More families living in tents in the bush as they struggle to secure housing

ABC NEWS (Australia)

As Victoria prepares for a hot, dry summer homeless support services say they're worried about the growing number of families living in tents in bushland.

Transcript

00:00 Bendigo presents a little bit differently from the city in terms of how the rough sleepers,

00:07 where they sleep. So I can say for us, we've seen about 250 different individuals this

00:16 year. Generally, they'd say stats around Bendigo around 100, 120 that are rough sleepers, but

00:22 that number is growing. Now, some of those may have moved on and some have got housing,

00:26 but we've seen 250 this year, separate individuals. That's a pretty high number, Matthew. What's

00:33 this about? Is it mainly because there's a lack of social housing?

00:41 That is an ongoing problem for decades where we've just not kept up, rather than just drip

00:47 feeding into the social housing we've just got behind. And now we're looking at big builds

00:52 and all those sort of things. There's complex issues that cause people to become homeless

00:58 and it can be very complex trying to get them back into housing. What we do know is the

01:04 sooner they can get back into housing, the better. They've got more chance. The longer

01:08 they are out in the bush or on the street, the more difficult it gets because the impact

01:16 on their bodies particularly and just emotionally, physically is really, really difficult. It's

01:20 really hard. Matthew, this ABC Digital story about people

01:25 who are sleeping rough in the bush is really quite shocking. They detail several families

01:31 that are living in tents. It's unbelievable that this is actually happening in Australia.

01:38 And of course, there are real challenges of living in tents on a long-term basis. What

01:46 would both those challenges be? Yeah, well, even just looking at that story

01:51 prior to this about how to keep cool and that during the summer, they're not options for

01:55 people. The sheer fact that you're under canvas, it doesn't last that long. We look at yesterday's

02:02 weather was 35 degrees here and windy. Today it's raining, so there'll be mud around the

02:07 campsite. It is so difficult. And then we've got kids, this story here particularly, the

02:13 kids trying to keep them in school. So trying to have them prepared to go to school, clean,

02:19 eat food, all those sort of things. It is really, really difficult. And particularly

02:25 when you're seeing families, it's heartbreaking to see. And like you said, in our country,

02:30 I just don't think it's acceptable. Yeah, I think about the kids reading this

02:34 story and I do think about the kids and my heart goes out to them. Of course, it's very

02:40 difficult for them because there's no permanent address. Some of them can't even go to school.

02:45 No, there's no permanent address. So that's an issue. Just stuff like mail, all those

02:51 sort of things. But also they're not getting the community and social side of it all, after

02:57 school type stuff and all those things. It just impacts the entire family and children.

03:03 It's just so heartbreaking. And the story that's been put together, particularly it

03:08 highlights it for us. But unfortunately, with homelessness, it's not, I hate to use the

03:15 word, but it's sort of not sexy. It's not something that it's going to affect everybody.

03:20 So it's hard to get that sort of, to get the media we require, so to speak, what we are

03:26 now, but to highlight and say, hey, we've got to do something here together.

03:30 What we have got in Bendigo emerging is an amazing group of agencies that are starting

03:35 to work together. And I think that is the key for us moving forward because we can put

03:41 a whole lot of services around people and it's really, really important going forward.

03:45 So us as a charity, we working with other professional agencies and it is, we are starting

03:52 to see a little shift there, which is great.

03:54 Matthew, Christmas is just around the corner. What does the festive season look like for

03:59 those sleeping rough?

04:02 Yeah, we have, we've got some wonderful agencies, including ourselves that do hambers

04:09 and food and stuff, but, and put on Christmas meals. But it is, it is a time of celebration

04:15 and it's not for a lot of people. It's just not, it is difficult. And we, there's lots

04:24 of, as I say, agencies will ensure that kids get a present and those sorts of things. And

04:28 as I said, with the complex needs of living rough, if the parents aren't working, there's

04:34 very little money. So that's not going to happen as it would for a lot of us. It is

04:39 just a difficult, difficult time. And then you put on top of that the weather and it's,

04:45 it's just hard. It's really hard. And we're just trying to put a smile on their faces

04:48 for a little bit and be part of the solution for them and just a bit of dignity for them.

04:53 You know, just smile, make sure we're using their name, say hello, you know, that sort

04:58 of stuff and try and lighten that load just a little bit for them.

05:02 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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