Robbed, assaulted and hungry: The harsh reality of sleeping rough

A once homeless Sydney woman has revealed the abject fear and danger that goes with living on the street as new data reveals some startling figures about the crisis.

Kellyanne Luke was homeless but has turned her life aorund. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

Underneath the glass skyscrapers, high-end fashion stores and trendy restaurants of the glittering harbour city, thousands of people are struggling to make ends meet, with some forced to fight for their lives on the streets.

Kellyanne Luke had first been forced to live on the street at the age of 15 and never expected to find herself back there at 50-years-old. Fleeing from family violence and battling alcohol addiction, Ms Luke faced an often frightening life on the streets before she was able to find a more permanent home 15 months ago.

Ms Luke’s experience is far from rare, with an increasing number of women fleeing violence forced onto the streets. New data from the Salvation Army Australia shows more than half of the country’s most vulnerable people have had to skip meals with 1 in 20 forced to eat from rubbish bins.

A survey of 3,586 people who received support from the charity revealed 55 per cent had to skip meals while 23 per cent had to eat expired or spoiled food to avoid going hungry.

More than 62 per cent of parents reported going without food so their kids could eat while 43 per cent couldn’t afford essentials like nappies or baby formula.

Kellyanne Luke, pictured at Salvation Army Maroubra, was first forced to live on the street at age 15. Now she is a barista. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

For Ms Luke, her time on the street was harsh and filled with fear. She would often sleep around Martin Place in Sydney’s CBD with only her staffordshire terrier Fate for company.

“There were nights where you went without a feed or I had to feed my dog before me or sometimes we’d share a feed,” she said.

“You go hungry, you get dirty.

“I have been robbed on the streets, I have been assaulted on the streets, I’ve had to stand up and fight for myself, for my position, for where I slept.

“You have to know the safe places to sleep, where you can leave your belongings while you visit services without being robbed. Sometimes I would hide my bedding in bins so it would look like rubbish.”

During her stint of homelessness Ms Luke did not tell her adult children she was facing hardship.

“I dressed myself and did the best to make myself look normal, which I really wasn’t – I was falling apart. I just couldn’t let my children know that,” she said.

Ms Luke, who now volunteers for the Salvation Army and has retrained as a barista, said homelessness can happen to anyone, with some people finding it safer to live on the streets than at home. She said while there were many government programs to support the vulnerable with 28 days emergency accommodation, there was not enough housing to support people after that time lapses.

“Twenty-eight days later you have to find your own place and they put you on the top of the priority housing list, which you’re still waiting on two or three years later,” she said.

Despite the harsh and often scary life on the streets, Ms Luke said she also met a lot of good people.

In her earlier years, before her time sleeping rough, Ms Luke said she met a man in Chinatown who had recently become homeless after losing his job and his home.

“He wore these shiny brown shoes and I saw that the suit he was wearing was discoloured and a little bit dirty and I could see he had been sleeping rough,” she said.

Ms Luke said she sat and chatted with him, giving him some food and $20.

Years later, when Ms Luke found herself on the streets, she said she met the man again.

“I was outside Woolworths near Town Hall and this gentleman he comes past and drops some money into my hat … and I noticed his shiny brown shoes,” she said.

The number of homeless people living rough is growing. Picture: Richard Dobson

“I look up into this man’s face and he’s clean shaven and he’s real slick and businesslike and he says ‘Hi Kelly, how are you? Do you remember me?”

Ms Luke said the man returned the money she had given him years ago, saying he hoped it would help her like she had helped him. She said that meeting kept her going through some of her darkest times.

“You’ve just got to get to know people, give them the time and look past that they are homeless or they are doing it rough. Take five minutes and say ‘how are you today’.”

Salvation Army head of communications Major Bruce Harmer said the level of hardship in the community was “heartbreaking”.

“It is truly shocking in a country like Australia that we are seeing these devastating numbers. No one should be forced to eat expired food or to eat out of rubbish bins,” he said.

“Those presenting to us are some of the most marginalised and disadvantaged in our community, and the Salvos are there to not only bridge the gap, but to walk alongside Aussies doing it tough to see real change in their lives, and we need the support of the Australian public to help us do this.”

Originally published as Robbed, assaulted and hungry: The harsh reality of sleeping rough