Homeless Australians feel the winter chill

HOMELESS people from southern Australian states have hitchhiked north desperate to escape the freezing nights which have already killed at least one person.

. A Tweed Heads homeless man know as Adam for a story about homelessness on the Gold Coast in winter. Picture: JERAD WILLIAMS

HOMELESS people from southern Australian states have hitchhiked north desperate to escape the freezing nights, which appears to have already claimed at least one life.

Police in Sydney say a woman whose body was found on a walking track at Hornsby may have died from hypothermia and not been murdered as previously thought.

The 50-year-old had been “sleeping rough” and had been living in a nearby squat, Fairfax reported.

Many other homeless people have fled NSW and Victoria which have been smashed by a cold weather system that has brought snow, sleet and bitterly cold temperatures.

In Sydney it has plunged as low as 5C while in Melbourne it has been 2C.

Jason McDonald works with homeless people on the Gold Coast and has seen an influx of southerners who were hoping to beat the cold.

“They come by public transport or hitchhike. It’s too cold down there,” he told the Gold Coast Bulletin.

But the sudden rise in people needing help was placing a strain on resources.

“The problem is we don’t have enough emergency housing to help everyone out.”

Homeless people are really struggling with the cold winter.

And that could mean the southern refugees will be out in the cold. Because not even the Gold Coast has been immune to the cold snap with the mercury falling to 8C at Coolangatta.

Mr McDonald said economic pressures and the lack of affordable housing had combined to make life hard for many Australians.

“Add cold to the mix and it makes it really hard.”

Gold Coast homeless man Adam said, “life is really tough at the moment”.

“We try to find places that protect us from the rain and shelter us from the wind. When it gets really cold, I have to get up at 5.30am and start moving around to warm myself up.”

In Sydney, those homeless people who can’t leave are finding the harsh winter is taking its toll.

“They are struggling,” he said. “The rough sleepers are finding it tough. It’s about trying to find themselves shelter,” Paul Mackin said.

Commenting before the Hornsby death was ruled non suspicious, Mr Mackin said he was amazed someone hadn’t been killed.

“I’m surprised anyone hasn’t passed away. It’s very serious right across Sydney.”

Homelessness Australia estimates there are at least 105,237 people throughout Australia living rough, with just over half (56 per cent) being male.

When the figures are broken down further to separate where they are all staying, it shows a higher proportion of men are sleeping rough (68 per cent).

Every state has seen a rise in homeless people except Queensland and the Northern Territory since 2006.

Originally published as Homeless Australians feel the winter chill