THE AGE http://www.theage.com.au/daily/990520/news/news15.html Thursday 20 May 1999 Victoria's homeless highest in nation By NICOLE BRADY SOCIAL POLICY REPORTER Victoria has the highest number of homeless adults and children in the nation, with figures revealing that 49,000 adults and children sought housing help last financial year. And while the nationwide figure on homelessness jumped 11 per cent in 1997-98, the Minister for Family and Community Services, Senator Jocelyn Newman, yesterday dismissed suggestions that Australia's poor were getting poorer. ``The information that's available to me is that the rich are getting richer but the poor are not particularly getting poorer,'' she said after addressing the Council to Homeless Persons second national conference in Melbourne. ``I think that it's a fairly common chant that there's a growing divide between the rich and the poor ... the growing divide is more caused by people getting richer.'' Professor Peter Saunders, the director of the social policy research centre at the New South Wales University, told the conference that homelessness was linked to - as both cause and effect - poverty, unemployment, poor health, abuse, drugs and crime. He quoted figures which showed that $15 billion, or 60 per cent, of the $25 billion generated by economic growth, benefited the richest 10 per cent of the population. ``A number of studies have confirmed that the distribution of income in Australia has become less equal over the past two decades,'' Professor Saunders said. ``The problem is that while a growing economy guarantees regular increases in average prosperity, not everyone benefits to the same extent. Some people are missing out altogether. ``We have a booming economy, but a growing sense of alienation and despair about the price that is being paid for this by some sections of the community.'' A breakdown of the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program annual report for 1997-98 showed the number of homeless people in Victoria had increased 6.5 per cent over the previous year. Children were the largest homeless subgroup, with 18,600 seeking help, followed by women, 18,300. The conference was addressed by a young man, Mr Matt Gleeson, who had experienced seven years of homelessness. It took a year of sleeping on friends' couches before he realised he was homeless. ``Like many in society I defined homelessness as living in a park or squat or some other similar stereotype,'' he said. ``Because of these beliefs I felt that I could not ask for assistance.'' Mr Gleeson said he left home when he was 17. He was having problems at home and at school. Being homeless had meant the lack of a stable and secure environment, poor health, an exposure to various unsafe situations and a lack of adequate shelter and warmth. But he was not without hope because of the long-term commitment of several agencies, some of which were represented at the conference. ``Today I have returned to school to study for a welfare diploma and maybe one day I will be sitting down there with you. I have formed strong relationships with my family and worked towards repairing the damage that initially drove us apart. ``I have gained some casual work and learnt the value of being employed. And, most importantly, I have learned the value of me.'' ************************************************************************* This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use." -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/index.html Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
