years away from making it a reality.” Having just returned from a study trip around Europe and North America, David feels Australia is falling behind. “All across those countries, they talk about having strategies to end homelessness, and in Finland they’ve almost achieved it. “They’re the closest country in the world to doing so, while in Glasgow they’ve got no more than 10 people sleep- ing rough on any given night, compared to Australia where we’ve got thousands,” he explains. “It is possible to end homelessness, but you’ve got to have the ambition to do that. You’ve got to have a welfare system that works, and a social housing system. “Most European countries have a policy saying they want to end homeless- ness, which we don’t, but to be clear that doesn’t mean that no-one will be home- less, ever, it’s more that if it does happen it’s rare, it’s brief, so people experience it for the shortest possible time, and it’s non-recurring, so it only happens to some- one once,” he says. LESSONS FROM AMERICA As for the US, while places like Skid Row in LA and the city of New York are notori- ous for their homeless populations, more than two dozen smaller communities across America “have effectively ended chronic homelessness”. Sharon agrees it would be a huge step for an Australian government to make a commitment to ending homelessness, not just ideologically but practically. “When a government sets a target it really galvanises action around it. Some local governments in Australia – as they have in some areas of the US – committed to ending homelessness and some states are making that effort, too; NSW has a target to reduce street sleeping, for one,” she says. “We know what the answers are; we need to build more social housing and to make sure that people on welfare are getting enough money to pay their rent, and to be able to eat.”
SHARE THE LOVE: PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS AND SUPPORT
I t might sound like a throwback to the days of our youth, or something for truly mature-aged university students, but an increasing number of older Australians are rediscovering the world of homesharing in the face of rising housing costs. To meet the demand, there are now a number of websites that are targeted at older people looking for a housemate. Those sites dedicated to helping older Australians find a suitable home to share include downsizing.com.au , Queensland’s bettertogetherhousing.com.au, which is designed for women over 55, or you can visit Homeshare Australia & New Zealand Alliance ( hanza. org.au/homeshare-programs ) for agencies near you. Meanwhile, you can filter results for housesharing sites such as flatmates.com.au by age (40-plus) or ‘retirees’. A spokesperson for the flatshare site tells DARE its 45-65-year-old demographic has increased 10% in the past year – while the 18-35 demographic fell by 10%. “Our older sharers are now looking at their spare rooms gathering dust and they’re saying, ‘I could be earning some extra revenue off this spare room’ and are renting these out to a flatmate, to help offset all of the rate rises we’ve seen this year.” House sharing can not only cut costs – for both the homeowner/leaseholder as well as the tenant – but help to expand your friendship group. If you, or someone you know, is facing a housing crisis, there is support available. Organisations such as Mission Australia (missionaustralia.com.au) , Australian Red Cross (redcross.org.au) and Salvation Army (salvationarmy.org.au) offer a number of programs to try and help those in danger of becoming homeless, both in terms of rental assistance or finding alternative accommodation. For a state-by-state list of other support services that can help, visit Homelessness Australia ( homelessnessaustralia.org.au).
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DARE SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2023
SENIORS.COM.AU
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