Earlier this year i started tackling the core units of my social work course, still leering with anger at the fact that the majority of social work experience was learnt on the job and that basically the degree is in place so that those in power can suck me financially for 5 years. In Psychology for Social Work i was asked what field of social work i would like to work in. Due to the class being majority females the most common answer was children. I opted for perhaps homelessness. A few years ago a piece by comedian George Carlin had me thinking about homelessness. George was playfully suggesting that they are not homeless by houseless. Home is where the heart is so to speak, an idea a state of being of mind. He suggested that the homeless be settled on golf courses as golf was the most elitist fucking sport and takes up entirely too much fukcing space for a stupid game where instead of being grateful that you even found the ball again you chuck the fucking thing and go around driving in bourgeois carts like dumbfucks and that golf is usually played by power brokers and those with great influence as they discuss how to drive their respective countries a little finer amongst themselves. Anyway here is the essay i hastly put together on Homelessness and the social policys that surround it.
Introduction
On any given night in Australia, 1 in 200 people are homeless, with 25% being Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and 30% born overseas (HA, 2012).Homelessness affects the entire spectrum of humanity, from children to elderly, to family and indigenous folk. This essay seeks to explore the contemporary approaches, research and initiatives within Australia that encompass the social discourse of homelessness. Both the Rudd and Gillard Governments have in their time, pledged assistance in one form or another to combatting homelessness. However recent cuts to funding and programs by the Abbott government have left various organisations concerned about the state of social welfare organisations, the capacity of their staff to provide crucial services and the detrimental effects it will have on the vulnerable and the dependent. By understanding the influence of the print media, various factors and reasons for homelessness such as mental illness and the possible political motivations behind the construction or abolishment of policies, the effectiveness of current approaches to legislation can be gauged and prospects for the future envisaged.
Human Rights and Definitions
The Australian Human Rights Commission believes that homelessness is about human rights and more importantly a violation of a person’s human rights. (AHRC, 2008) explains that homelessness breaches numerous rights that are outlined various international treaties such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), and the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). A few of the more obscure rights that are being infringed upon by the spectre of homelessness include the right to vote, which is denied to homeless due to not having a permanent address. Another would be the right to personal safety, which the AHRC contends is violated due to a lack of a safe environment and vulnerability to violence and harmful situations. Australia in 2013 passed the Homelessness Bill and in section clause 3 outlined the various international treaties it sought to uphold by ratifying and thus recognise ‘international standards for the protection of universal human rights and fundamental freedoms’. Whether consequent actions by the Australian government have indeed upheld the rights of the homeless is open to scrutiny.
A universally agreed upon definition of homelessness has not yet been invented. According to (ABS 2006) many western countries make policy decisions in a data vacuum since no one is completely sure whether homelessness is increasing or decreasing. The author praises Australia for being an exceptional case because there are actually two working definition. The ABS uses a cultural definition which has been constructed around the state of a dwelling and an individual’s control over a form of accommodation.
Alternatively, the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) uses a legislative definition to deem who is eligible for services. Therefore while this definition is useful for welfare agencies, it cannot be used for measurement purposes such as the census. Chamberlain and MacKenzie (2008) expanded the definition further by distinguishing between primary, secondary and tertiary homeless, with the 1st being those without accommodation, the 2nd to classify those who moved between various temporary dwellings while the latter explained those living in boarding houses but without their own utilities.
Organisations such as Homelessness Australia use these definitions interchangeable in context and recognise that there is no universal definition. (Greenhalgh and Minnery, 2007) also contrast Australia’s policy approaches with other countries, commending the robust and evidence based approach that it takes to collecting and reporting data annually. They understand that homelessness is a static experience and draw attention to Mackenzie and Chamberlains 2003 definition of a ‘homeless career’, which means the process of developing a homeless self-identity through various phases of homelessness.
Intergenerational Experiences and Mental Illness
One of the most overlooked causes of homelessness is mental illness. (HA, 2011) explains that historically homeless were categorised as deviants and demons and institutionalised, diagnosed with disorders such as depression and schizophrenia. The advent of modern medicine surprisingly did not stop the stigmatisation. In fact the de institutionalisation of the 1970’s which saw thousands of patients freed from inhumane torture and solitary confinement within asylums, with the promise of reintegration into society, only exacerbated the homeless situation. Due to stigma and intergenerational homelessness, mental illnesses among the homeless includes high levels of anxiety and depression.
In 2000, the then Federal Welfare Minister Jocelyn Newman commissioned the ‘Accommodating Homeless Young People with Mental Health Issues’ and found that today’s homeless youth between the ages of 15 and 24 years old are up to four times more likely to have mental health issues. There is an abundance of factors that both precede and illustrate the plight of mentally ill homeless, not limited to but including substance abuse, self-harm, behavioural problems, and identity issues. Darren Ray, Chairperson of the National Youth Coalition for Housing (NYCH) was especially concerned with the media’s portrayal of homeless people, saying, ‘Their painful experiences underpin the need for immediate and collaborative action by all government and community partners’ (NYCH, 2000).
The report went on to explain that the media placed a lot of coverage and resources into stories of depression and suicides in general, yet when the same problems are experienced by Australian homeless and touch on further factors such as substance abuse, the media largely ignores their plight or simply paints them as an unfortunate tragedy.
Homelessness tends to come about after a major traumatic event, such as domestic abuse or bankruptcy. A lesser known concept is intergenerational homelessness. (Flatau et al, 2013) conducted the ‘Lifetime and intergenerational experiences of homelessness in Australia by gauging individuals who accessed homelessness services’.
The study found that half the respondents had a family history of homelessness. Unsurprisingly, the intergenerational rate for indigenous respondents was 26% higher than non-indigenous and Incarceration rates for respondents fathers as well as those whose fathers identified as serious alcoholics was higher than the general population. Thus there is ample evidence to suggest that early negative family environments lead to cumulatively high rates of intergenerational homelessness.
Portrayal in the Media
In the Australian print media, there are a number of contrasting discourses on homelessness such as the deserving vs the undeserving, territory vs responsibility for homelessness, charity vs business and the notion of cleaning up the streets from visible homelessness. Relief for the homeless in Australia has its roots in British poor laws and the imposed traditions of charity organisations. (Chung and Zufferey, 2006) in a study that investigated the news sources of three major Australian cities, found that the media painted the homeless in a negative light. They were portrayed as passive welfare recipients, both victims of crime and dangerous. In contrast news items that involved social workers portrayed as saviours, angels and unsung heroes.
The study also found that the media invoked arguments such as the ;nationalistic citizenship’ argument, where Australian homeless were classified as less deserving than refugees or backpackers and from a seemingly scientific and rational perspective, experts were lauded as knowledgeable while the voices of the homeless themselves were never heard. Chung and Zufferey concluded in their analysis of media articles that little attention was focused on the lack of affordable and available housing in Australia. Instead homelessness was represented as a failure of the individual who cannot succeed in the free market.
This leads to a reinforcement of neoliberal ideologies which blame the individual instead of actually fixing the structure of a market which fails to provide adequate housing to a large and vulnerable portion of the Australian population, who are often portrayed in a negative light, only to be praised upon if they should transcend their adversity and rise out of homelessness.
Social Exclusion
(Arthurson and Jacobs, 2004) use the concept of social exclusion in their critique of Australia’s social housing policy. It is defined as the exclusion from a social system and its rights and privileges, echoing the lack of human rights enjoyed by the homeless such as the right for minimum wage and access to housing or education. They cite (Haworth & Manzi, 1999) who explored how a ‘moral underclass discourse’ had significant influence over the UK housing system and its parallels with Australia’s housing situation. According to (Arthurson and Jacobs, 2004) policies regarding homelessness and social housing tend to target what authorities believe is anti-social behaviour.
A moral underclass is created and characteristics assigned to them which set them apart from normal house buyers, such as the propensity to engage in drug addiction, crime and teenage pregnancies (Watt & Jacobs 2000), reflecting the neoliberal approach of current governments to privatise social housing, their allocations and rental assistance.
Findings from the SAAP found a relationship between the factors of childhood abuse and neglect, homelessness and criminal activity. It found that every year 100,000 children and young adults access homelessness services. (AHIW, 2012) found that early childhood maltreatment lead to a higher chance of entering the sectors of child protection services, criminal activity and juvenile supervision and thus were at risk of social exclusion.
Recent Developments
Homelessness Australia has cataloged many sources from news and legislation, about the government’s methods of dealing with homelessness. As established earlier, a neoliberal stance allows the government to justify cutting welfare programs by blaming the individual instead of devoting funding. According to (HA, 2014), there are at least 180 services under the umbrella of the National Partnership Agreement on Homelessness (NPAH), which is due to expire on June 30th and during which Prime Minister Tony Abbott issued a statement saying that they were not going to let people down.
However in the light of many cuts to welfare services, the future of homelessness services looks uncertain, with organisations unable to keep staff and commit to programs and plans. This comes at a time when a City of Sydney report shows that 26% more people are sleeping on the streets than last year( COS, 2014). An article in the Sydney Morning Herald seemed to support the idea of neoliberal undertones in the government’s actions, stating that in contrast to the $ 29 Million dollars cut to federal funding for the NPAH, ‘Tony Abbott's generous paid parental leave scheme and the health insurance rebates for middle-class and wealthy Australians seem indulgent by contrast’ (SMH, 2014).
Homelessness Australia expressed further concern on International Women’s Day by contrasting the Prime Ministers continued silence on the scrapping of the NPAH with the fact that more than 45,000 women and young girls are homeless, many due to domestic abuse and family violence.
Concluding Recommendations
Given the neoliberal approach of the current government to welfare and the negative influence of the print media in Australia, the future of homelessness seems very grim. Nonetheless various scholars and welfare organisations have suggested numerous ways to better combat homelessness. To combat intergenerational homelessness, (Flautal et al, 2013) suggested the government focus on early intervention and management of mental health issues while also not forgetting that intergeneration homelessness cannot be assumed to be present in all cases.
In their study of mental illness, the NYCH identified that homeless folk requested access from across the country through many stand alones services such as drug and alcohol programs, support and living skills programs, community development and clinical medical health programs. NYCH recommended that a more cohesive network between the numerous programs and organisations throughout Australia be constructed so as accumulate and store enough comprehensive data for the social services to analyse and thus the act accordingly.
In 2006, the (Chamberlain and Mackenzie, 2008) reviewed the ABS methodology in the Census, proposing that the ABS focus more on the underprivileged sections of the homeless such as youth, women escaping domestic violence and the indigenous community. They recommended that come 2016, the consultation of academics, social workers and homeless themselves be included. They also endorse a new classification for seasonal workers and back packers to be counted despite not having a permanent address. Collaborative work with the Department of Immigration and new migrants was also suggested.
Overall homelessness is not a static experience and much work remains to be done to combat it. However all suggestions and recommendations are futile unless the Government reconsiders its funding cuts to important programs and organisations who work extremely hard to assist the vulnerable and the needy of our society.
- Word Count: 2036
REFERENCES
Australian Human Rights Commission, 2008, Homelessness is a Human Rights Issue, AHRC, Sydney
Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2006, Australian Census Analytic Program: Counting the Homeless, ABS, Australia.
Australian Human Rights Commission, 2008, Homelessness is a Human Rights Issue, AHRC, Sydney
Carson, Edgar & Kerr, Lorraine, Australian social policy and the human services, 2013, Cambridge Port Melbourne, Vic. Cambridge University Press
Chris Chamberlain and David MacKenzie, 2008 Counting the Homeless, Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Catalogue No. 2050.0.
City of Sydney, 2014, Street Count, viewed 11/04/2014, http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/community/community-support/homelessness/street-count
Chung, D. and C. Zufferey, 2006, Representations of Homelessness in the Australian Print Media:
Some Implications for Social Policy, Just Policy, No. 42, Adelaide.
Flatau, P., Conroy, E., Spooner, C., Edwards, R., Eardley, T. and C. Forbes, 2013, ‘Lifetime and intergenerational experiences of homelessness in Australia, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute, Monash University, Melbourne.
Greenhalgh, E. & Minnery, R. 2007 ‘Approaches to Homelessness Policy in Europe, the United States, and Australia’ Journal of Social Issues, Vol. 63, pp. 641—655
Haworth, A. & Manzi, T. (1999) ‘Managing the underclass’: interpreting the moral discourse of housing management’, Urban Studies, 36 (1), 153–165.
Homelessness Australia, Creating a framework for ending homelessness, 2012, HA, Lyneham, viewed 11 April 2014, <http://www.homelessnessaustralia.org.au/index.php/about-homelessness/homeless-statistics>
Homelessness (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2013 (Cwlth), viewed 11 April 2014, http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22legislation%2Fems%2Fr5091_ems_42fb31e2-d476-4a30-b679-e0487a6bcf01%22
Homelessness Australia, Exploring the links between homelessness, mental illness and psychological distress, 2011, HA, Lyneham, viewed 11 April 2014, <http://www.homelessnessaustralia.org.au/UserFiles/File/Policy/Policy%202012/States%20of%20being%20evidence%20based%20policy%20paper%20mental%20illness%20and%20homelessness%20for%20FaHCSIA(1).pdf>
National Youth Coalition for Housing 2000, Media Release: Mental Illness - The hidden crisis of homeless young Australians, prepared by the National Youth Coalition for Housing , NYCH, Redfern.
SMH, 2014, ‘Concern for the homeless amid Abbott's cost-cutting, Sydney Morning Herald, viewed 8 March, http://www.smh.com.au/comment/smh-editorial/concern-for-the-homeless-amid-abbotts-costcutting-20140308-34dzw.html
