Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

People in my electorate who work with the homeless have been telling me for some time anecdotally that the number of people, particularly women and children, using their services is increasing. A recent report by the Council of Social Service of New South Wales, known as NCOSS, has confirmed that Parramatta is now the biggest centre for the homeless outside the Sydney CBD, with over 550 people sleeping rough in Parramatta each night. The community of Parramatta represents a microcosm of the largely ignored critical problem of homelessness in our wider Australian community. On the one hand it is a thriving business district; on the other hand there are people who, despite their best efforts, have fallen through the cracks for various reasons such as unemployment, mental illness and family violence.

The statistics on homelessness both locally and nationally are alarming. Of particular concern in my area is the growth in the number of homeless children. In the past we have been relying on the 2001 census for data on homelessness. However, the NGO submission to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child recently revealed that there has been a significant increase since 2001, particularly in the number of children using SAAP services. In 2002-03, 53,000 children who were accompanied by a parent entered a SAAP service and 88 per cent of them were under the age of 12. Two years later in 2004-05, the number of children in that category rose to 56,800. There is also an additional 11,000, aged between 15 and 17, seeking services without their parents. Those figures are believed to be underestimated as they only consider those approaching official services.

In a 2004 report, a Melbourne based welfare organisation, Hanover welfare services, put the figure at 90,000 Australian children experiencing homelessness each year. Nearly half of those children are under the age of four, and 43 per cent are of primary school age. A recent report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found that two in every three homeless children are turned away from supported accommodation each night—that is, two out of three of those 90,000 children turned away each night. These alarm bells are clear calls for the federal government to take action and redress its past and present neglect of homeless people.

Fortunately, there are some people and groups in our community who are working tirelessly to help the homeless. At this point I want to acknowledge and commend the contribution of the Reverend Brian Smith for his past work at Parramatta Mission and in our local community. He has recently left the mission to take up other work. He is sorely missed. His extraordinary contribution, through his hard work and his outstanding leadership, has significantly improved services for the most neglected people living in our community, particularly those who are living with mental illness and are homeless as a result. Brian and the people who run Parramatta Mission provide holistic support for homeless people, including washing, shower, medical and legal services. The magnitude of the important services which Parramatta Mission provide should not be underestimated. Each year they serve 26,000 meals at Meals Plus, successfully refer more than 300 clients for accommodation support and counselling, find accommodation for 162 people each night and support 300 women and children through crisis each year with the Thelma Brown cottage program.

The Howard government, however, is making their job harder with the reduction of homeless program funding in 2005-06 by nine per cent, which is only compounded by the loss of income which many of these people will experience under the new welfare rules being implemented from 1 July this year. Reports from Meals Plus, for example, already state that there is an increasing number of people who are not homeless who are going to Meals Plus in order to be able to use their money to pay the rent. In other words, they are coming in for free food because they only have enough money for rent—they cannot afford to feed themselves as well. It is hard to see how reducing payments to sole parents and people on disabilities, particularly people with mental illness, will make this situation better. It is hard to imagine that it will do anything other than make the situation worse. Fortunately, we have fabulous organisations working locally, but, without substantial increases in funding to cope with increased demands due to the punitive welfare changes of the Howard government, their job is going to become more and more impossible as each day goes by. The figures are appalling, and it is about time the government (1) stopped making it worse and (2) did more about it.