Melbourne’s Homelessness through the Eyes of Volunteers

Meanwhile the government is temporarily removing the working hour limitation for student visa holders and recently increasing skilled migrant cap both to address Australia’s workforce shortages, homelessness is flaring up in Australia’s biggest cities, including Melbourne.

Australian mainstream media have covered the government’s perspectives and policies regarding the increase of homelessness in Melbourne. Now it is time to hear from the people who are directly involved in the situation — the volunteers.

Every Sunday afternoon in froState Library Victoria, a band of young people can be seen gathering and assembling tables, tents, while serving assorted goods from second hand clothing, fresh products, hot drinks, and meals. They are the Community Union Defence League (CUDL), a community group under the Australian Communist Party (ACP).

Through their volunteer-based Street Kitchen program, they are providing support for the homeless community in Melbourne CBD. The homeless community in the area, being very familiar with the program, has always gathered from 2pm expecting the volunteers.

“CUDL has been operating nationally for three years now, and we’ve served over 70,000 meals Australia wide,” Tahlia Torcasio, a member of the social media team of CUDL and ACP, said referring to other branches of the charity in New South Wales, South Australia, and Queensland.

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, the causes of homelessness may include domestic violence, mental illness, trauma, and substance misuse. Tahlia said that the common cause she and her community encountered is drug and alcohol addiction.

“A lot of the people that we serve are intoxicated, a lot of people you can tell are quite distressed. Sometimes some fights break out and we had to intervene,” Tahlia said.

On the other side of the city, The Humble Mission, a charity founded by Dr Shaymaa Elkadi and her brother, set up a “market” for the people from the homeless communities every Saturday afternoon.

“Because that to us was really important, in terms of giving people dignity in what they were able to choose and pick for themselves,” Dr Elkadi said explaining why her charity chose to set up the market instead of giving away hampers of products.

In the beginning of September, the federal government has decided to increase the skilled migration cap to 195,000 and alongside the temporary removal of working hour limitation for student visa holders since July, unemployment rate all over Australia is rapidly decreasing as skilled workers from outside of Australia are coming in.

Paula Holden, the non-executive director of Orange Sky, said that the government’s policy in increasing the cap for skilled migrant might create housing problems for homelessness,

“What we're finding in Australia though is that we don't have enough housing for the population and then obviously increasing our migration policy, which is helping us with our workforce issues, is creating other problems around housing and therefore we just don’t have enough houses,” Paula said

In addressing the possible reason why the government is doing more to invite workers from outside of Australia instead of absorbing people from the homeless communities into the workforce, Dr Elkadi because it easier.

“If you take somebody who's had a serious mental illness, who's been homeless for some years, it takes a long time and in intensive effort to get them back into the right, like the position in which they can work,” Dr Elkadi said. “That's not to say they're not worth doing. It's not worth doing. But it's not the easy fix. It's not the easy solution.”

Dr Elkadi also said that society not being tolerant towards the people from homeless communities is one of the difficulties in the fight to eradicate homelessness through employment.

“So you've got this massive divide between businesses wanting a ready-made worker and you've got people who've lost their real skills and they don't have any clothes to show up to an interview. They don't have internet on their phones, so how do they search for a job?” Dr Elkadi said. She also added that the people from homeless communities are also isolated from the initiatives around workforce.

Addressing isolation issue, Paula Holden said that her organisation, Orange Sky, is providing a platform for the volunteers and the people from homeless communities to connect on top of providing shower and laundry services.

“Our way is actually connecting communities,” she said. “It's the conversations and the connection that we have with individuals who are experiencing homelessness, so it's about being that trusted partner.”

Other than drug and alcohol misuse, housing issues, the people from homeless communities not having the expected traits for employment, intolerance from society, and isolation, government’s reluctancy to absorb people from the homeless communities into the workforce due to economic reasons is also considered to be a factor in the increase of homelessness.

“It’s probably more expensive. The number of people that are homeless, you need to provide them with housing. To provide them with their physical and mental health care,” Dr Elkadi said addressing the issue. However, she also noted that research to look into the actual cost of absorbing the homeless people compared to the cost of increasing homelessness needs to be done to get the government’s attention on the issue.

“A cost benefit analysis of what it costs to be homeless to society, community, and economy in terms of services and supports versus what it costs to actually make them work ready now. The cost might seem today higher to get them work-ready, but in the long run what you're achieving might be quite significant. You're investing forward,” Dr Elkadi said.

Tahlia, a member of CUDL and ACP, said that the charity and the party advocate for a world where housing is deemed as human right and that people should not be “pushed into poverty just because they lack access to a job”.

Paula also added that the government needs to do more to get people ready, skilled, and empowered to participate in the workforce.

“But will it ever be enough? I don’t know. My biggest dream is that there isn't a need for the likes of Orange Sky, but at the end of the day I don't think it will ever go away,” Paula said.

Reference List

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2022) Homelessness and homelessness services, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Australian Government, accessed 20 August 2022. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-welfare/homelessness-and-homelessness-services

Community Union Defence League (2022) Community Union Defence League, accessed 28 August 2022. https://www.cudl.org.au/

Department of Home Affairs (2022) Migration Program planning levels, Department of Home Affairs, Australian Government, accessed 27 August 2022. https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/what-we-do/migration-program-planning-levels

Department of Home Affairs (2022) Temporary relaxation of working hours for student visa holders, Department of Home Affairs, Australian Government, accessed 27 August 2022. https://immi.homeaffairs.gov.au/visas/getting-a-visa/visa-listing/student-500/temporary-relaxation-of-working-hours-for-student-visa-holders

Orange Sky Australia (2022) Orange Sky Australia, accessed 27 August 2022. https://orangesky.org.au/

The Humble Mission (2022) Creating an ecosystem of kindness across Melbourne, The Humble Mission, accessed 28 August 2022. https://www.thehumblemission.com/