Homeless people are dying more than 30 years earlier than the general population, a new Guardian Australia report has revealed.
It said homeless people are dying at an average age of 44, compared to 77. Many of these deaths were “directly connected to the trauma and desperation of homelessness, and compounded by the vast waits for emergency and public housing”.
Meanwhile, the waiting lists for public and social housing continue to grow: almost 60,000 people were on the New South Wales waiting list last October. NSW and Victoria are pushing ahead with plans to demolish public housing sites, but tenants and communities are pushing back.
Kristin O’Connell, spokesperson for The Antipoverty Centre (APC), spoke to Green Left’s Isaac Nellist about the need for government investment in public housing, among other solutions, to counter worsening poverty.
