A dramatic upsurge in the number of young women becoming homeless after fleeing domestic violence has driven a call for urgent action from the whole Border community.
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Agencies working in the field say that while it is an exceedingly complex issue, significantly more had to be done to stop this hidden crisis reaching breaking point.
Without that it will only lead to even greater numbers of Border residents falling into dire poverty and the social dislocation this creates.
The heads of some of the Border’s major welfare agencies have called for a united community approach, as well as a significant shift in funding formulas used by government.
In particular, they see the need for a long-term approach so effective programs can have the time to produce the right outcomes. Agencies also want a more structured approach to the issue at the highest levels of government, leaving those at the coal face with more scope to simply do their job.
A detailed investigation by The Border Mail has uncovered a diversity of issues and personal stories that starkly illustrate this homelessness crisis. These will appear online and in print over the next week.
Junction Support Services in Wodonga has been taken aback by the number of young parents, including some single dads, who have become homeless since the middle of last year.
Junction youth services manager Katharine Hodgens said that growing need had been so strong that the organisation had been forced to move one of its youth support workers to help.
“Many of the young mums are fleeing family violence. We estimate that about 50 per cent were homeless because of family violence,” she said.
The key agency in Albury dealing with homelessness, yes unlimited, noted that domestic violence was always a major factor, though housing affordability, mental health issues and, to a lesser extent, even people leaving prison were impacting on numbers.
Recent Australian Bureau of Statistics census data put the number of homeless people on the Border as around 800.
But the widespread belief is that this figure is extremely conservative, as many simply do not – or don’t know how to – come forward for help.
Much of their clientele approach agencies through word-of-mouth.
yes unlimited – which has greater access to crisis accommodation options than over the river in Wodonga – has had more than 1000 people seek help in the past 12 months, while its women’s refuge, Betty’s Place, and youth refuge, Broughton House, are continually full.
Its client services manager Jon Park said housing affordability was a key driver of homelessness for young people.
“The tighter the vacancies and the higher the rent, the more honourable people miss out,” he said. “For similar properties, what you would probably be getting five years ago for $90 would probably be more like $150 a week now.”