Erin Longbottom says Homelessness gap still shuts out non-residents

Australia’s homelessness response still leaves many non-residents without a reliable way off the street, Erin Longbottom wrote after a Guardian Australia story about Bikram Lama drew grief and responses from the community. A colleague put the problem bluntly: "The reality is that, even if I met Bikram right now, I still couldn’t guarantee him a way off the street."

Longbottom argued that the crisis system remains closed to people who are asylum seekers, temporary visa holders, undocumented people or New Zealand citizens who arrived after 2001. The same account says one in five rough sleepers in inner Sydney were non-residents, and that many are denied temporary accommodation, social housing, income support and, in many cases, healthcare because of visa status.

Covid support in Sydney

At the start of the Covid pandemic in 2020, rough sleepers were identified as among the most vulnerable to the virus. Sydney and most capital cities responded with a coordinated effort between governments, policymakers and service providers, offering accommodation, wrap-around health and other services, plus a rapid pathway into long-term housing.

In the early months of Covid, homelessness and health organisations pushed for non-residents to receive the same basic crisis services as everyone else. New South Wales responded by offering non-residents government-funded emergency accommodation and health support for the first time.

New South Wales support ended

That temporary support stopped at the end of the lockdowns, and the article says the system has returned to the pre-lockdown position. Non-residents in crisis are again heavily reliant on overstretched charities, while many are unable to work or face tight employment restrictions depending on their visa.

Longbottom said Australia’s tertiary institutions need to live up to their duty of care for the international students they attract. The immediate lesson from the Bikram Lama story is practical: a public outcry has not produced a new pathway for non-residents sleeping rough, and the same gap remains in place for the people service providers are still seeing every day.