Media Release - 15 October 2019
Mayor for Cumberland, Steve Christou today said urgent action was needed from all levels of government to deal with the growing problem of homelessness.
In proposing a motion at the annual Local Government NSW conference, Mayor Christou said community organisations providing services to the homeless are overwhelmed by demand and funding from State and Commonwealth sources is often unstable.
“It’s a sad fact that homelessness is a problem that we know well in Cumberland,” he said.
“We have the second highest number of homeless persons by Local Government Area in NSW, after Sydney CBD. In line with the trend across NSW, this includes persons living in severely crowded dwellings.
“A chronic shortage of affordable and available rental housing, a lack of social housing, mental health issues, drug and alcohol addiction, domestic and family violence, can all play a role in becoming homeless. Long-term unemployment and intergenerational poverty can also be factors.”
He said state funding was urgently required to increase the capacity of local councils to engage with local services on the issue.
“We know that many community providers who are assisting the homeless, are overrun because their services are in such high demand.
“We want the State and Federal Governments to contribute to a range of actions that will address the homelessness crisis, including funding for local government to deliver initiatives at the local level.
“Local councils can play a role by developing strong affordable housing and homelessness policies, increasing connections between services and encouraging more collective action-planning for shared activity.
“Our staff are at the coal face dealing daily with the impact of this issue. We are able to train front-line staff to identify and respond to people at risk of becoming homeless. Councils also play an active role in data collection to reveal the true extent of the issue.”
