that 98% of these unassisted applications were for emergency housing, with an average of 44 unanswered emergency housing applications every day. , usually because no accommodation was available.
Although both the state and federal governments have promised to build more social housing, Ms Picone said immediate action was needed to help people while it was being built.
“Until these houses are built, we still have 4,500 Tasmanians who are on the social housing waiting list, so we really need to build these houses urgently,” he said.
“In the short term, we need to think of innovative and creative solutions to increase the number of homes there are, such as the best store accommodation and the remodeling of office space.
“But we also need to increase the supply of rent by doing things like restricting the number of whole houses that can be offered as short-term accommodation.”
TasCOSS wanted the new federal Minister of Housing and Homelessness, Tasmanian MP Julie Collins, to focus on raising the rent assistance rate.
“If we could increase the Commonwealth rental assistance rate by 50 percent, it would really go a long way to supporting Tasmanians in the rental market,” Picone said.
The new federal Minister of Housing and Homelessness, Julie Collins, says the federal government is working with its state counterparts and housing service providers. (ABC News: Luke Bowden)
During the federal election campaign, Labor pledged to build 30,000 new affordable social homes in five years to address the national housing shortage.
Ms. Collins said the federal government was working with its state counterparts and housing service providers to implement the plan.
“We need to set the fund and we need legislation to do that, so we will try to do that as soon as we can through parliament,” he said.
“But first we need to consult with people to make sure we have the right structure so that we can get the best leverage and get the houses on the ground as soon as possible.”
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Posted 16 hours ago 16 hours ago Friday, June 3, 2022 at 10:14 PM, updated 14 hours, 14 hours ago, Saturday, June 4, 2022 at 12:13 AM