Traumatic Brain Injury and Homelessness

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is common among people who experience homelessness. Through our Grants to End Homelessness program, we funded a project with Swinburne University to provide resources to help frontline workers better support people experiencing homelessness with a history of brain injury.

Dr Jessica Mackelprang and her team have surveyed more than 100 frontline service staff across Australia to ascertain their current knowledge of TBI and their training needs.

A Fact Sheet has been developed for frontline service workers and a training module is in development.

The Fact Sheet can be viewed here:

https://apo.org.au/node/307156

Older women’s experiences in the private rental market

Another report released this week by Dr Emma Power of Western Sydney University presents the stories of single older women living on low incomes in the private rental sector within and around the Greater Sydney region, Australia. It presents their efforts to make home and ‘get by’ in a segment of the housing market where rising rents and short lease terms of six to twelve months are the norm. The report includes policy recommendations to address the income and housing crises experienced by single older women living in the private rental market.

Some of those recommendations are:

  • Permanently increase the new Jobseeker payment
  • Enable access to affordable housing
  • End ‘no grounds’ eviction
  • Establish quantified minimum rental housing standards
  • Provide financial assistance to help with moving costs due to ‘notice to vacate’ or rent increases.

Read the report here.

SHARP Social Housing Acceleration and Renovation Program

SHARP is the initiative proposed by Community Housing Industry Australia (CHIA), Homelessness Australia, National Shelter and Everybody’s Home aimed at kickstarting the economy by providing much needed social housing. This entails:

  • Wave 1: Social housing maintenance and upgrading
  • Wave 2: Acquitision of sites and properties requiring renovation completion which are suitable for social housing
  • Wave 3: Shovel Ready Projects
  • Wave 4: Longer term new development projects

This plan would enable the delivery of 30,000 additional social housing units, requiring a government investment of around $7.2 Billion within 3 years.

Literally a housing-first recovery, this plan will create thousands of jobs and improve social outcomes.

Read more about the plan here.

 

Open letter to the Prime Minister

The Mercy Foundation co-signed an open letter from the AAEH calling on our Prime Minister to lead the development of a COVID-19 National Response Plan for Homeless People Sleeping Rough, which must include investments to:

➔  Maintain current crisis responses for people sleeping rough for as long as is necessary

➔  Rapidly house and support people who have been temporarily sheltered – including through the use of medium-term private rental subsidies

➔  Support community efforts to better meet, track and help prevent future rough sleeping homelessness through improved coordination of housing and support services

➔  Build more social housing in Australia and provide the needed supports, including dedicated supportive housing initiatives

➔  Ensure income support payments are adequate.

Much has been achieved for people sleeping rough since the pandemic started, with an estimated 7,000 rough sleepers temporarily housed to keep them safe. The Australian Alliance to End Homelessness and signatories committed to working collaboratively with federal, state and territory governments to address this issue.

“There has never been a better time to seek to end rough sleeping homelessness in Australia than right now and we the undersigned encourage your Government to urgently lead the development of a COVID-19 National Rough Sleeping Homelessness Pandemic Response Plan.”

Read the letter here.

405,000 women over 45 years at risk of homelessness

A report released today by HAAG and Social Ventures Australia finds that the number of older women at risk of homelessness in Australia is a staggering 405,000. This includes:

  • 165,000 women aged between 45 – 55 years and
  • 240,000 women aged 55 years and over.

This alarming number demands Commonwealth leadership and action to ensure older women have a safe and affordable home, when they need it the most.

Both short and long term measures are required to address this issue, including:

  • Women at risk of or experiencing homelessness now need additional support such as an increase in income or additional CRA to help them pay rent and have a livable income.
  • The age for the NSW priority list for social housing needs to be lowered from 80 to 65 years or lower.
  • A National Housing Strategy to address the shortfall in social and affordable housing.
  • The establishment of a state wide service, such as the Home at last service in Victoria, for older people to access for support when they are in a housing crisis, before becoming homeless.

More recommendations are detailed in the report below.

We know that a stable home is fundamental to good health and well being; COVID-19 has illustrated how essential a safe and affordable home is for everyone. Older single women in the private rental market are at least twice as likely to be at risk of homelessness compared to their peers who own their home or hold a mortgage. This injustice begs attention and action now.

Read the full paper here:

At Risk: 405,000 older women risk homelessness without urgent policy reform

2020 Trafficking in Persons report released

The latest Trafficking in Persons (TIP) report from the USA was released last week.The report is prepared by the Department of State and provides tier rankings and country narratives.

The TIP Report urges governments to come to the table to fight this global crime. Its efficacy depends on consensus around the idea that everyone has inherent value and human dignity requires that they be free. When traffickers interfere with this freedom, they weaken the foundation of free and just societies.

The report notes that there is a pressing need for governments to:

  • end the practice of state-sponsored forced labour
  • increase labour trafficking prosecutions
  • repeal laws that require force, fraud or coercion for child sex trafficking
  • stop penalising victims for unlawful acts that their traffickers force them to commit

Australia’s narrative

Key points from Australia’s narrative are:

  • Government of Australia fully meets the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking
  • Australia is a Tier 1 country
  • The government did not adequately screen several vulnerable groups that traffickers target, such as domestic workers and migrant workers, which may have resulted in the penalisation of unidentified victims

Prioritised recommendations for Australia:

  • Significantly strengthen efforts to investigate and prosecute trafficking offenses pursuant to trafficking laws, with increased focus on pursuing labor trafficking crimes instead of labor or employment violations, and sentence convicted traffickers to significant prison terms.
  • Significantly strengthen efforts to proactively identify trafficking victims among vulnerable groups, such as undocumented migrants, agricultural and hospitality industry workers, and domestic workers, and to refer those victims to appropriate government authorities.
  • De-link the provision of services from participation in the criminal justice process and increase services available to victims who are unable or unwilling to participate in the criminal justice process.
  • Ensure that the statutory definition of trafficking under the criminal code does not require movement of the victim as an element of the crime.
  • Increase efforts to train police, immigration officials, and other front-line officers, both offshore and onshore, to recognize indicators of trafficking and respond to suspected cases of both sex and labor trafficking.
  • Establish the National Labour Hire Registration Scheme with sufficient compliance tools.
  • Increase training for prosecutors and judges on Australian trafficking laws.
  • Conduct initial screening interviews with potential victims in a safe and neutral location and in the presence of a social service professional.
  • Consider establishing a national compensation scheme for trafficking victims.
  • Implement or fund awareness campaigns, particularly among rural communities and migrant populations, including international students, vulnerable to forced labor.
  • Strengthen efforts to prosecute and convict Australian child sex tourists.
  • Increase efforts to investigate and hold accountable foreign diplomats posted in Australia suspected of complicity in trafficking.
  • Resume publication of the government’s annual assessment of progress implementing its National Action Plan.

Read the report here (Australia’s narrative starts on page 81) 

How is the report prepared?

The report is prepared by the Department of State’s TIP Office, which requests information from U.S. embassies regarding the profile of human trafficking in that country and efforts of the government to combat it. Foreign service officers and locally employed staff collect information throughout the year related to law enforcement activity, victim identification and protection efforts, and anti-trafficking policies and practices, among others. This information is sent to analysts in the TIP Office who use it, in combination with other sources such as media reports, academic studies, in-country engagement, and information from the public, to inform the TIP Report tier rankings, country narratives, and recommendations.

Implementing Australia’s Modern Slavery Act 2018

Australia’s Modern Slavery Act 2018 came into force on 1 January 2019. This report by the Australian Government highlights the action to date to implement the Act, and looks ahead at what will be achieved beyond 2020, including

  • The fist Commonwealth Modern Slavery Statement
  • Establishment of the Modern Slavery Expert Advisory Group
  • Launching the online Register of modern slavery statements
  • Establishing a Modern Slavery Recognition Scheme
  • Monitoring compliance and promoting best-practice.

Read the report here.

Investing in social and affordable housing to support economic recovery

A new report by Equity Economics in collaboration with NCOSS, Shelter NSW, Community Housing Industry Association NSW, Tenants’ Union of NSW and Homelessness NSW, supports an investment in social and affordable housing along with repairing old social housing stock as a means of contributing towards the economic recovery in NSW.

The economic modelling estimates that as a result of COVID-19:

  • The fall in international migration will reduce demand for housing by 38,500 units over 2020 and 2021
  • As a result, up to 85,000 jobs in the residential construction sector in NSW are at risk
  • 97,000 SMEs dependent on residential construction will be at risk
  • Rising unemployment is expected to increase homelessness by between 7,905 and 16,140 people in NSW
  • The cost of increased homelessness is estimated to be between $218 million and $445 million each year, as a result of higher health and social service costs.

The report identifies investment in social and affordable housing as a key policy lever that will assist in addressing these projected risks.

Access the report here.

Increase in families experiencing homelessness

AHURI’s latest report investigated the homelessness services system and its response to families at risk of or experiencing homelessness. The report states that in the last few years there has been a disproportionate increase in the number of families who are homeless, as a result of domestic and family violence, poverty, and a lack of affordable and suitable housing.

Key points:

  • Families experiencing homelessness due to poverty or other adverse events have different needs to families whose homelessness is due to domestic or family violence.
  • Homelessness is driven by both structural and individual factors; effective responses to both are needed.
  • Socio-economic disadvantage increases the risk of homelessness for families who experience other challenges such as mental illness.
  • In Australia, a growing proportion of the population live in private rental accommodation, and most people below the poverty line are renting.

Access to long term, affordable and appropriate housing, prevention and early intervention, attention to both individual and structural drivers of homelessness are some of the necessary considerations in developing an effective response to family homelessness.

Read the report here.

Housing is health care

If there is one thing that we have learnt from the last few weeks, it’s that a home is essential for us to keep safe. ‘Stay home’ has been the mantra that we have all been living by, to avoid becoming unwell or for inadvertently passing on COVID-19 to others.

It has suddenly become clear to us that everyone needs a home. The has been an unprecedented drive by governments and housing and homelessness services across the country to accommodate Rough Sleepers. We know that rough sleeping is unsafe and bad for your health. Apart from the inability to practice hand washing and social distancing, we know that people experiencing long term street homelessness often have poor health and are at great risk of becoming very unwell if they catch the virus.

The Australian Alliance to End Homelessness recently launched a paper, Leaving No-one Behind, A national policy for health equity, housing and homelessness.  There is currently a 30 year life expectancy gap for people who sleep rough versus their peers in housing. It is impossible to look after your health when you don’t have a home. Day to day survival is the priority.

While permanent, affordable housing and support is key to ending homelessness, we need a national policy on health equity, housing and homelessness, so that all Australians have equal access to the health care they need to live a fulfilling and healthy life.