Laws prohibiting the homeless from sleeping, eating, soliciting, or, let鈥檚 face it, being seen in public, are older than most modern institutions.
Homelessness
There have been destructive attacks on the homeless in the past year in Melbourne, but the vitriolic hate campaign and physical attacks on the street, and on squatters, has reached a deadly level: murder.聽
Just before midnight on March 1, a cowardly arson attack set off a blazing fire at Kinnear鈥檚 rope factory in Footscray, which took 40 minutes for the fire brigade to control. Three squatters were tragically killed: Tanya Burmeister and her 15- year-old daughter Zoe were among the dead.
A protest was held on February 18 in response to the City of Melbourne鈥檚 proposed by-law amendments that ban any form of public camping and make it easier for the confiscation of unattended property 鈥 essentially criminalising rough sleepers in the streets of Melbourne.
1. People choose to be homeless
By 鈥渂anning鈥 homelessness, Melbourne City Council is implying it is a 鈥渃hoice鈥. Homelessness is usually the cause of a range of interconnected factors, some of which include poverty, unemployment and family violence. There is also a shortage of affordable housing and jobs that pay a living wage.
Protesters gathered outside Melbourne鈥檚 Town Hall on February 7 ahead of a volatile council meeting to discuss proposed changes to council laws that would effectively make homelessness illegal in the community.
Camping is currently banned in Melbourne if a person uses a tent, car, caravan or other structure. Councillors voted 5鈥4 to broaden the definition of camping, a move legal experts say could lead to rough sleepers being forced to the outskirts of Melbourne or fined for sleeping with nothing more than "a cardboard box and blanket".
Melbourne City Council sent 75 riot police to evict 10 rough sleepers who had been camping outside Flinders Street Station on February 1.
Lord Mayor Robert Doyle had previously threatened to remove rough sleepers from the streets of the CBD and council officers had taken away the property of homeless people.
Increased evidence of homelessness in Melbourne鈥檚 iconic graffiti laneway, Hosier Lane, has prompted outrage from government and local businesses in recent weeks.
Australia鈥檚 first health clinic catering solely for the needs of the transgender and gender diverse community has opened.
The Equinox Gender Diverse Clinic, a peer-led trans-focused clinic, is run by the Victorian AIDS Council.
The clinic bulk bills, making the service accessible to the entire transgender community.
Starting with a GP service, Equinox plans to expand into a counselling service later this year, and beyond that into addressing trans homelessness.
When I first came out as a lesbian in high school, I was scared. Hanging over my envisioned future were a lot of question marks, a familiar feeling for a lot of LGBTI youth. Heightened rates of mental illness, suicide, homelessness and assault frame the vision of our聽adulthood with very real uncertainty. This uncertainty is mirrored by the media. The distinct lack of representation in media robs same-sex attracted youth of healthy role models.
Treasurer Scott Morrison presented his proposed budget for 2016-2017 on May 3, but what does the budget mean for young people today? How does it address higher education and growing youth unemployment?
job seekers under 25 who are receiving welfare payments such as Newstart and have been looking for a job for at least six months, will be able to participate in intensive pre-employment skills training within five months of registering with jobactive.
Activists from the Homeless Persons Union (HPU) began occupying vacant properties in the Melbourne suburb of Collingwood on March 30 in a protest at the lack of public housing.
The Anti-Poverty Network South Australia hosted a conference, 鈥淪peak Out! Stand Up! Ideas, Stories, and Action Against Poverty鈥 on October 16 and 17.
The event, part of the nation-wide anti-poverty week of activities from October 11 to 17, was a unique gathering of activists, community workers and welfare recipients who face constant attacks on their rights as they struggle with below-poverty-line incomes and few job openings.
Significantly, it was the only anti-poverty week event organised and run by low-income people.
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