Violence against the homeless

It is, of course, not out of the ordinary for anyone to be robbed in a large city like Sydney. But for people who are homeless, violence is an integral part of their lives. The average homeless person lives in environments where he or she is frequently vulnerable to violence and resulting injury or death.

Australia has about 100,000 homeless people. They are divided into the following statistical categories: the primary homeless (who live in the streets, in parks or other public places); the secondary homeless (those in refuges or temporarily in private accommodation); and the tertiary homeless who have boarding house accommodation. People who live in caravan parks are considered “marginally housed”. However, given the tenuous nature of caravan park living - with park owners succumbing to the temptations offered by developers and selling up - they don’t have much more security than boarding house residents.