The ‘cashless society’ has had unintended consequences. According to the ABC, homeless people are finding harder to bet tge money they need to survive.
Morgan, a homeless man from Melbourne told the ABC that some passer – bys ask him his PayID when he asks for money. Some people buy him grocery gift cards, rather than him cash.
They usually go to a supermarket like Woolworths or Coles and buy me a gift card so that we can walk in and buy what we need.
Morgan prefers people giving cash. It helps people like him get what they need without restriction:
A lot of us like me [sic] haven’t got bank cards or EFTPOS cards to use [making us] really restricted from buying what we want and need.
Experts on homelesness agree. Monetary donations can be essential for a homeless person.
Impact of COVID-19
During the pandemic, the government offered homeless people temporary accommodation. Unfortunately, this ended when restrictions started being lifted.
To Morgan, it proved that the government can offer rough sleepers adequate accommodation if they want to.
A snapshot on homelessness in Australia
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) offers a snapshot of homelessness.
However, there is little (if any) hard figures on how many people are currently homeless.
The Salvation Army provided these figures based on the 2021 Census:
- Victoria has the highest rate of people seeking assistance due to homelessness (37%)
- 1 in 64 people in Victoria are seeking assistance
- In New South Wales, 1 in 118 are seeking assistance.
This is only a small snapshot and is lacking context. It obviously doesn’t count people who don’t access assistance.
What is classed as ‘homeless’?
Homelessness is more than sleeping on the street. According to the Salvation Army, homelessness includes:
- Inadequate housing
- Have no property, either own or rented
- Doesn’t have a place where inhabitants have freedom to interact with friends and family.
Causes
The causes of homelessness include:
- Poverty and having a low income: this probably includes some of tge ‘middle – class too.
- Mental illness: According to the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI), the Journeys Home Survey revealed that 78% of people who were in “chronic instability” homelessness were diagnosed with mental illnesses. 61% were staying with friends or family.
Additionally, last year, the Sydney Morning Herald revealed that people increasingly had to choose between paying rent and therapy.
- Being subjected to justice system: serving prison time and homelessness is linked. According to CEO of Jesuit Social Services, Julie Edwards, a third of prisoners in Victoria are homeless, almost immediately
- Discrimination and being in a marginalised group: The Salvation Army claims that a high proportion of homeless people are: people from a non – English speaking background, women over fifty – five, LGBTQ+ people and people with disabilities
What is the solution?
It’s clear that homelessness is a serious problem. What is the solution?
According to the ABC, stigma towards the homeless is a problem. Stugma causes worse mental and physical health. Poor mental health and homelessness can be a vicious cycle.
An obvious solution pointed out by ABC is increased affordable and social housing.
People who face homelessness also need empathy and compassion. Lizzy, a woman who experienced homelessness, told the ABC:
[Compassion is] one of the most important things. To listen to someone, to not judge them, and just show them respect – that’s often all someone’s looking for
Homelessness is a big issue. It takes governments and individuals having the will to help people out. And it all starts with destigmatising the marginalised. Mental illness services need to be fixed. And, of course, there needs to be more affordable housing.