Abuse, relationship breakdowns behind Geelong’s rising homelessness

Many of Geelong’s rough sleepers have been homeless for nearly six years, with a new study painting an alarming picture of the city’s growing crisis.

Give Where You Live CEO Bill Mithen at The Outpost dishing out some food. picture: Glenn Ferguson

Relationship breakdowns are driving Geelong’s rising homelessness, with a new survey finding most people sleeping rough are experiencing physical abuse.

The alarming new study found that participants had been sleeping on the streets for an average of nearly six years.

The Geelong Zero research, led by Neami National, identified 25 people sleeping rough in central Geelong on October 14.

Of those identified, 22 took part in an extensive survey and were added to data collection service – the By Name List.

Neami National spokesman Alastair Vick said the collaborative project aimed to end rough sleeping by 2025.

“Through a collective impact approach and an evidence-based strategy, we are working in partnership with other organisations to ensure that homelessness is rare, brief and non-reoccurring,” Mr Vick said.

Mr Vick said the data collection would help service providers gain an understanding of a person’s needs so they could be linked to appropriate services and ultimately be moved into a house.

“This is a small sample of the population who are sleeping rough and experiencing homelessness in the central Geelong area,” Mr Vick said

A number of factors influenced connecting with people sleeping rough … including flood warnings and difficulty accessing river sites.”

The survey found:

– NEARLY 70 per cent of people became homeless after a marriage breakdown.

– SEVENTY-SIX per cent said they experienced physical abuse while sleeping rough.

– ABOUT 40 per cent had debt concerns, and

– EIGHTY-SIX per cent felt disconnected from society.

Give Where You Live CEO Bill Mithen at The Outpost dishing out some food. picture: Glenn Ferguson

Other identified concerns included the prevalence of chronic health conditions, substance abuse and mental illness.

Mr Vick the rise in the cost of living and lack of affordable housing was contributing to the rise of people sleeping rough in the area.

Give Where You Live Foundation chief executive officer Bill Mithen said the region had “completely lacked” informative data about the region’s homeless community.

“This is one of the fundamental advantages of the Geelong Zero model – gaining the data of those people (experiencing homelessness) at the beginning is fundamental to helping them shift from homelessness to having a home,” Mr Mithen said.

“The data is the basis now of discussions that will be led by Neami where, dependent on the person or agency … to address the issues that are holding the rough sleeping in place (such as) addiction, mental health or domestic violence,” he said.

Mr Mithen said the number of people identified in the survey did not encapsulate everyone sleeping rough.

“Homelessness services have been inundated and overwhelmed for a long time,” he said.

“With a lack of public housing and the cost of living people are finding it really difficult to pay for housing,” he said.

He said the demand for help was higher than “ever before”, with more than 4000 people waiting for social housing.

Neami National will conduct ongoing surveys.

Originally published as Abuse, relationship breakdowns behind Geelong’s rising homelessness