Pathways Into, Through and Out of Homelessness – A Tale of Two

Client GroupsDr Angela Spinney - Swinburne

Dr Eleanor Button - Flinders

Presentation Format

• In this presentation we are comparing people who gamble and people who have experienced domestic and family violence

• Seeing how they become homeless• What happens to them while they are homeless• How they get out of homelessness• Aim is to compare the differing pathways of the

two groups and to discuss whether differing discourses around the two groups makes much difference to their housing outcomes

Pathways into Homelessness – for those who have experienced d&fv

Domestic and family violence is one of the main triggers of homelessness in Australia

Women and children who are subjected to D/FV are vulnerable to homelessness in two ways;

1. Violence disrupts and violates the sense of safety and belonging that are associated with home

2. When women and children make the decision to leave a family violence situation they are usually required to leave their homes

(Southwell, 2002)

Pathways into Homelessness – for those who have experienced d&fv

• Escaping the violence by leaving home and not being able to return

• Unable to remain in the family home with the perpetrator removed

• Most do not enter homeless refuge or crisis accommodation

• POVERTY

Pathways into homelessness - gamblers

Much less is known about gamblers, but pathways into homelessness can be marked by:

•Relationship breakdown

•Gambling the rent

•Defaulting on arrears

•A preference for self-help and using informal resources

Pathways into homelessness - gamblers

Pathways into homelessness characterised by housing debt:The rent was $150 and I’d give $120 instead. Then it was like ‘Oh, I can only give you $100’. Then it was like, ‘I can’t give you rent this fortnight’. So it was the sort of thing. She had enough the landlord and said I had to get out.

Pathways through Homelessness

– d&fv

• Tend to be staying with families and friends, or in insecure temporary accommodation

• motels, • rooming houses, • caravan parks,• domestic violence refuges, • backpackers accommodation, • cars, • short-term transitional private rented self-contained

accommodation

Provision for those who have experienced domestic and family violence

• Violence against women is not a "problem". It is a common reality. And it will not disappear until women themselves refuse to take it any longer. But for this to happen they need some assistance. They need places to go and money to get them there.

(National Times, 20-25 January1975)

Public Housing

Private Rental

Short Term Accom

Homelessness support sector

Crisis Accommodation

(several wks)

TransitionalAccommodation(several mths)

• They (the welfare agency) said, “Look we could probably put you up for a couple of nights, see how we go there, come back in a couple of days”. We came back in a couple of days, “Look we haven’t got funding”, “Have you got friends you can stay with?” And we’d pretty much almost exhausted our friends throughout that period.

The reality of crisis provision

Pathways through homelessness - gamblers

• Homelessness occurred when gamblers had no other means of helping them to stay put. Most agreed they should not remain in their accommodation if they were unable to pay their rent – so quietly left.

• Informal resources were important to avoid sleeping rough. People slept in garages, sheds, on floors in rooms rented by other gamblers as well as sleeping rough.

• No one stopped gambling although some may have gambled less.

Pathways through homelessness - gamblers

Most believed they should be able to resolve their own problems so avoided asking for help from NGOs or government services:

Because at the end of the day it comes down to myself. And that’s the truth of the matter.

Pathways out of homelessness – d&fv

• Families in Australia who have experienced f&dv can find themselves in inappropriate and insecure temporary housing situations

• This is whether or not they seek assistance from welfare agencies

• Caused by an inability to afford or access private rented accommodation

Pathways out of homelessness - gamblers

– Private rental– Public housing– NGOs– Young people– POVERTY

Conclusions (1)

Our arguments are:• Although there is a well established pathway of

refuge and crisis accommodation for women and children who have experienced d&fv, created by a supportive discourse, it is hard to access because of over-demand

• Even though problem gamblers do not engender the same level of sympathy their housing options are similar to that of women and children who have experienced d&fv.

Conclusions (2)

The pathways out of homelessness for these two groups of people are highly individualised but;•Most people end up in the insecure private rented sector, whether or not they have help from welfare agencies.•The existence of a supportive discourse surrounding women and children who have experienced d&fv is not enough to create a very different long-term housing outcome for them than for those for whom there is no housing policy intervention and also less sympathy. •This raises the question of what should be the underlying principles for policy intervening in the homelessness pathways of groups of people seen as ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ and what practical interventions should be applied to ending the homelessness of these two disparate groups.

• THANK YOU!• Angela Spinney – aspinney@swin.edu.au• Eleanor Button –

eleanor.button@flinders.edu.au