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Park lands death: Libs warn rough sleeper fatalities could spike

The state Opposition has warned the tight rental market could cause homelessness to “explode” and result in an increase in the number of people dying after sleeping rough.

Jul 22, 2022, updated Jul 22, 2022
Shadow Social and Community Housing Minister Michelle Lensink. David Mariuz/AAP

Shadow Social and Community Housing Minister Michelle Lensink. David Mariuz/AAP

The warning comes a day after InDaily revealed a 48-year-old woman was discovered dead inside her tent in the south-eastern park lands in May.

Shadow Social and Community Housing Minister Michelle Lensink told InDaily homelessness in South Australia was “potentially going to explode” due to a rental “crunch” that is locking people out of private rentals.

She said whereas previously people on lower-incomes were more susceptible to becoming homeless, now people on higher incomes were also finding it difficult to find a home in an increasingly competitive market.

“Homelessness is potentially going to explode, including rough sleeping, which may lead to a huge increase in the number of people who pass away due to circumstances that relate to their homelessness,” Lensink said.

“We may see very large numbers – potentially ten-fold.

“We’ve got all these people who haven’t experienced homelessness in the past who are now falling into the system – groups of people that never, never have experienced it before.

“I think it’s a huge crisis that we’re having to deal with as a community.”

Lensink, who was Human Services Minister under the former Marshall Government, said Australian Bureau of Statistics data was yet to show an increase in homelessness in South Australia, but she suspected the numbers would climb.

SA Housing Authority data shows rental prices in SA have on average increased from $350 per week to $420 per week over the last two years.

“I’m probably speaking anecdotally because we’re getting so many queries through our office from people who are concerned about their rental situation and are looking for support and reassurance,” Lensink said.

“(It’s) probably more than the numbers that I saw coming through when I was the Minister.”

As reported by InDaily yesterday, it’s believed the woman’s decaying body was found by a fellow rough sleeper about three weeks after she died.

The woman is one of 12 people known to have died after sleeping rough in Adelaide’s inner-city over the past year.

Under the Marshall Government, Lensink, who described the woman’s death as an “incredibly sad circumstance”, oversaw a major overhaul of homelessness services that reallocated government funding from individual organisations towards new alliances that provide outreach support to people sleeping rough.

The decision was criticised at the time as it led to key city-based agencies including Hutt St Centre and Catherine House being stripped of funding.

The Malinauskas Government has since committed $6 million to services including Hutt St Centre, Catherine House and St Vincent de Paul.

Asked if she believed the alliance model was working effectively, given it took weeks before the 48-year-old woman’s body was discovered, Lensink said: “When’s the best time to plant a tree? Ten years ago”.

“The homelessness services really were a patchwork when we came to government, so I guess my bottom line is thank goodness they’re there now when we’re facing this crisis,” she said.

“They actually have to work much better together, so if we didn’t have the alliance model in place now the problem would be multiple times worse than it is now because they are able to respond more effectively within and between themselves to emerging issues.”

Toward Home Alliance (THA), which provides homelessness outreach services to people sleeping rough in the inner-city and park lands, told InDaily it supported the woman “intensively” over the past year, including by previously supporting her into accommodation.

It said the vast majority of rough sleepers who die have been supported into temporary or permanent accommodation, but the “sad reality” is that their health complications and co-morbidities associated with long-term homelessness persist once they have a roof over their heads.

“In the instance of the sad death of this woman, THA staff were not first responders, however, they knew her well, and were deeply affected by the news of her death,” the alliance’s senior manager Shaya Nettle told InDaily.

“THA staff were extremely distressed on learning the news of her death, as she was well known to and supported by a number of our staff and partners.

Acting Human Services Minister Katrine Hildyard described the woman’s death as “unacceptable”.

“Any person dying alone in the cold is a tragedy and a call to action,” she told InDaily.

“It is also a reminder to our whole community that we need to provide care, support and compassion to people having a really difficult time.”

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