With the NSW Government pledging to halve street homelessness by 2025, Peninsula Living Pittwater investigates what is being done to combat the issue on the Northern Beaches and looks at the reality of life for those with no home in this most privileged of postcodes.
So at odds is the concept of homelessness with the life of most on the gilded Northern Beaches, that it’s all too easy to turn a blind eye. While undoubtedly less of a visible problem than in other parts of NSW – largely due to high numbers of ‘hidden homeless’ who couch surf or live under the radar in transitional housing – the rate of homelessness in the area continues to climb.
Each of the three tiers of homelessness – primary street sleepers to secondary and tertiary homeless living in boarding houses or severely crowded accommodation – has spiked across NSW, rising by 37 per cent to more than 37,000 between the last two Censuses. On the Beaches, homeless figures spiralled 63 per cent to over 600, despite Government’s 2022 Street Count noting decreasing local rough sleepers, from 57 in 2021 to 30 in 2022.
“That is because those that sleep on the streets make up just seven per cent of homeless figures,” says Kevin Kingsbeer, Program Manager at national homelessness charity, Mission Australia.
What else is clear is that homelessness does not discriminate. “Twenty years ago, it was mainly older males with alcohol addictions who were accessing our services, but now we are seeing a far wider cohort, with women being increasingly affected,” Mr Kingsbeer tells Peninsula Living Pittwater.
Women aged over 55 have become Australia’s fastest-growing homeless demographic, with Housing for the Aged Action Group reporting 240,000 homeless women and a further 165,000 aged 45-54 at risk. While job losses, relationship breakdowns, domestic violence, mental health issues or addictions account for the slide into homelessness for most, youth can experience unique pathways. NSW’s youth homelessness body, Yfoundations, reveals that, on any given night, there are more than 9,000 homeless young people in NSW, mainly due to family conflict.
Heeding the call for help – and hope – for those with no place to call home, are local organisations such as Manly’s outreach service Community Northern Beaches, (CNB) and Dee Why’s Street Mission – which provides 2,400 meals a year to those in need.
“Homelessness is always going to exist in our culture as we can’t stop mental health issues or relationship breakdowns,” says Daniel Peterson, CNB’s Manager Homeless Services.
With Christmas fast approaching, the ultimate gift would be a Beaches-wide perception shift, as the answer to the problem of homelessness-related isolation ‘is community,’ he says.
“In Australia, some are quick to judge as they think those experiencing homelessness need to get a job, but that ignores the issues or trauma people are experiencing,” he adds.
Ignoring the problem has not been possible in Dee Why over the last two years, as a tent city sprung up in the lagoon’s dunes. Its recent disbanding following a ‘violent incident and fire’ which left Northern Beaches Council’s CEO, Ray Brownlee, ‘little other option,’ has cast doubt on where former residents will find safe and secure shelter.
One possible answer is just moments away in Brookvale, where Mission Australia’s (MA) transitional accommodation, Ebbs House, is supporting 26 homeless people, although, like most services, it’s heavily oversubscribed.
“There’s an acute need for housing and homelessness services on the Northern Beaches,” says Mission’s Mr Kingsbeer, adding that, “affordable housing developments remain scarce due to lack of land and a sense of community uncertainty.”
Northern Beaches Council identifies unmet demand for 8,100 social and affordable dwellings, spiralling by 2,000 by 2036, with Mayor Michael Regan telling us that an ‘ambitious target’ of 1,880 new dwellings by 2036, has been set.
In Frenchs Forest, 10-15 per cent of all new housing built on land rezoned for a new town centre, will be assigned as affordable. Proposals for Mona Vale, Dee Why and Brookvale will follow, adds the Mayor, as the ‘prospect of people living without secure shelter within an affluent area is unacceptable’ and Council seeks to ‘balance the rights of homeless people and public space and environment needs.’
With stratospheric house prices, rate hikes and inflation stretching rental markets, Australian tenants are suffering through the longest stretch of continuous price growth on record. Leafy Elanora Heights saw median weekly rents spiral by 40 per cent to $1,225 over the last quarter, Domain’s Rent Report finds, with Church Point jumping 68 per cent annually, from $923 to $1550.
Local Community Housing Provider, Bridge Housing, is increasingly priced out, further slashing affordable options. COVID-19 exacerbated the issue, with the Homelessness NSW-commissioned Aftershock report on Housing Security, revealing that 54,000 NSW households feel worsening housing stress, set to cost the state $2.5 billion over six years.
With this in mind, the NSW Government is striving to fulfil its pledge to halve NSW street homelessness by 2025 via its $177.5 million programme Together Home, which aims to help over 1,000 street sleepers into long-term accommodation and has already ‘made a dent’ in the problem locally, says Mission Australia.
Work remains, however, with the Productivity Commission revealing that almost half of the 47,000 people who sought accommodation assistance in NSW last year failing to receive it. Focusing on prevention rather than cure is a key step, with Council hoping its upcoming Economic Development Strategy, detailing youth employment support, will stave off the threat of unemployment-linked homelessness.
However far from home the issue may feel for most on the Beaches, we all have our part to play, from clothes and food donations to volunteering at drop-in-centres. As CNB’s Mr Peterson says, “What the community can do is let those experiencing homelessness know we want to help them get back on their feet.”
By Catherine Lewis