AN American politician recently asked, how is it that a country as wealthy as the US has such a high homelesness rate? The same question might well be asked of Australia.
In what might be cynically construed as yet another meaningless inquiry, the Victorian Government has put together a cross platform committee to look at homelessness across the state.
Shepparton has the invidious tarnish, of having among the highest number of homeless in the state. The reasons are multitude. Substance abuse, mental health, economics and youthful rebellion, all have a bearing on our statistics.
The parliamentary panel, chaired by Reason Party leader, Fiona Patten and included local Members for Northern Victoria, Tanya Maxwell and Wendy Lovell, aims to provide an independent analysis of the changing scale and nature of homelessness. Member for Shepparton District, Suzanna Sheed attended as did the Mayor of Greater Shepparton, Seema Abdullah and councillor, Kim O’Keeffe who also addressed the hearing.
While the answer might be slightly more than obvious, the panel will report in two or three months from which the government might take another six months to respond and elect to do anything. The attendees at the hearing pointed in the direction of lack of welfare services, lack of available and affordable social housing and their own personal tragedies all playing a part.
What is required is housing appropriate to the need and suitable for the different stages of homelessness. For some, a simple room with basic amenities would suffice, for those with family, something more is required. The argument that some developments are inadequate falls flat in view of the options of living under a bridge, in a car or in a tent in the bush.
Ms Patten indicated that the biggest constraints to solving the problem are money and planning restrictions, however these are both government impositions and they are the ones who might make the changes. The question is, will they and if so, when?
