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Social Justice

During the week of 7 June, the 50 lives for 50 Homes Campaign started with 19 teams of 70 community volunteers canvassed the streets of the Brisbane metropolitan area, targeting parks, public spaces, food vans, emergency accommodation, youth shelters and known squats.

As well as collecting the names and ages of the 50 most vulnerable homeless people in Brisbane, they also captured data on their health status, institutional history (prison, hospital, military, etc) length of homelessness, crisis accommodation use and previous housing situation. The teams visited parks and public spaces, food vans, emergency accommodation, diversion court and homelessness services over 3 days this week to administer the surveys. Public space teams started out at 4am in order to meet people before they packed up and left the space for the day. The campaign has now created a by-name registry of individuals experiencing chronic homelessness and rough sleeping and who are most at risk of premature death.p>

Key Results

Almost half of the 231 homeless individuals surveyed as part of the 50 Lives 50 Homes campaign have been found to have a high mortality risk, under a Vulnerability Indexed developed in the USA and adapted for local use.

• 249 individuals were identified as experiencing homelessness in Brisbane.
• 231 (93%) consented to take part in the survey.
• 118 (51%) were found to have health conditions associated with a high mortality risk – this is the vulnerable population.
• 156 (68%) were identified as rough sleepers, of whom 83 were found to have health conditions associated with a high mortality risk.
• 16 respondents were over 55 years old, the oldest being 79 years old.
• The longest reported length of homelessness was 40 years.
• The average years homeless for the vulnerable population is 7.7 years.
• The average years homeless for the non-vulnerable population is 4 years.
• 59 people reported as having a history of Foster Care – 26%
• 31 respondents were under 25 years old.
• The youngest respondent was 17 years old.
• 13 of those surveyed identified as Veterans, 7 of whom met the criteria for “Vulnerable”.
• 118 people reported a dual diagnosis of mental illness and substance abuse.
• 66 people reported a history of substance abuse only.
• 105 people reported IV drug use.
• 202 people reported at least one behavioral health issue.
• 48 people identified as Aboriginal, and 19 as New Zealanders.

So What is Being Done?

According to Karyn Walsh, 50 Lives 50 Homes Coordinator, “What is important about the campaign is that we now know by name the people and the supporting information from them about the work we need to do:  

“Housing and supporting people to create a home requires partnerships between all agencies involved in housing, healthcare and social support as well as the active participation of all the community.  The community of Brisbane has responded this week, and is committed to doing more as we house, support and link in health services to the first 50 people on the register. It will have a significant impact on how we respond to people experiencing chronic homelessness and sleeping rough in Brisbane.”