The Rise of homelessness in Elderly Australians 1

THE RISE OF HOMELESSNESS IN ELDERLY AUSTRALIANS

 The Rise of homelessness in Elderly Australians 2

Table of Contents

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 3

Discussion ....................................................................................................................................... 3

Idea 1: Statistics of Homeless people in Australia.....................Error! Bookmark not defined.

Evidence/Elaboration .................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.

Idea 2: Reasons behind the increasing condition of homelessnessError! Bookmark not

defined.

Evidence/Elaboration .................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.

Idea 3: Support services for the homeless elderly Australians ..Error! Bookmark not defined.

Evidence/Elaboration .................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.

Idea 4: Theoretical or model-based explanation ........................Error! Bookmark not defined.

Evidence/Elaboration .................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.

Idea 5: Consequences of homeless condition ............................Error! Bookmark not defined.

Evidence/Elaboration .................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.

Idea 6: Government initiatives for homeless Australians ..........Error! Bookmark not defined.

Evidence/Elaboration .................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.

Conclusion .................................................................................................................................... 11

Reference List ............................................................................................................................... 13

The Rise of homelessness in Elderly Australians 3
 The Rise of homelessness in Elderly Australians 4

Introduction

From the past few decades, the event of homelessness becomes a considerable social issue in

many developed and developing countries, as it leads to the occurrence of economic downturn,

enhancement in poverty, and causing family dysfunction. From the year 2002, the percentage of

worldwide homelessness raised to 69%. However, people living normally have several

misconceptions about the reasons, effects, and issues related with homelessness. Therefore, it is

necessary to provide attention on the proficient elements having direct relationship with

homelessness, especially from the Australian contexts. The essay would possibly discuss about

the problematic situations of the homeless elderly people living in different regions of Australia,

along with the shedding light on the causes, consequences, and overcoming strategies.

Discussion

As per the census statistical data, it can be stated that the percentage of homeless elderly people

living in Australia has increased up to 14% in the previous 5 years, and the major increment is

observed in New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland. Besides this, the data represented by

Australian Bureau of Statistics states that in the year 2016, the number of homeless people in

Australia became around 116, 000, which means that at least 50 people were homeless in every

10,000 people.

Apart from this, it is also evident that in Australia, there are a population, who can be considered

as the ‘invisible homeless’. This term actually means that people living on restraint amount of

resources, as 51,000 people get accommodation facilities of around 10,000 population, which is

passively turned into the homeless condition (Australia's homelessness worsening, census data

shows, 2018). As per the data represented by different Australian government websites, most of
 The Rise of homelessness in Elderly Australians 5

the homeless people, around 18% of the population, lives in the supported accommodations

arranged by different political bodies or NGOs, among which 15% are living in the temporary

households.

On the other hand, it is evident that the dwellings remain severely overcrowded, as

approximately 44% of the homeless elderly people try to live inside the dwellings. Apart from

this, around 7% of the Australian homeless aged population lives in boarding houses, tents, or

other temporary lodging arrangements. Furthermore, it is proved that most of the homeless aged

people, around 18%, belongs from the age group of 25-34, whereas 15% and 12% belongs from

the age group of 19-24 and 35-44, respectively (Homelessness statistics | Homelessness

Australia, 2019).

Apart from the above events, there are certain facts, which are less familiar to the modern

population. For example, it is already observed that there might be about 116,427 homeless

people in any one specific given night; among which 43,552 people belong from under 25 age

whereas around 18625 people belong from the age group over 55 years. However, an unfortunate

fact is also that among the entire homeless population, about 7% of the Australian people live

and sleep on streets or roads. Another cruel reality of this homeless condition is that there are

around 15,872 children currently living in Australia under the age of 12 years, who are homeless

(5 facts you didn’t know about homelessness, 2018). Therefore, it can be stated that it is

necessary to understand the exact reasons behind such increasing percentage of homelessness in

Australia.

As per the evidence represented by different reporter and researchers, it can be stated that

homelessness cannot be considered as a choice of people, it is a certain disadvantageous

 The Rise of homelessness in Elderly Australians 6

condition of human’s life. Along with this, it can be considered as one of the most significant

marker regarding the social exclusion (Why are people homeless? |The Salvation Army

Australia, 2019). Through expanding the aspects of homelessness in the modern Australian

settings, it can be stated that there are certain internal and external reasons regarding the

homeless condition of Australian population.

For example, some common reasons behind this situation is unemployment, family crisis, non-

affordable housing provisions, large section of youth as well LGBTQ, less supportive networks,

mental or physical health issue, or the issue of substance use. Among this, domestic violence can

be considered as one of the main reason related with Australian homeless elderly population, and

this is mostly related with the elderly women population living in the current Australian societies

and communities.

As per the statement of Gilbert (2008), almost 60% of the Australian population will agree with

the fact that in case of the prosperous nation like Australia, all the people require spending their

lives along with proficient support and resources, in which safe and secure shelter is the

considerable one. However, in the year 2006, it is reported that around 18,108 Australians, over

55 age, were counted as the sufferers of homeless condition, which is around 30% increase from

the census count of 2001. Based on the research results conducted by the Boston University,

there are certain factors, which are the main causes behind such increasing homelessness

condition among elderly, such as marital or relational issues, death of spouse, relational

breakdown with children, financial issue, inability of securing property, alcohol and drug use,

and so on.
 The Rise of homelessness in Elderly Australians 7

As per the international reporting standard, family violence leads to the enhancement of

homelessness condition, as every 237 homeless elderly people of every 100,000 population are

estimated as the sufferers of domestic violence. According to the statement of Crane & Warnes

(2010), women often become forced to leave their home for getting rid from abusive and adverse

relationship. At this point, it can be stated that the relationship factor can also contribute in this

case, as people experiencing personal crisis, traumatic events, or any other life-related issues, are

often become homeless.

According to the statement of Mission Australia CEO, absence of commitment execution from

the political contexts is one of the major reason behind such increased homelessness condition.

According to the statement of Knaus & Davey (2018), Australian government did not provide

attention on building affordable housing and homes for the continuous increasing population of

the country and for the migrants also. The report suggests that around 28.2% of the Australian

population are living in overseas countries, and among them, around 46%-aged population

remain homeless.

The critical shortage in housing might become a worsened situation, especially for the children

and older aged population. This factor is related with several other factors, such as

unemployment, less education rate, poverty, and economic imbalance. Additional to this, several

other factors also have direct influence on the increasing homeless condition of the Australian

elderly population, such as structural factors and system failure, i.e. difficult transition, discharge

planning, lack of immigrant support, inadequate opportunities for income, discrimination in

different societal activities, and so on (Why are there so many more homeless people on

Melbourne's streets?, 2018).

 The Rise of homelessness in Elderly Australians 8

In many of the previous literatures, the homeless elderly people are often portrayed as the

criminal, lazy and alcoholic population, which is precisely a completely wrong concept. It is

already mentioned earlier that people will not choose the situation of homelessness; they become

the victim of such situation, due to some individual inadequacies and adverse socio-political

factors. Especially among the homeless older adults, there is a certain inter-relationship among

the various individual as well as structural factors. As per the viewpoint of Cohen, Sokolovsky &

Crane (2001), most of the older people suffer from the homelessness condition due to the

inadequate accumulation of individual risk factors, insufficient structural support, less effective

social welfare programs, and so on.

The obvious fact is that it is necessary to support the homeless elderly people for surviving

properly in their crisis life situation, as they often could not get the basic and minimum

requirements for survival.

There are several organisations, regulated under the supervision of Australian Government of

Health and Welfare. For example, one popular name among all the health and welfare

organisations is Red Cross, who is running their operation in order to establish affordable, safe

and secure housing facilities, for every people living in Australia. The prime principle of this

organisation is finding housing properties for almost 2200 people each year, along with

preventing the risk of homelessness for 1400 people and providing 43,500 meals to the homeless

people (Homelessness services, 2019).

According to the statement of Dunn & Brown (2008), the organisations dealing with this social

issue require focusing on the needs and demands of the people suffering from the homeless

condition. Therefore, at first, they develop strategic programs for supporting the population,
 The Rise of homelessness in Elderly Australians 9

along with finding suitable shelters for them. However, while finding the living resources, the

organisations necessarily provide attention on different specific characteristics, especially the

gender, and culture of the homeless elderly people. For example, it is essential to separate the

housing accommodations for older aged population, younger population, and Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander population. Apart from this, the organisations can support the homeless

elderly people through making some connections with the societies and communities, through

which they can get some educational or training supports. Kimbler, DeWees & Harris (2017)

mentioned that such skills could make bigger differences, and can eliminate the adversities

regarding homelessness.

According to the viewpoint of Lee & Besch (2018), it is evident that the certain homeless

condition of the Australian elderly population can be explained through some theoretical or

model-based alignment.

One of the most useful theories related with the homeless condition is the Karl Marx’s Conflict

Theory, as this theory can effectively link the issue capitalism with the main prevalence of

homeless condition in the overseas countries. According to the theory, there are two different

societal classes, proletariat and bourgeoisie, associated within the modern societies.

Based on these two classes, the theory provides an argument that most of the Bourgeoisie thinks

that wealth be required to earn by integrating hard work, educational attainment, and

determination. Therefore, this population mostly focuses on earning wealth by any means. At

this point, they often think that the homeless poor and aged population is unwanted and

unmotivated towards the betterment of life. Therefore, as per the conflict theory developed by

Karl Marx, the theory mainly sheds light on the shortcomings in the desired personality of a
 The Rise of homelessness in Elderly Australians 10

certain group of population, instead of highlighting the flaws integrated in the societies (Frances,

2015).

Apart from the above-mentioned theoretical explanation, there are different conceptual models,

especially related with the psychological contexts behind the homeless condition. Such model-

based evaluation can help in understanding more structural analysis of the homeless condition.

According to the statement of Morley (2008), there are number of psychological model, which

can be applied in case of exploring the conditions and reasons o homeless population. Based on

the viewpoint of Jansz (2015), the psychological models can explore about the structural aspects

of homelessness.

For example, there are several theories and models, through which it can be assumed that there is

proficient relationship among the environmental and psychological factors, which can be

considered as a main reason behind the condition of homelessness. Such as, homeless elderly

people often could not use the health resources properly, which is mainly described by the social

cognition model. Apart from this, various other models also have direct connection, such s

attachment theory, systematic models, behavioural models, or cognitive behavioural models

(Homelessness in America: Overview of Data and Causes, 2019).

Apart from the above, it also observed that the condition of homelessness could not be occurred

due to one single reason; it is a combined mix of different causal factors, due to which the new

sufferers often remain isolated, confused, and depressed.

The study conducted by Gilbert (2008) suggested that most of the above-mentioned factors are

mostly influential among the women, therefore, older aged women increasingly become

homeless due to some unknowing factual reasons. However, the study reveals that some most
 The Rise of homelessness in Elderly Australians 11

effective reasons in this case are increasing housing price, declination in the home ownership,

separation, and divorce. Besides this, through defining a clear relationship among gender,

poverty, and ageing, it is found that independent women also become homeless due to the less

sufficient saving for their later lives.

Living on the roadways is not the single specific problem of the homeless older aged population.

Morris, Judd & Kavanagh (2005) mentioned that most of the people living without shelter ace

distinctive challenges during that stage, due to which it becomes more difficult and harder for

them to get back in their normal routines. Through expanding the causal factors and conditions

of homelessness among the older adults, it can be stated that due to insufficiency in different

life-related factors, the homeless older adult population face number of difficulties in their last

few years. The most certain issue experienced by older aged people is presence of different

physical and mental health problems.

According to the viewpoint of Persing (2015), since the homeless older aged population need to

stay in boarding or sometimes on footpath, therefore, the health condition of the people start

deteriorating. Besides this, due to the weak immunisation power, they often suffer from skin and

foot problems, nutritional deficiency, different types of infectious disease, dental problems, and

so on. On the other hand, in case of mental disorder, older population generally suffer from

dementia, depression, loneliness, and many other chronic issues, which might affect their well-

being standard. Apart from this, certain inequality and discrimination remain integrated in the

policy-based structures and legal frameworks, especially for the homeless elderly people.
 The Rise of homelessness in Elderly Australians 12

From the past few years, due to the increasing statistics behind homelessness in the greater

Australia, the government tries to review all the relevant policies and frameworks existed in the

legal system of the country.

Australian government also focuses on the modification of the legislative structures, along with

changing the applications of different laws. One of the effective modifications is performed in

the elements of Supported Accommodation Assistance Act 1994, through which the

homelessness situations can be controlled legally (House of Representatives Committees – fchy

homelessness report chapter3.htm – Parliament of Australia, 2019). Apart from this, the

commonwealth and territory government of Australian population provides their attention on

increasing the budget allocated for improving the condition of homeless older aged people,

through taking financial support from National Affordable Housing Agreement and National

Partnership Agreement on Homelessness. Around $375.3 million budget is allocated for

improving the provisions taken against the homeless condition (Homelessness | Department of

Social Services, Australian Government, 2017). Additional to this, Australian government also

prioritises the area of affordable housing policies, for reducing the financial burden from their

life.

Conclusion

Therefore, based on the above discussion, it can be stated that the condition of homelessness

among the Australian population becomes a complicated social issue, which requires effective

and systematic efforts for reducing the constraints of such condition. The long-term planning for

fighting against the homeless condition requires effective involvement of different government

agencies, communities, and non-profit or social organisations. However, the condition of

 The Rise of homelessness in Elderly Australians 13

homelessness does not only rise due to the political or governmental issues, various personal

reasons are also enlisted behind this. Therefore, all the people living in the societies and

communities require understanding the situational aspects related with the homelessness

condition, and try to eliminate the possible risk factors for fighting against this societal issue.
 The Rise of homelessness in Elderly Australians 14

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 The Rise of homelessness in Elderly Australians 15

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