Wel yam kä ciɛlë ee SBS Thuɔ̈ŋjäŋ
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
26 minutes ago
- News.com.au
How Sydney's homeless crisis has transformed since 2019
In February 2019, the NSW government signed an end street sleeping agreement with the Institute of Global Homelessness and City of Sydney. This included a commitment to reduce street homelessness by 50 per cent by 2025. Short of reducing or even remaining the same, the number of rough sleepers has instead increased by 67 per cent in the past five years, according to state government counts. One central Sydney volunteer has seen first hand how the face of homelessness has shifted over that time, saying 'it's no longer just those sleeping on the streets, but students, jobseekers, families, and older Australians all slipping through the cracks'. Donna Brooks has been volunteering for homeless assistance charity Orange Sky for more than six years near Central Station in the heart of Sydney. Over that time, with cost of living becoming increasingly burdensome and people struggling more and more to make ends meet, Ms Brooks said homelessness had shifted from something predominantly affecting those with pre-existing circumstances to everyday people just down on their luck. 'I think some years ago here it was a more common story that (homelessness) was a complex needs situation often,' she said. Complex needs refers to a situation where a person is dealing with several connected issues that seriously impact their wellbeing and ability to function in society. Examples can include intellectual disabilities, mental health concerns and drug addictions. 'Whereas now, I think what we're seeing a lot more is that people have less resources available to them. The cost of living definitely has had an impact on that,' she said. 'The cost of rent, a lot of people are priced out of the market. Some of the people that I've met doing Orange Sky have ended up learning about these services that they had no idea even existed for decades because they had careers and they ran a business and they were in a family. 'Then their circumstances change and they realise that they can't even get a rental and that they're struggling to get employment.' Orange Sky provides hot showers and laundry cleaning services via mobile vans and Ms Brooks said the demographics of homelessness she was seeing over the course of her work was becoming 'increasingly diverse'. 'I think it's important to note the diversity of people we see,' she said. 'We're seeing young people, older people, all ages, genders, ethnicities. It's become increasingly diverse. 'I think there are so many pathways and circumstances that people are facing that lead them to seeking out help and services like Orange Sky. 'What we see now is not just necessarily the rough sleepers that people might be familiar with walking past in the inner city or in the streets. There's a lot of people that are being very creative as to how they're surviving without having a secure home.' Ms Brooks said for some people that meant living out of a car, vehicle or couch surfing. But for others, more innovative solutions were required. 'I volunteer regularly near Central Station in Sydney,' she said. 'A lot of the people that come through there, for example, will ride trains and ride overnight trains and late-running trains just to get a bit of shelter and hopefully some safety rather than being out in the open overnight. 'So that's a different kind of homelessness but is very much homelessness nonetheless.' Speaking to NSW parliament on Friday morning, Premier Chris Minns announced a 10-year strategy targeting homelessness. Mr Minns drew focus to young people and Aboriginal communities 'disproportionately affected' by the issue. In the last census, the total number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people experiencing homelessness was up 6.4 per cent from the previous census, making them approximately eight times more likely to be homeless than non-indigenous counterparts. Mr Minns announced a sleeping register would be brought in to develop a 'true picture of the scope and nature of people that are sleeping rough in NSW'. 'This is a real priority for us, an important one for the state, and an important one for Sydney, given we're one of the most expensive cities on the face of the world,' he said. Speaking to NewsWire, Homelessness Minister Rose Jackson said 'the previous government's promise to cut homelessness in half by 2025 simply hasn't delivered'. 'We've heard the reports and seen the statistics, and we need to be honest, past plans by the former Liberal/National Government failed because they were never adequately funded, never strategic enough and never long-term,' she said. 'This week, we announced our new homelessness strategy, a real and comprehensive approach to tackling homelessness. 'This strategy isn't just about crisis accommodation; it's about addressing the root cause of homelessness, the lack of affordable housing.' Ms Jackson acknowledged in order to solve the crisis a strategic approach was needed. 'The cost of living is hitting hard, and we're seeing more and more everyday people at risk,' she said. 'They're not just the people we've traditionally seen affected. Now, more people, through no fault of their own, are falling into homelessness. They've lost jobs, experienced misfortune, and just can't make ends meet.' Ms Jackson said the previous government's approach lacked 'both the vision and the resources'. 'This is where we are different — we're putting in the investment that's long overdue,' she said. 'We've committed the largest housing investment in the state's history through our Building Homes for NSW program, $6.6bn, and we're implementing once-in-a-generation planning reforms to ensure we build homes where they're needed most. 'Not just for the people already homeless, but for preventing it from happening to more. 'We are taking responsibility. And we are doing it now, with the scale of investment, the whole-of-government strategy, and the long-term vision it takes to make homelessness a thing of the past.' Ms Brooks said in the recent cold and wet months the mood had shifted among the homeless community. 'It really takes a toll. The shift that I do is on a Sunday morning, and by 8.30 in the morning there's often people gathered waiting for us to turn up, and especially when it's been cold and wet, because they're eager to try to get a bit of a fresh start and to maybe have a warm shower and wash their clothes and put on some dry things and sort their bedding out so that they can almost start afresh that day,' she said. 'They will wait eagerly and are so pleased to see us because they can do that. It really takes a toll on people. 'Once you get into that cycle, it is so hard to get out of it. It impacts your health, your wellbeing. If you don't have a place that you can even safely sleep, how do you keep turning up for job interviews to try to get the job, to then try to get the apartment, to then try to get some furniture and a fridge? They're all very linked and it plays on people's health and it's certainly not just physical but mental health as well. It really takes a toll.'
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
Ex-FIFO worker reveals dark side of $200,000 salary job
Lachie Samuel was just 28-years-old when he was evacuated from his worksite in Western Australia after telling his superintendent that if he went back into his room, he might never come out. At 19, he left his home of New Zealand, jumped on a plane – and ended up in Perth. 'I thought it was Penrith,' he laughed. 'I had no idea where I was going.' But what was meant to be a fresh start quickly turned into ten years of fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) work in the Western Australian mines – long hours, big pay packets, and silence so loud it nearly killed him. When he started FIFO, the lifestyle was hard – but not yet soul-crushing. At his peak, Lachie was making between $3000 and $5000 a week, which was 'more money than he knew what to do with'. 'You would do a 12 hour shift, come back to camp, hit the gym, then head straight to the pub and order as many drinks as you wanted,' he told These days, most sites cap it at four mid-strengths per day, but the culture very much remains. 'People come to site with their problems weighing on them and, instead of fixing them and having hard conversations, they eat, drink and work as much as they can.' And no one really talks about how they're feeling. Especially the blokes. In 2013, when Lachie was just 22-years-old, he got a call that changed everything for him. His partner at the time had attempted suicide while he was on site in Kalgoorlie. 'I asked my team leader what I should do and he said, 'if she really wanted to do it, she would have'.' And that was that. Lachie stayed in Kalgoorlie, a decision he now says he's 'not proud of'. 'I didn't consider going home. Instead, I switched my swing from five days on two days at home to four weeks on, one week off,' he said. Lachie and his ex-partner split up soon after which sent him into a 'dark place'. 'I eventually got a tap on the shoulder and was forced to resign. I was throwing stuff at my crew and picking fights, I didn't understand that I was depressed at the time,' he said. 'I left that place with so much shame around being forced out.' Not knowing what to do, Lachie returned to Perth where he had no friends or family. 'I didn't understand how to create that support network back in Perth so I got back into drugs, alcohol, womanising and spent all of the money I had saved up,' he said. Not long after, Lachie's ex-partner called to tell him she was pregnant with his child and that she had decided to keep it. Since he was no longer doing FIFO work, Lachie found himself clinging to the identity of being a dad, despite 'being a pretty poor one at that point'. 'Three months later her mum decided that they needed to go away and start fresh without me turning up at their place all the time, so they went to the east coast,' he said. Lachie said after losing that 'last bit of identity' he fell into a dark place and eventually attempted to take his life. 'I remember the moments after, crying, thinking about how I nearly took my daughter's dad. I'm really lucky that being the selfish person I was, I chose to find something in being a better person for her' he said. Due to looming debts, Lachie was forced back to the mines where he stayed another three years, before it all came crashing down. 'I walked off-site one day and told the superintendent, 'I don't want to be here anymore, I don't want to live,'' he said. Lachie was put on a bus, then a flight. But that was it. After ending his decade-long, on-and-off again relationship with FIFO work, Lachie now shares his experiences with men and women working in the industry. He runs a FIFO mental health group, does one-on-one coaching and is a vendor for big mining companies such as Rio Tinto. 'When I host a presentation, I ask the group to nod if they've been through depression and I only get a couple of nods,' he said. 'But when I ask to nod if you feel like you really struggle and that you felt you didn't like yourself – nearly everyone will nod their heads.' His advice for anyone looking to get into FIFO is to ask yourself why you want to be there and what about the work attracts you. Over the last few years, social media has been flooded with content promoting the lifestyle, and the wages. 'You should know that your room will be mouldy, the toilet won't be cleaned, there's gunk everywhere. You just hope that the bed has been changed since the last person.' Since Lachie's time in FIFO he's realised people just want to be heard, and that the stigma surrounding mens mental health is a toxic one. 'The first time people feel seen and heard, they feel a little bit lighter. 'You realise when you talk to someone that it's okay to feel that way, and that so many other people feel that way too,' he said.
ABC News
2 hours ago
- ABC News
Hive of Activity: A bee school for students
A couple from south-east Queensland is on a mission to break down the barriers to beekeeping. They run the only NDIS friendly beekeeping service in the state, offering workshops to anyone interested, regardless of limitations.
