Nowhere to go for homeless low income-earners in Broken Hill: support worker
Posted
A hidden housing crisis at Broken Hill in far west New South Wales is leaving people in the city who find themselves homeless with nowhere to sleep, according to a local disability support worker.
Natasha Bearman, who works for community services organisation CareWest, has a role that sees her link people with disabilities to local service providers.
Ms Bearman has been trying to find temporary accommodation for a client on a disability support payment who this week found himself without anywhere to live.
She said she has placed several phone calls to local services, but all are at capacity or unavailable, and that the man has had to spend two nights at her partner's home.
"I just find it absolutely horrific that we have a town where we're not looking after these vulnerable people," Ms Bearman said.
"I don't think Broken Hill's alone, I'm sure it's the same all over Australia," she said.
Ms Bearman said she had been told by one service that hers was the second call that morning.
"These are vulnerable people that need help," she said.
The situation coincides with the release of a Salvation Army report that shows almost 70 per cent of the organisation's surveyed clients are using nearly two-thirds of their disposable income on housing.
The study found people in regional areas are over-represented, with 40 per cent of respondents saying they had moved houses three times in a year.
Ms Bearman said while the rental market in Broken Hill was affordable compared to capital cities, there was a large gap between property values and rent.
"Rents here are incredibly high based on house prices," she said.
"And we have a lot of houses that are empty, there are a lot of houses that are for sale.
"We have a huge number of houses that are not being lived in, and people living on the streets. And that really distresses me," she said.
Topics: housing, homelessness, disabilities, regional, welfare, broken-hill-2880
