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Homelessness In Melbourne Homelessness has been around in Melbourne for a very long time; however some factors like age of person and seriousness of homeless have been constantly changing and will continue to do so. Homelessness can affect anyone in many ways and can cause many other serious issues.

When homelessness was new to Melbourne, the majority of the homeless people were men, generally middle aged with issues (drug, alcohol etc.), today however, 55 per cent of homeless people in Australia are women, and there are now a lot of families and youths sleeping rough.

In Australia, to be homeless is not to have safe, secure long term affordable accommodation. This is the case for over 100,000 Australians every night including 12,000 children below the age of ten.

Homeless people are divided into three categories, Primary, Secondary and Tertiary:


 * Primary: ** A Primary homeless person is someone sleeping rough; they are the stereotypical homeless person. There are over 700 primary homeless people in the Melbourne CBD alone.


 * Secondary: ** Secondary homeless people are known as 'couch surfers', mainly because they go from friend's house to other friend's house because they have no address. They are also considered to be sleeping in squats and caravans.
 * Tertiary:**  A tertiary homeless person is someone who lives mainly in boarding houses and temporary accommodation.

There are many causes of homelessness, things like unemployment and mental illness; however the number one cause of homelessness is domestic violence. Although alcohol and drugs can cause homelessness, they are also known as a symptom. For example, if someone was a victim of domestic violence, and left home, they would take drugs and alcohol to cope with their issues.

In 2001, there were over 99,000 homeless people in Australia, compared to the 105,000+ in 1996, an overall decrease of around 5.1 per cent. However in Victoria, there were 17,840 homeless people in 1996, this number was increased by 13.8 per cent reaching 20,305 homeless people in 2001.



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