Homeless Shelters Overwhelmed with Demand, Forced to Turn Away Individuals and Miss Calls
A recent report has shown that Australian homelessness shelters are struggling to meet demand, resulting in people being turned away and calls and emails going unanswered.
Homelessness Australia and Impact Economics’ report highlighted the immense pressure faced by homelessness services.
The report revealed that frontline services are forced to reject individuals seeking help and are unable to respond to phone calls, prompting a call for increased government support.
“The housing crisis has escalated to a housing emergency, putting immense strain on homelessness support services,” stated Homelessness Australia CEO Kate Colvin.
Colvin emphasized the urgency for government action, especially with the midyear budget approaching in December.
She pointed out that many individuals are just one negative life event away from homelessness, such as losing a job, experiencing domestic violence, or being discharged from the hospital.
In 2021, an estimated 122,000 people were homeless in Australia, with 2.7 to 3.2 million individuals at risk of homelessness in 2022.
Shelters Facing Capacity Issues
Prior to the report, the number of turned-away individuals was not documented in the AIHW Specialist Homelessness Data, which only includes supported clients and unassisted individuals.
The actual situation was challenging to ascertain due to services already operating at full capacity and failing to register those turned away.
A study conducted by Impact Economics monitored 23 homeless services in September to reveal that families seeking emergency shelter were denied support on one in every five days. Unaccompanied minors were rejected on one in every nine days, and individuals without dependents were turned away on one in every two days.
The challenging task of deciding who receives shelter each night takes its toll on support workers, as they grapple with difficult decisions.
Services Struggling to Provide Assistance
The report found that 39% of services had to shut their doors at some point, with an average closure of one in every 22 operating hours.
Furthermore, 89% of providers were unable to answer phone calls for a period, resulting in missed calls amounting to 325 hours.
Email responsiveness was also problematic, with 74% of services failing to respond to emails at times, leaving 666 emails unanswered.
Potential Solutions for Housing Crisis
Author Angela Jackson suggested that rent assistance and increased social and affordable housing could alleviate the housing crisis. However, she stressed the urgent need for additional funding for frontline services to support those in immediate need.
Homelessness Australia emphasized the necessity for more resources to prevent homelessness and provide necessary support to help individuals secure and maintain housing.
This report includes contributions from AAP.
