Australian Alliance to End Homelessness (AAEH) has launched an extensive lobbying campaign, Homes Beyond Covid, to raise awareness of the urgent needs of people who have now been temporarily sheltered in response to COVID-19.
Without urgent action thousands of people are sleeping rough and are now staying in temporary accommodations such as motels and are at risk of being forced back into homelessness because of a lack of options.
During winter, AAEH through its campaign calls for collaborative action to provide permanent housing and support to everyone sleeping rough or in motels due to COVID-19.
Australian Alliance to End Homelessness chief executive officer David Pearson told SBS Kurdish that the campaign demonstrates that the scale of homelessness in Australia is both preventable and solvable.
Mr Pearson said while it may be a "bold claim", 8,200 people sleep rough on the street, however since coronavirus hit, the campaign has seen most temporarily sheltered.
“In the first eight weeks of this pandemic alone, among the communities that the AAEH works with 7,000 people who were sleeping rough or at risk of sleeping rough have been temporarily sheltered,” he said.
“Given there were 8,200 people sleeping rough at the last census, this represents one of most significant homelessness responses we’ve ever seen in Australia, but as we know this crisis is not over yet. That’s why we need urgent action from governments – homelessness can be solved by policy.”
