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Media Release

October 2, 2004

Social workers lament cheap care deal for Australia’s homeless

Global Social Work Congress – October 2 – 5
 

Care for the 100,000 homeless Australians is being relegated to non government and not for profit agencies according to social workers in three Australian states.

New research from UniSA PhD student Carole Zufferey, looking at social services for the homeless in three Australian states – Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney – has identified that many social workers believe that care provided by non government bodies gives Governments a cheap option when dealing with the plight of the homeless.

Zufferey will deliver a paper, Social Work and Homelessness in Australian Cities at the Global Social Work Congress being held at the Adelaide Convention Centre from Saturday October 2, which has drawn more than 1000 participants from around the world to look at a broad spectrum of social work and social policy issues.

Zufferey says her research has shown that social workers delivering front line support to the homeless often feel that Governments are relying too heavily on the cheaper option of leaving the care for people experiencing homelessness in the hands of non government agencies who depend on volunteers and lower paid workers.

“Many social workers believe the driver for policy is completely based on economic rationalism,” Zufferey says.

“They have seen the deinstitutionalisation of the mentally ill and people suffering drug and alcohol addiction and no real network of fully funded government services to replace the structures that once existed.

“The flow of people into the margins of society and street life is something they deal with daily, often working long hours and at pay rates that do not adequately reflect their dedication.

“Direct service providers also believe they are distanced from the decision making and that their input is rarely considered at the policy making level.”

Zufferey says increasingly non government agencies are being funded to take a central role in dealing with the homeless.

“The rise in homelessness is perhaps not something that is evident to most people as they go about their lives but the number of homeless people is steadily increasing. The causes of homelessness are increasingly complex – from the lack of access to affordable housing, to drug abuse, gambling, mental illness, financial hardship, or escape from violence or abuse in the home,” she said.

“If we as a society are serious about helping people experiencing homelessness there needs to be a stronger commitment and a willingness by Governments to take direct responsibility fiscally, in service provision and in developing long term sustainable housing options. I think social workers involved at the coal face confront not only the stress of a job that concerns them with some of society’s most marginalised people, but also an enormous sense that Governments and therefore society, want to sweep these people under the carpet. After all, access to housing is a basic human right. ”

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