In short:
The only homelessness outreach program in southern Tasmania is a team of just three people who search for rough sleepers and connect them to essential services.
asserted
who → search → services
Street 2 Home used to operate statewide but had to close in the north and north-west because of insufficient funding.
What's next?
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What → use → funding
Street 2 Home is pushing for more funding to cater to what it says is a growing number of Tasmanians sleeping rough.
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it → push → Tasmanians
It is eight degrees on a chilly Tuesday morning, and the Salvation Army's Street 2 Home outreach team has driven along an off-road dirt track in southern Tasmanian bushland.
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team → drive → bushland
They are looking for Effie*, a woman living in a tent with her German shepherd, Gus.
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They → look → shepherd
Street 2 Home is the only homelessness outreach program in southern Tasmania that searches for people sleeping rough, asks if they need help, and connects them to essential services.
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they → search → services
The program says it is struggling to keep up with demand, as the numbers of people coming onto the street outpace those coming off.
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numbers → say → those
With extra funding, it said the program could expand state-wide, having recently closed both its north and north-west operations for financial reasons.
uncertain
program → say → reasons
Rental rejections led to the street
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rejections → lead → street
With a life of renting under her belt, Effie* was not worried about finding somewhere to live after being evicted from her home.
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* → find → home
But things quickly changed.
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things → change → ?
"I was unsuccessful for every house that I applied for," she said.
"
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she → apply → that
I applied all up the east coast, Queenstown, up north, and then I started to a get a little bit worried."
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I → apply → coast
She said the difficulty of finding a home or emergency accommodation with a dog meant she had no choice but to pitch a tent and was soon noticed by a passer-by who contacted Street 2 Home.
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who → say → Home
They have visited her regularly since.
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They → visit → her
"I've got the hand warmers and body warmers … my darling friend from [The Salvation Army] brings me those," Effie said.
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Effie → get → those
"My dog keeps my feet warm because he lays across my legs and it's not really that bad."
Burden on homeless to find services themselves
For a region with roughly 2,500 people experiencing homelessness, the Street 2 Home team of just three people is stretched to capacity.
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team → keep → capacity
Program lead and outreach worker Chris Allen said many other homelessness services were based online, and this put the burden on the individual to seek out help themselves.
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this → say → help
"[People sleeping rough] might not have heard about a lot of the programs and a lot of the services that are designed to actually help them," he said.
uncertain
he → sleep → them
"Most of them won't know how to use a phone, or they don't have internet.
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they → know → internet
They don't know how to look up those services and find them.
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They → know → them
"
Success stories few and far between
What used to be a state-wide operation was scaled back to the south due to a lack of funding.
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used → use → funding
In September last year, the program shut its doors in northern Tasmania, and in June this year, the north-west met the same fate.
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west → shut → fate
"When I first started doing outreach … we wouldn't get as many calls.
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we → start → calls
Now we have daily calls,"Mr Allen said.
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Allen → have → ?
There is no limit on the number of cases or people the team supports, but this leaves it stretched thin.
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this → be → it
"The more people we come across, the less time we can spend with each individual," Mr Allen said.
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Allen → come → individual
He said success stories were becoming rarer over the years.
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stories → say → years
"We've had fewer [people getting into housing] this year than we had last year," he said.
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he → have → housing
"We're seeing [people] come onto the street faster than we're seeing them come off of it.
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them → see → it
"
Housing waitlist times in the state have reached roughly 1.7 years, as of August this year.
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times → reach → August
Mr Allen said the focus was on making it as comfortable as possible for the person experiencing homelessness, while they worked to help them find housing.
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them → say → housing
"If our details are attached to [an application], we'll go out, we'll get [the person] on the phone … and we'll make sure they make it to those appointments, so they don't miss that property," Mr Allen said.
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Allen → attach → property
Homelessness Australia director Catherine Robinson said outreach services offered "critical" human connection that online services lacked.
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services → say → that
By placing the burden on the person experiencing homelessness to research services themselves, Professor Robinson said this could deter them from getting help.
uncertain
this → place → help
"Having the opportunity to develop a relationship of trust and care with an outreach provider could be the absolute changing point in their willingness to seek early help,"she said.
uncertain
Having → have → help,"she
Homeless reporting missing some
Between 2016 and 2021, the number of homeless Tasmanians increased 45 per cent.
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number → miss → Tasmanians
But Professor Robinson said homelessness was often invisible, and this number could be higher.
uncertain
number → say → ?
A new University of Tasmania report, co-authored by Professor Robinson, measured the number of rough sleepers in the state, including people on streets, in tents and cars, on private land like driveways, or in sheds and garages.
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report → co → sheds
A total of 944 Tasmanians were sleeping rough when they first accessed a specialist homelessness service, in the financial year ending 2023.
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they → sleep → year
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia