It’s fair to say that homelessness is at crisis point in Australia. According to the 2006 census, almost 105,000 Australians were homeless on any given night.
And the problem clearly hasn’t disappeared over the past six years, with more than 91,000 Australians seeking assistance from specialist homeless services in the three months to September 2011. One in five of those people were aged under ten.
A group of academics from Deakin University's School of Law today called on the Australian Senate to pass laws to allow marriage equality.
The submission noted that the realisation of the rights to non-discrimination and equality are fundamental to a free and democratic society. Conversely, discrimination and inequality result in social exclusion, poor health outcomes, entrenched poverty and disadvantage, violence and other negative outcomes.
Phil* became homeless after his partner died and his house was repossessed. He cycled through shelters and crisis accommodation, dangerous rooming houses, and the couches of friends and families.
After several months, Phil hit the jackpot and was accepted into transitional housing. As the name suggests, transitional housing is short- to medium-term housing to assist people transition from homelessness into long-term housing.
Phil was excited to move into the house. On the day he moved in, he was handed a lease, a set of keys and a 120-day eviction notice. ‘It’s just how we ensure that we can evict you when we need to,’ explained his housing worker.
We all make mistakes: often they are embarrassing or hurtful, sometimes they have more serious consequences. However, where the police and courts get involved, they can have long-lasting impact on people’s lives.
Discrimination on the ground that a person has a criminal record is widespread in Victoria, particularly in obtaining and maintaining employment. There has been a significant increase in the number of criminal record checks undertaken in Victoria: Victoria Police data shows a 6000 per cent increase in checks between 1992-93 and 2003-04. Indeed, in the employment sphere, ‘criminal record checks are fast becoming a routine part of the recruitment process’. In this context, it is increasingly concerning that laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of a person’s irrelevant criminal record lack any real teeth.
This week, global attention has turned to wartime atrocities committed by Ugandan rebel leader Joseph Kony. This has been driven by a social media campaign launched by Invisible Children – in its first three days, the Kony2012 campaign’s YouTube video had been viewed over 40 million times.
The criminal offence of begging should be abolished.
Criminalising begging is tantamount to criminalising poverty. It perpetuates, rather than alleviates, the marginalisation and disadvantage experienced by people who beg. It also violates the fundamental human rights of some of the most vulnerable in our society.
On the streets of Geelong and Melbourne, and around the world, we often feel uncomfortable when people ask us for money.
It seems as though the number of people begging on our streets is increasing, and I'm sure many of us struggle to know how to respond to people we don't know asking us for money.
It would surprise many of us to learn that begging is a crime in Victoria, and that people can be imprisoned for up to two years if found guilty.
As we prepare to share Christmas with our families, we're thankful that we have a roof over our head, food on our table, and family and friends to share the festive season with. Not everyone in our community is so lucky.
While much has been made of the fact that Nicola Roxon is our first female attorney-general, celebrations will be short-lived as Roxon faces significant tests in this new role.
