Homelessness is a national disgrace. Let’s make Britain humane again

The plight of homeless people, and our reaction to it, are part of the hideous tangle this country has got into. There are so many strands leading into this appalling knot, that if we pull any one of them, the tangle gets worse.

So the question of why decent men and women find themselves able to walk past people begging in the street, or huddled up in doorways with only layers of cardboard to keep out the cold, is all mixed up with the flagrant deficiencies of Britain’s democracy, and the craven desire to suck up to the US that brought us the “war on drugs” among other idiocies, and the extraordinary grip that the public schools seem to have on the levers of power.

Investment package to boost social housing

In a move poised to deliver more social and affordable housing options across Western Australia, the State Government in partnership with Keystart has unveiled a new $150 million housing investment package.

Providing additional homes for people on low incomes or at risk of homelessness, the package will allocate $125 million for more than 300 new public housing units targeting homeless and vulnerable people on the priority waitlist, $6 million to refurbish 20 regional and 50 metropolitan public housing properties, and $19.2 million for 200 additional shared-equity homes.

Twenty-year waitlist for disability housing leads Tasmanian father Bob Gordon to find his own solution

Four years ago Bob Gordon and Dianne Snowden started looking into housing options for their youngest son, Jack.

Key Points:

It’s estimated 500 affordable homes will be required in Tasmania’s disability sector over the next 5 to 10 years
Many parents are worried about where their children will live when they can no longer care for them
A group of Tasmanian philanthropists has stepped in to address major gaps in disability housing
The 28-year-old — who needs supported accommodation — was seeking independence and was ready to move out of the family home.

Australian house prices record biggest monthly rise since 2003

Prices up 1.7% nationwide, driven by Sydney and Melbourne, with rises of 2.7% and 2.2% respectively.

House prices surged 1.7% across Australia in November, the rapidly reviving market recording the biggest monthly rise since 2003, according new figures.

The value of homes rose for the fifth month in a row driven by Sydney and Melbourne, where prices were up 2.7% and 2.2% respectively last month, the research firm CoreLogic said on Monday.

The rise was also felt in every other capital city except Darwin in what CoreLogic described as “a broadening in the geographic scope of this upswing”.

However, the rise in house prices came ahead of more sobering data on Monday showing an 8% drop in approvals for new home construction, a fall in company profits, continuing slow growth in wages and a fewer jobs being advertised.

World’s Big Sleep Out: Thousands support homelessness charities

Thousands of people have camped out overnight as part of a global effort to raise cash to tackle homelessness.

Celebrities were among the hundreds taking part in the World’s Big Sleep Out in London, Edinburgh and Cardiff.

Organisers were expecting more than 50,000 to take part globally, with other events in cities including New York, Brisbane and Dublin.

The initiative hopes to raise around £38m ($50m) for homelessness charities.

Helen Mirren reads bedtime stories to rough-sleepers

Oscar-winning British actress Helen Mirren has hit out against the “exponential rise in homelessness” as she prepares to sleep out in central London as part of a global charity appeal to fight the scourge.

Mirren joined Hollywood stars Will Smith and Brian Cox and an estimated 50,000 people in the “World’s Big Sleep Out” event, which takes place in more than 50 cities from New York to Delhi and raises funds for homeless causes.

“What’s disturbing, profoundly, to me is the exponential rise in homelessness that I’ve noticed … in every city in Los Angeles, in New York, in London,” she told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Half of all homeless people may have had traumatic brain injury

A homeless person sits on their belongings in the street, holding an empty cup

Half of all homeless people may have suffered a traumatic brain injury at some point in their life, according to new research – which experts say could be either a consequence or even the cause of their homelessness.

Traumatic brain injury is sudden damage caused by a blow or jolt to the head, which can be caused by a motor accident, a fall or an assault. Sometimes it can cause long-term damage to the brain, leading to neurological and psychiatric disorders.

A large study compiling research results from six high-income countries – Australia, Canada, Japan, South Korea, the UK and the US – found that 53% of homeless people had suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI). This, estimate the authors, could be 2.3 to four times the rate for the population as a whole.

In a quarter of homeless people, the injury was moderate to severe, which would be 10 times that of the general population, says the research published in the Lancet Public Health journal.

Centrelink putting Australians at risk of becoming homeless

It is tasked with tiding over unemployed Australians until they can find work, but new research suggests Centrelink is putting vulnerable people at risk of homelessness.

The Homeward Bound report, released on Tuesday, found the size of Centrelink payments and the hoops recipients are asked to jump through to receive them make finding a place to live exceedingly difficult.

The report was compiled by Canberra Community Law and National Social Security Rights Network, based on the experiences of more than 500 people across the Australian Capital Territory.

“Like all of us, these people had bills to pay, groceries to buy and people to look after,” report author and solicitor Sophie Trevitt said.

“However they were being forced to try and make ends meet often on less than $40 a day.”

Half of all homeless people may have had traumatic brain injury (UK)

Thousands at risk of domestic violence waiting for public housing in Queensland

There are currently almost 2,200 people on Queensland’s public housing waiting list who are known to be at risk of domestic violence.

They make up about 10 per cent of the 22,200 applicants on the register in total, according to new figures obtained by ABC News after a Right to Information request.