House debates

Monday, 18 February 2008

Adjournment

Shortland Electorate: Homelessness

8:45 pm

Photo of Jill HallJill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, as this is the first time I have spoken since you have been in the chair, may I take this opportunity to congratulate you on your election to the position of Speaker.

Last year, the Prime Minister requested that all government MPs visit a homeless people’s refuge. I embraced this suggestion. I had not visited the refuges in my electorate in a year, and I thought it was about time that I went along. In the Shortland electorate, there are two refuges: a youth refuge and a women’s refuge. The Eastlakes women’s and children’s refuge is an organisation that I have had a long association with. When I visited them, they said that they were really encouraged to hear that the Prime Minister had asked MPs to visit a homelessness service in their electorate. They went on to describe how their service supports women and children who are escaping domestic violence by providing them with accommodation. They also highlighted the fact that domestic violence is the most common reason for women and children to access their services.

Some of the services provided by the Eastlakes refuge include case management, advocacy, referrals to other agencies, court support and medium-term support accommodation, for which demand is particularly high. The refuge has four bedrooms, and each one can accommodate a mother with up to four children. During the last year, the refuge had accepted 34 mothers and 62 children; however—and this is the really sad part—they had to turn away 317 mothers and 697 children because they did not have the rooms and beds for them. These women and children are very vulnerable and have no other option.

Over the last couple of years, I have seen a very strong increase in the number of homeless people within the electorate. People are sleeping in cars. There is a very low availability of rental accommodation. The ticker system that exists in New South Wales makes it very difficult for a person to find accommodation if they have ever made a mistake in the past. There are an enormous number of people who are homeless. If you do not have a rental record, that also makes it very difficult for you to find a place to rent.

The other refuge I visited, the Allambi Youth Service, has been operating in the Shortland electorate since January 1981. It is a crisis youth refuge and provides short-term accommodation for up to eight young people—four males and four females. There are two bedrooms within this refuge. The staff there are absolutely dedicated to their job, but demand for accommodation and their services is enormous, and the conditions that they have to work under are less than optimal. They provide an outstanding service and also have a vision for the future: they would like to start a service for younger people between the ages of 12 and 14. Currently these children have to go into the refuge with older children, and this creates some difficulty within the service.

I emphasise to the House that there is a real need for services such as those provided by the Allambi and the Eastlakes refuges. Both services have welcomed the release of the paper entitled Homelessness: a new approach. They are very keen to be involved in the process that will see a green paper tabled in May and a white paper tabled in August this year. Staff who work in these services feel that they are being given a real opportunity to have a say on homelessness and the direction that accommodation services should go in the future. Homelessness is an enormous problem in Australia today. It is an enormous problem in my electorate. Young people and women and children—those who are most disadvantaged—are being badly affected. (Time expired)