Should The Victorian Government Increase Homelessness At Home?

Imagine having nowhere to go when it starts to get dark or starts raining outside. Imagine sleeping with no roof over your head. This is the reality for over 22,000 Aussies living in Victoria right now. I strongly believe that the Victorian government should be doing more about the growing homeless population in our state right now. The rate of homelessness has risen 20.7% since 2006 and if we don’t start doing something now that number is just going to keep growing.

Firstly, let’s define homeless. Pretty much as you expect it means someone who doesn’t have a home and is living on the streets. This can be anyone from any age group and any aspect of life; most of which are from the 25-34 age group. Can you imagine living on the street at our age? Well this is the reality that 2283 teens aged from 12-18 are facing right now in Victorian towns and unless we do something about it, those kids are going to be growing
But the most common reason is from domestic violence and relationship issues. Woman and children, who are most commonly, subject to family violence, are vulnerable to homelessness and the traditional focus of social policy has been supporting them to leave these situations of family violence. Even though this is what is best for the family, it is putting pressure on the people leaving to find somewhere to go. Some people may have family or friends they can stay with, but they can’t live their forever and this is adding stress to the public housing system in Victoria. The government is saying that they are investing $82.6 million in getting better resources to deal with these situations and give resources where they are most needed and will make the biggest difference. So if this is true, then where are the thousands of homes and jobs needed to give these people a chance at a normal life? Why are we selling off all the land we have to international buyers when we need it for our own people