Homelessness hub in Toowoomba a positive step

GIVEN the high rate of homelessness in Toowoomba, the importance of a new homelessness hub from the State Government should not be understated.

FILE IMAGE. Picture: Thinkstock

GIVEN the high rate of homelessness in Toowoomba, the importance of a new homelessness hub from the State Government should not be understated.  

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, there were 493 homeless people living in the Toowoomba Regional Council area.   

That's 493 people who can benefit from a location where they can access multiple services under the one roof.  

This will be the first of its kind in Queensland - and hopefully one of many to come.  

There also needs to be a push to reduce the rate of homelessness in our smaller towns.  

While the number of homeless people in Toowoomba has remained mostly unchanged from 2011 to 2016, the same cannot be said for some smaller local government areas.  

According to the ABS data, the number of homeless people in the Western Downs Regional Council area jumped from 60 to 104.   

In the South Burnett Regional Council, the number of homeless people more than doubled - from 78 in 2011 to 183 in 2016.  

We have to make sure these smaller regions are considered when discussing homelessness across the state.

Originally published as Homelessness hub in Toowoomba a positive step