Housing Minister Luke Howarth came under fire for saying he wanted to put a 'positive spin' on homelessness, but worse than his comments is the misinformation. Howarth said homelessness affects a 'very, very small percentage of the population' and only 'about half a per cent of the population don't have a permanent roof over their head'. While an ABC RMIT fact check found his claim is correct, that still means one in every 200 Australians is experiencing homelessness.
As audience member Hayden Champion-Silver said on ABC's QandA: 'There's nothing positive about being homeless. There's not a single thing I could think of when I was homeless that was positive.'
When asked where I live, an unease rises in my gut as I decide how best to answer. Depending on the day I tell the questioner where my stuff is or where I am currently staying; they seem bemused by my hesitation but they accept. But if I say I am currently homeless they respond with surprise: 'But you don't look homeless.'
Homelessness has long been falsely equated with sleeping rough but in reality that makes up only a small proportion. Since 1996 the Australian Bureau of Statistics has been examining ways to better count and measure homelessness using the census.
The ABS devised six groups to collect data on homelessness. The statistics from 2016 were: persons living in improvised dwellings, tents or sleeping out (seven per cent); persons in supported accommodation for the homeless (18 per cent); persons staying temporarily with other households (15 per cent); persons living in boarding houses (15 per cent); persons in other temporary lodgings (one per cent); and persons living in 'severely' crowded dwellings (44 per cent).
However, data collection about homelessness using the census often still results in underestimation due to a lack of awareness about categories and a reluctance to report. The option was introduced for homeless people to write 'none' where it says 'usual address' or to write 'none-crisis' if in crisis accomodation. However, people escaping domestic violence often choose not to disclose this for a number of reasons such as stigma or a belief they may return to their home soon. Meanwhile, homeless youth may report the place where they are staying temporarily as their current address which would mean they are only counted as a visitor.
An additional issue is that there is likely a higher frequency of youth homelessness at any point in time than