Homelessness In Australia

In Australia, homelessness is a widespread problem. Various researchers reported that homeless person is someone who bears the massive burden of economic and mental illness as well as high rates of acute medical services. This paper aims to present an outline of homelessness in Australia along with the conditions of common health issues present among the vagrant people and the provision of clinical care and unemployment to the homeless population. Relevant political traditions related to homelessness is also outlined. Different approaches to treating the issue of homelessness through the social policy are also discussed in detail. It is also discussed the social policy of homelessness in the light of ethical and value conduct.
It has been
defined that homeless is ‘any person, family or household that has no fixed address or security of tenure.’ (Fopp, 2009) However, the estimation of people who are homeless is still in debate since the presence of the individuals on the highways or streets or the individuals who stay with others in the chronic situations is unknown but it is around 105,237 homeless people in Australia. The problems represented are the homeless individuals might face difficulty in affording the medications or other supplies that are not covered in the plans of the state health policy. It is observed that there isn’t enough general practitioners in areas where the population of the homeless people tends to be in a high ratio especially in rural areas. Moreover, the homeless individuals may come across the psychological disorders and barriers such as the distress for the refusal of care and stigmatisation against the providers of the healthcare facilities. Besides, the homeless people may also encounter the delay in the provision of the medical assistance due to their priorities. They may consider other necessities as the fundamental needs for their survival, for instance, shelter and food, instead of acquiring the medical facilities for homeless.
People value having reasonable health and a safe place to live in; however individuals in Australia may not have either of these aspects. Having poor health can be the reason to unemployment which results in homeless people to rely on welfare payments which creates a limit to their housing issue because of the affordability. Depending on health issues people may have; it can create a further limitation to housing because housing may be impractical for their health. When these people are in trouble some may turn to their friends and family for help or others would rely on councils or health services to provide a more safety net. However the support services have failed to provide assistance for people with more complex needs with housing and health problems.
The claims that are made by a capitalist approach is that there are numerous empty houses because the market circumstances would rather create a more beneficial for the owners. The owners and markets would rather keep the houses empty rather than let homelessness people live in them due to the system of capitalism where houses are not primarily built for people to live in, but are possessions produced for sale with a view to profit. Houses that are suitable and available for disabled homeless people landlords may be unwilling to invest extra money to adapt the housing to meet the individual needs. Because their primary focus is to gain profit rather than people ‘need’ it. Socialists argue that capitalism values profit more than human needs. Capitalism focuses on creating something that is useful and will sell for profit. Unlike socialism they focus on producing things because they are socially necessary. This is why people have to buy or rent their homes, so a profit for the landlord, banks, building societies and estate agencies can be assured.
The present economic system is based on the class system of owners who do not produce but earn the rewards of their labour. Until this situation is remedied, the reforms in society will never change the homelessness issue and the affliction of poverty and homelessness will remain within society. Due to the lack of resources in hospitals such as a shortage of beds, mental health staff or social workers and society operates largely under capitalism the economy could never support enough funding to meet everybody’s needs. Money is usually invested to create more wealth. Therefore ongoing problems with homelessness will remain. Whereas Socialists involves to analysis the structural causes of poverty.
From a socialist approach social programs need to abolish poverty by setting longer term goals such as individuals having full time employment, basic human needs such as housing and education and a unionised economy. Society values social and cooperative alternatives for the future. This would be an extension of universal forms of social provision but also an extension of democracy itself. Homelessness is an issue in society because it produces a stereotype label towards the individuals who are homeless and they will remain unemployable due to not having stable housing even if they are skilful. Therefore it leaves them disadvantaged in the job market due to less resources available to find better opportunities. Socialists believe that to eliminate homelessness it requires a lot of assistance from governments funding programs such as taxation to restructure wealth while a libertarian approach would be to allow for them to encourage themselves in the job market; free of government intervention. Liberals accept the existence of inequalities in society and believe that individuals are different and that these differences will have an effect on their abilities to acquire the goods they want. So depending on whether the government and the political traditions are optimistic or pessimistic it can be seen as a money going to waste or an investment into a growing work force.
Not having a suitable home is one problem however homeless people wellbeing suffers because of their disadvantages with accessing healthcare. Although there are no upfront charges to use the National Health Services and prescription fees are relinquished for people on a low income as they can have a health care card. The bureaucracy of the Australia’s National Health Service makes it hard for homeless people to navigate the system. The usual way to access healthcare is to make an appointment with the doctor, who can then make referrals to hospitals or clinics for particular treatment. However individuals need to register too see a doctor and individuals need a stable address, which creates the first barrier for homeless people. Without easy access to a doctor, medical conditions could go undiagnosed or untreated. As a result a homeless person’s health worsens.
The different claims about homelessness are the adoptions of primary importance to the wellbeing of homeless individuals to ensure the objective of the provision of specific needs to homeless people.
There are certain barriers that are prevalent for homeless people such as the individual having low literacy skills. Red cross Australia introduced a program to provide the primary care facilities to the homeless population where the assessment criteria include the adaptations to structures and delivery of necessary care to pledge the imposed barriers. This includes ensuring access to primary care with regular primary health care provision. It includes collaborating with the authorities of public health for the introduction of strategies to reduce harm. Supporting people by providing education and training support and teaching first aid skills. These connections will help individuals to break out the cycle of homelessness. To benefit the people for housing and entitlement, social work support is also provided. Access to appropriate electronic medical archives with the help of multiple providers is made possible. It includes planning discharge for hospital cooperation, including strategies to contact patients in future which is a promotion of continuity with coordination and
integration.
Rather than Homeless people being seen as people in need; they are seen as an economic problem.
If a homeless person is admitted to the hospital, they’re likely to stay there longer than the general population. Various studies have revealed that the health circumstances of homeless population for basic facilities are despondent. The conditions such as infections related to the respiratory system, traumas, mental disorders and health problems are very strongly contributing to the homelessness difficulties. The serious conditions such as high blood pressures, diabetes, and osteoarthritis, are, however, commonly found in both homeless and housed individuals, but the conditions become more severe in the case of the homeless people. The main reason for aggravated medical conditions of homeless individuals is due to the unavailability of access to regular health care and self-management facilities. Drugs and alcohol are often used as a coping strategy by homeless people, and heavy use can lead to infections and dependency on drugs which then creates a cycle and prolonged by addiction.
Changes in policies to deal with the issue of homelessness are constructed into the way society is structured. Society is structured under socialism as workers are free to own what they work and pay for and controlling their wealth that their labour generates. If society is compelled by economic forces instead of what people want and need, then some people unfortunately suffer. Increased funding, new
services, or reformed procedures may help a few people in the short-term, but they can’t address the causes of the problem.
There are a few alternative avenues for change from a socialism perspective; bureaucracy is the main issue faced by the homeless when attempts are made to improve their lives. ‘the bureaucracy remained an important site for advancing and supporting claims to basic human rights’ (Cook, 2001) Socialists have highlighted that fundamental issue is found that most of the homeless people express difficulty in obtaining assistance from relevant agencies due to issues such as not having a permanent home address, employment, identification documents, or marriage certificates and divorce certificates. The Social Welfare Department and related agencies should not reject them straight away and not rationalise basing opinions on reason and knowledge Instead, they should go down to the ground and investigate and see where they sleep instead of furthering trouble those who are already in difficulty. Bureaucracy looks at the ‘rules’ and the ‘procedure’. The public are not about to become homeless because they failed, but because the bureaucracy they depend on or were directed to, failed them. The bureaucratic structure is left unchanged, the focus then is how well the system is working. To change bureaucracy it is important to change the policy to do things differently than before.
Overall homeless is beyond just having a roof over the individuals head, the programs require the government and organisation to promote the healthy lifestyle at the national, international and community level by meeting the needs and requirements of the suffering individuals. Also, they would need to collaborate with other health authorities or professionals to overcome the concerns and needs of the homeless individuals concerning the health. For the purpose, the government should establish, maintain and improve the health care settings to provide the consistent and quality care in collaboration with the professional ethics and values. Therefore, the collective efforts should be implemented to overcome the hurdles and induce strategies for risk reduction.