Saturday, January 2, 2010

More Homeless in Australia

Since Prime Minister Kevin Rudd described homelessness in Australia as a "national obscenity" in May 2008, the number of Australians in need of shelter has only increased, Housing Minister Tanya Plibersek concedes.

"Many service providers have been telling me that there has been an increase in the number of Australians seeking help to keep a roof over their head since the onset of the global financial crisis," Ms Plibersek told The Weekend Australian.

When Mr Rudd highlighted the issue some 19 months ago he said that every night about 100,000 Australians, including 10,000 children aged under 12, were homeless and it would be a national disgrace if Australia failed to come to grips with the problem.

Agencies including The Salvation Army and Youth Off The Streets now report there are "well over" 100,000 Australians homeless on any given night.


Read it all here.

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