By SAT News Desk
MELBOURNE, 25 January: The Australian Bureau of Statistics (quoted by ABC News) says there were 116,000 people homeless on census night in 2016. Homeless means one who does not have a home and there could be many related situations.
According to Inspector Craig Peel (Melbourne East) in 2016 Victoria had 24,000 homeless and the city has about 200 plus such people. They might not have a home or with complex mental or old age issues. They include; families with children, young people, older people, single adults, people with disabilities, people in regional and rural Victoria and people in urban neighborhoods.
Inspector Peel says these people should not be given money and with about 903,000 weekly visitors to the city, the work with the homeless is a 24/7 operation. These people are not our enemy but the streets have to be kept clean and wrongdoings are not accepted, he says.
Inquiries reveal many community organizations (many getting hefty funding from the state government) have no role or don’t play a role in ending homelessness.
People experiencing homelessness are entitled to welfare payments and the Council of Homeless Persons and the Salvation Army among others give a helping hand to these people passing difficult times without a home.
