Debt-free property ownership is no longer a requirement for voting rights, but the idea remains that a person must have a residence in a particular community to be allowed to vote.
COVID-19 changed rough sleeping from a social issue into a public health one – but if numbers are to stay down, it needs to remain a political priority.
The 2020 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine goes to the discoverers of the hepatitis C virus. There’s an effective cure but homelessness and the opioid epidemic are driving a surge in infections.
When the moratorium on evictions ends, even more Australians will face housing insecurity and homelessness. Beyond the moral and health cases, there’s a powerful financial reason to end homelessness.
The fallout from COVID-19 for housing and homelessness just adds to the urgency of fixing the long-standing ills of the housing market. The well-being of Australia’s economy and people depends on it.
High rents and insecurity are constant sources of financial and emotional stress for low-income women. They describe what it’s like struggling to survive and being one step away from being homeless.
Older women have been the fastest-growing group of homeless people in recent years. New research shows about 240,000 women aged 55 or older and another 165,000 women aged 45-54 are at risk.
Suspending homeless camp evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic is a start, but it is not enough. The problem is failed housing policies, not the pandemic.
Australia has managed to house the homeless in hotels during the COVID-19 pandemic. We now have an opportunity to be thinking about longer-term solutions.
Without sufficient safe shelter space and universal testing, cities are forcing homeless people into encampments, limiting their ability to stay safe and violating international human rights laws.