Chris Hayes (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Recently, in my electorate of Werriwa, I held a forum on homelessness and a number of people, including homeless people, service providers and community organisations across both the Campbelltown and the Liverpool regions attended. They all made a great contribution to the national debate on homelessness. The organisations and agencies represented included the New South Wales Police, Liverpool and Campbelltown city councils, Allawah House, Ingleburn Rotary Club, Macarthur Diversity Services, St Vincent de Paul, Marcia Women’s Refuge, Uniting Care Burnside, Stepping Stone Community, the Parramatta Mission’s Miller Campus and various elements of the local media.

The forum identified the challenges faced by both our local people who find themselves homeless and the various providers who are committed to breaking the cycle of homelessness. Of particular relevance to the forum was hearing from two young women, Lynette and Nazhia, both 17 years of age, who for different reasons had found themselves homeless. Both girls spoke very bravely about their circumstances and ended by taking the opportunity to thank the local community for their support and understanding.

However, during this forum, the point was made that no single service for homelessness is available in south-west Sydney for young males. Earlier this year, when visiting the crisis accommodation provided at Allawah House, I was fortunate in having the opportunity of spending time talking with the two young women I have mentioned already—this is where they had been accommodated—and some of their colleagues there. These young women described their backgrounds and also expressed their concern for their brothers and male friends who had nowhere to go, even though these young men had found themselves homeless for a reason almost identical to that of the girls, which was domestic violence.

Early intervention is critical because the last thing we want to see is the police arresting young boys and then committing them into the juvenile justice system. Quite frankly, increased policing is not the answer for homelessness. Alarmingly, one of the main concerns contributing to homelessness that was raised during the forum was the rate of domestic violence that we are experiencing in the south-west of Sydney. Extraordinary pressures are being placed on our local service providers. The local police readily verify what the New South Wales crime statistics show—that there is an unacceptably high number of apprehended domestic violence orders in Sydney, as they apply in the outer metropolitan areas of Sydney in particular. Of importance to the service providers was the availability of appropriate funding to ensure that there are sufficient qualified social workers, personnel and trained volunteers to assist particularly young women and children in crisis. We need to ensure that victims of domestic violence are not the potential subjects of recurring homelessness. This needs to be done at all levels of government in order to address this issue.

Assistance for young people to take part in education, training and employment services was also seen to be a vital component in the strategy to fight the root causes of homelessness for young people. The emphasis on education is critical not only in building and establishing one’s position in the community but also in building self-esteem and broadening the options for young people. Young people facing homelessness need extra support to participate in education and training. As a couple of homeless kids indicated to me, the normal assistance provided by parents, such as helping with homework et cetera, is taken for granted. In their case, when they were living in a refuge, they felt they needed extra support in order to keep up with the rigours of normal education. In respect of that support, I would like to mention Michael and Robin Kidd, who are both members of the Ingleburn Rotary Club. More importantly, they both retired as the principals of two local high schools last year. They now go and visit Allawah House and Harold Lodge and tutor young kids in their homework in order to keep them engaged in the education system.

This is an issue of major concern. When I look at the statistics in my immediate area, I see that there are some 200 to 400 young people who are homeless at night. This is something that we must focus on, and we must do it now. (Time expired)