Media coverage - SMH: Bold approach to homelessness will take 70 most vulnerable off streets

Seventy people who call the streets and underpasses of inner Sydney home will be put into permanent housing under a new scheme, as figures show a jump in the number of homeless.

Platform 70, a project supported by state and federal governments, will involve placing the rough sleepers from Woolloomooloo into heavily subsidised private rental accommodation, to be managed by community housing providers and supported by a range of social services.

Participants in the $2.8 million program have been identified by outreach program Way2Home.

Many of them suffer from a mental illness and substance or gambling addictions.

The Community Services Minister, Pru Goward, said the program was a bold approach that would not only provide housing but also address the issues which brought people to the streets.

''It will also reduce our reliance on high-cost options like crisis and transitional accommodation,'' she said.

The plan was announced a day after a City of Sydney homelessness count found about 118 people were sleeping out in the Woolloomooloo area, a rise of almost 40 per cent on last year.

This winter has seen an unusually high number of deaths among Sydney's homeless, according to Daniel Strickland from Mission Australia's Missionbeat service.

Based on information gathered by his and other homeless agencies, at least 10 inner Sydney homeless people have died in the past two months - a higher rate than he has seen in his nine years at Missionbeat.

The worrying trend was not necessarily down to the cold weather but to substance abuse, chronic disease as well as assault, suicide and accidents, Mr Strickland said. A list of 70 people for the new project has already been drawn up, Sylvia Grant, NSW state manager of NGO Neami, said. The organisation runs Way2Home and will visit tenants and provide support once they have been housed.

The community housing provider Bridge Housing will take on the leases from private landlords and sublet them to the clients, who will pay about 25 per cent of the market rent. Some will remain in the inner city but others will be helped return to their home suburbs or towns, where they will be matched with appropriate support services.

The Sydney lord mayor, Clover Moore, said the new project was "the most significant action on homelessness in decades".

She blamed recent increases in the number of people sleeping rough in Sydney on rising rents.

"It's very easy in Sydney if you do have an addiction or you're struggling with rent to end up here," she said.

This article was originally posted in the Sydney Morning Herald

Health experts call for problem gambling reforms

Problem gambling is one of the most serious health issues affecting our nation, according to a group of 40 high-profile experts.

The group - including the head of the Public Health Association of Australia, Helen Keleher, and former Australian of the Year, Fiona Stanley - have written to politicians to express their support for low-impact poker machines and a mandatory pre-commitment scheme that would enable pokie users to select an amount they are willing to lose before they start gambling.

"An effective response to the harms of problem gambling is required urgently. As we have learnt from other successful public health responses, social marketing and education campaigns alone will not work," they wrote in a letter to the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard.

"For every person with a gambling problem, between five and 10 others are affected: children, husbands, wives, partners, employers, neighbours, family and friends," they added.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the letter said a mandatory pre-commitment scheme for gamblers would further establish Australia as a world leader in public health.

"As was the case with tobacco, gun controls and seatbelts, when there is compelling evidence of serious and immediate threats to public health we are compelled to take action to minimise harm.

"Each year that we delay the introduction of effective measures to address harms derived from gambling on poker machines, hundreds of thousands of people will experience gambling problems."

You can read more at the SMH or ABC Online.

According to the Productivity Commission Inquiry Report released in 2010, there are between 80 000 and 160,000 Australian adults suffering severe problems from their gambling. The costs to problem gamblers in 2008-09 ranged between $4.7 and $8.4 billion.

In March, Mission Australia threw its support behind a campaign, jointly launched by Independent Tasmanian MP, Andrew Wilkie and advocacy group, GetUp, to combat attempts to undermine the Federal Government’s planned poker machine reforms.

Tonight Four Corners examines this campaign tonight at 8.30pm on ABC1.

Further information:

• 'One-stop-shop' to tackle problem gambling
• Craigie passes on smart gambling message
• If you or someone you know needs support to overcome a gambling addiction visit www.triplerservices.com.au

Media coverage - SMH: Families are the city's hidden homeless

The number of homeless families in Sydney has risen alarmingly, says a report out today.

Families are the hidden face of homelessness, making up between a quarter and one-third of Australia's homeless population, says the Wesley Mission, which provides crisis accommodation to about 500 people each night.

Contrary to the popular image of homeless people as male, single and sleeping on the streets, the report, based on interviews with 50 homeless families, finds that just 7 per cent of Sydney's homeless sleep rough, with the rest in crisis accommodation or "couch surfing" with family or friends.

Women are just as likely to be homeless as men, and mother with children make up more than half of all homeless families.

"Alarmingly, the population of homeless families is on the rise," Wesley Mission's chief executive, the Reverend Keith Garner, said.

"They are in our suburbs, sleeping on the floor in a relative or friend's house, sleeping in their car, living in a refuge after they've left a violent partner, sitting patiently at Centrelink trying to arrange emergency accommodation or living with their three kids in a motel room until a vacancy comes up on the long waiting list for public housing."

Domestic violence is the No.1 cause of homelessness in families, followed by relationship breakdown or divorce.

"They're mostly young, more often than not women, and are almost always accompanied by young children,'' Dr Garner said.

This was worrying because there is a strong intergenerational link to homelessness: more than half of the adults in the 50 homeless families surveyed for the report had been homeless as children. Children raised in homeless families often became "socialised" by the experience, repeating the pattern as adults.

"It is clear from these results that having a parent who has been homeless is a significant predictor of being homeless as an adult," the report says.

"Poverty and alcohol are also common links, with more than half having had parents who had financial problems and issues with alcohol abuse."

Of children aged more than 10 in the families surveyed, six in 10 had been arrested or incarcerated, compared with just 1 per cent of all children aged 10 to 17.

Wesley Mission proposes an 11-point plan to tackle homeless families, including a ''tell us once'' approach from government agencies so that the families do not have to repeat their histories ad nauseam and a single access point to government services and payments. It also proposes better training for those working with the families, more, and more flexible, housing options and more effective management of NSW public housing properties, which often are empty or underused.

Story originally published in the Sydney Morning Herald on 3 May 2011.

Media coverage - Sydney Morning Herald: Juvenile detainee findings a ‘damning indictment’

A government reporting revealing that half the young people in NSW juvenile detention facilities were abused as children, and nearly 40 per cent of the girls were sexually abused, is a "damning indictment of approach to juvenile justice," said Mission Australia's State Director Leonie Green in today's Sydney Morning Herald.

Herald journalist Adele Horin wrote that the Justice Health and Juvenile Justice report painted a bleak picture of young people in the state's juvenile prisons. It reveals that nearly one-third of the girls have been pregnant, with the average age of first having sex 13.1 years for Aboriginal youngsters and 13.6 for non-Aborigines.

Thirteen was also the average age the detainees reported first being drunk.

The 2009 NSW Young People in Custody Health Survey also states that more than 27 per cent of incarcerated young people (and 40 per cent of young women) had a history of foster or kinship care.

Ms Green said the current approach to juvenile justice relied too heavily on locking up young people and not enough on diversion programs.

"When you look at the population of juveniles in custody, how can anyone believe that detention is an appropriate response?" she asked.

"These young detainees are a product of years of violence and neglect, and many have intellectual disabilities."

According to today's Herald, between the last health study in 2003 and the 2009 survey, the proportion of incarcerated youngsters who are Aboriginal rose from 41.7 per cent to 47.8 per cent, while they represent 4 per cent of the state's adolescent population.

Read Adele Horin's article here 

Visit Mission Australia's Aboriginal & Torres Strait Island resources page for our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), the latest indigenous news, current affairs and policy updates.

Preparing for Cyclone Yasi

Mission Australia’s thoughts are with the individuals, families and communities that are in the path of Cyclone Yasi – including our staff members and clients from our eight local services.

Authorities have urged North Queensland residents to stay calm and listen to safety advice as the storm moves in. It is also important that people stay off the roads, turn off their electricity and gas, unplug appliances and fill bathtubs with water.

Queensland Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts said mattresses and pillows should be kept close by. He said the smallest room (usually a laundry or bathroom) is often the safest.

This afternoon AMA Queensland President Dr Gino Pecoraro highlighted the importance of explaining to children what the storm is expected to do over the next 24 hours.

He said children should be warned to expect the loud noise of cyclonic winds. Their favourite music - listened to via headphones - as well as board games, puzzles and crosswords could help provide a comforting and familiar distraction.

Families should also have a first-aid kit at hand, containing all medications currently being taken, including any unfilled prescriptions. Preparations should include a battery-operated radio to listen to emergency broadcasts and a torch.

TV and radio transmission interruptions may occur. Reliable broadcasts are available on short wave radio at 9710kHz during the day and 6080kHz by night.

Those not heading to community shelters should have food on hand that does not need refrigeration. People in need of emotional support can call Lifeline 24 hours on 13 11 14, Mensline Australia on 1300 78 99 78 or the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800.

For more information visit this link at SMH online

Useful resources

• The ABC is providing excellent coverage and information about emergency procedures. For more information visit abc.net.au/emergency/cyclone/yasi
• According to ABC reports this afternoon, evacuation centres in the Cairns region are at capacity. For a list of North Queensland evacuation centres please click here
• People who have left their homes and have nowhere to go should call 1300 99 31 91 for help in finding emergency accommodation.
• The Bureau of Meteorology site, contains a Tropical Cyclone Forecast Map, which indicates the proximity and strength of Yasi.
• The Google Crisis Response Page is another good resource, featuring maps, contacts and links to news reports.

Emergency contacts
Call the State Emergency Services on 132 500 or for life-threatening emergencies call 000.

SMH - Cellar door

I was recently appointed as a Fairfax photographer and my first assignment was to cover the SMH Cellar door wine tasting festival in Sydney's Hyde park. I just wish i told some friend about it. As I received about 60bucks worth wine tastings... which I did try and give a good knock (just quietly).Keep and I out for these guys soon... as I'm doing there products soon too!