PUBH7033 : A Public Health Social Analysis

Introduction 

Present statistics indicate that the level of homelessness has increased in various parts of Australia. Specifically, the homelessness level has increased by 22% in NSW which is considered almost three times the national increase (Tamsin & Catie, 2023). Further reports indicated that more than 1600 Australians are currently suffering from homelessness every month due to the deepening housing crisis (The Salvation Army, 2023). It is also observed that between December and March, the demand for homelessness increased by 7.5% across Australia in 2022. This included 95,000 people seeking homelessness assistance in March 2022. 83% of these people were suffering from financial challenges (ABS, 2023). Housing instability can be defined as a condition where living conditions are poor with overcrowded conditions and most people are spending the majority of their income on housing costs. There are also a lot of people experiencing homelessness because of the increased population (Anderson & Collins, 2019).

The most affected people are the Aboriginal Australians who are living in NSW Australia (Miller, 2023). The community are suffering from a lot of disadvantages in terms of social indicators compared to the non-Aboriginal Australians. The disadvantages are observed in terms of health, life expectancy, education, employment, imprisonment and housing (AIHW, 2022). The Indigenous communities living in remote parts of NSW continue to experience overcrowding homelessness and very poor conditions. According to Healthy Living Practices, the community lacks flushing toilets and other facilities that are required to take baths, wash clothes or even prepare adequate food (Baker, Lester, Bentley, & Beer, 2022). 79% of their Aboriginal Australians are living in major cities and large regional centres (Nilsson, Nordentoft, & Hjorthøj, 2019). Despite this, the burden of homelessness befalls them. 

Homelessness is also one of the negative outcomes that young Aboriginal people are facing. It is observed that the level of homelessness rates among young Aboriginals is between 20% to 40% in NSW. In addition to this, 8,800 children are suffering from homelessness according to 2019-2020 statistics. Most of the reasons for homelessness have been attributed to poor transition in terms of planning from government departments and lack of enough housing options (Thomson, Thomas, Sellstrom, & Petticrew, 2022). Most of the family backgrounds contain some of the risk factors that have put young Aboriginal people into a state of homelessness including family violence, separations, poor relationships with caregivers and parents, poverty, child maltreatment, parental substance abuse and other previous homelessness factors (Shah, et al., 2018). Intrinsic factors also include poor mental health and substance abuse problems, running away from care homes and poor shelter. 

Social Determinants of Indigenous Australians in NSW

The power to access quality housing has a huge impact in terms of health and well-being. The persisting health inequalities observed in Australia are due to the persistent health inequalities observed between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians (Dworsky, Napolitano, & Courtney, 2018). Housing has a direct effect on mental health since inadequate housing results in mental challenges due to overcrowding, insecurity, poor quality and unaffordable housing (ABS, 2023). Some of the reasons that have contributed to the higher rates of homelessness and housing instability are higher rates of unemployment and lower disposable income (Baker, Lester, Bentley, & Beer, 2022). 

Considering that the indigenous people are suffering some of the social inequities in terms of housing they are facing a lot of housing insecurity in NSW. For example, it is observed that the indigenous people are having a burden in terms of household (Johnson & Chamberlain, 2018). Some of the reasons for this are lack of income because they have different disposable income which they are using as a form of payment for the household (Bailie & Runcie, 2021). A lot of gaps have been observed when it comes to the households regarding the indigenous people. This is because this community has been observed as some of the most vulnerable communities and lack of funding programs and subsidized housing has affected them (Kushel, Gupta, Gee, & Haas, 2018). Due to poor housing inequality, unstable neighbourhood environments and housing instability, there has been a fundamental challenge when it comes to health because housing is also considered a social determinant of health (Bender, Yang, Ferguson, & Thompson, 2018). This is because the housing instability is affecting racial and ethnic minorities whose economic opportunities have been restricted because of the currently observed discriminatory housing practices. Considering that several suggestions have been floated when it comes to the physical and mental affordability of proper housing there is still a lot of challenge. This is because material budgeting and cases of inflation have been on the rise (Kelly, 2020). Challenges in terms of displacement and distribution have created a disadvantaged environment for the indigenous communities. There is also a lot of discrimination when it comes to application for accommodation (Anderson & Collins, 2019). 

Financial restraints being observed after the individuals have worked for longer hours and additional jobs have left them very poor and unable to promote physical activities hence leading to poor health (Hodgson, Shelton, van den Bree, & Los, 2018). Due to displaced households and overcrowding, such families are exposed to inherent detriments like crime, pollution, toxins and other challenges such as lack of proper recreational facilities (Anderson & Collins, 2019). Lack of proper housing has also been associated with poor housing quality and psychosocial stress, anxiety and depression. Low affordability has resulted in people living in overcrowded dwellings. 

Impact of Housing Instability in NSW

As it is observed there is a lack of appropriate housing that is culturally targeted for the indigenous communities (Bender, Yang, Ferguson, & Thompson, 2018). Property managers have also failed to address and increase the number of properties that are indigenous-specific. The indigenous community’s needs in terms of housing have been constantly neglected (Webster, 2019). The communities have also faced a lot of land injustices with the colonial government having snatched their dwellings, homes and lands (Baker, Lester, Bentley, & Beer, 2022).

Housing is a social determinant of health and when people are facing housing instability it causes a lot of challenges. Currently, it is being observed that high housing costs have increased by 30% of the gross monthly income and it is affecting rent or mortgage payments (Johnson & Chamberlain, 2018). Housing instability has also created substandard housing qualities and has consequently led to overcrowding (Bender, Yang, Ferguson, & Thompson, 2018). It is also observed that there are frequent moves and unsafe neighbourhoods. Most people have difficulty when it comes to paying their rent, mortgages and other utilities and most importantly it is leading to homelessness for the indigenous communities (Butler, Williams, Tukuitonga, & Paterson, 2018). Due to poor and lower disposable income, the indigenous people are forced to rent substandard houses and this is affecting their health and also risking them to leaks, moulds and inadequate heating or cooling systems (Anderson & Collins, 2019). Such areas with substandard housing are also prone to cases of crime and dangerous pollution. Such places are also homes to fossil fuel refineries, power plant factories and other contaminated substances (Shah, et al., 2018). 

At the family level, it is being observed that frequent moves create housing instability as well as economic stability. It is also preventing families from creating long-lasting ties and attachments, especially for the children within the neighbourhood (Bailie & Runcie, 2021). Strong attachments are predictive protective factors for children in the future (Anderson & Collins, 2019). Homelessness is associated with other health problems, especially for parents and other caregivers. Proper growth and development are also affected due to homelessness and multiple health risks are also observed. Adolescents and youths in NSW have also been found to be affected by homelessness and constant housing instability that is being observed (Hodgson, Shelton, van den Bree, & Los, 2018). At the community level, substandard housing is leading families and children to access inadequate medical care due to a lack of proper emergency and primary care services (Butler, Williams, Tukuitonga, & Paterson, 2018). The Indigenous communities are left very vulnerable, especially in terms of the youths who become targets of crime, injury and other negative vices (Thomson, Thomas, Sellstrom, & Petticrew, 2022). Due to constant and instant unstable housing, tenant turnover has affected rent prices within NSW especially because building owners are raising rents to alternates to recapture the last revenue faced due to frequent vacancies (Sandel, et al., 2018). This has consequently led to counterproductive community cohesion leading to local qualities of education and academic consistency, especially for children and the youths who enter and exit the school frequently (Cox, Henwood, Rice, & Wenzel, 2018).

How Housing Instability Has Socially Constructed the Indigenous Communities in NSW

Historical injustices against the indigenous communities remain one of the major reasons for the huge gaps in housing observed among them (Miller, 2023). Indigenous identity continues to face a lot of racial discrimination. The Indigenous communities continue to face a lot of stereotypes and racial discrimination considering the racial background (Kushel, Gupta, Gee, & Haas, 2018). This has seen such communities being excluded from community initiatives and the government funding programs which have been blamed for poor and unstable housing prices (Cox, Henwood, Rice, & Wenzel, 2018). Victim blaming and discrimination are being observed within the community. The media is also to be blamed for propagating negative energy when it comes to indigenous community racial discrimination and other inequalities that are being observed due to inadequate housing (Anderson & Collins, 2019). Systematic inequalities are still evident leading to a lot of disparity for the indigenous communities, especially for the youths who are at high risk of experiencing cases of homelessness due to their skin colour, race, ethnicity and even gender (Pollack, Griffin, & Lynch, 2020). Due to the consistent lack of stable housing prices such communities have faced a lot of insecurity due to their low disposable income (Baker, Lester, Bentley, & Beer, 2022). In addition, these communities are also facing a lot of racial discrimination in terms of the affordability of proper houses. Racial segregation has also seen members of the indigenous communities working for longer hours with little pay and this has created a lot of stigma and stereotypes within the community. Due to the inability to access enough financial services, they tend to struggle to keep up with the rising housing costs which have increased significantly in the recent past (Burgard, Seefeldt, & Zelner, 2022). The youth and the children are considered more vulnerable due to the increased cases of housing instability. However, due to this, the government has initiated a lot of programs to help improve the housing challenges being faced by indigenous people.

Current Responses to Housing and Security for The Indigenous Community in NSW

Housing is one of the targets that the government of Australia aims to close when it comes to dealing with indigenous communities (ABS, 2023). To that effect National Agreement on Closing the Gap was agreed between the Australian government and the Indigenous communities in the year 2020 (AIHW, 2022). Housing is among the 19 targets among the 17 socioeconomic outcomes areas that the government targets (AIHW, 2022). Housing is listed as outcome area number 9. The aim is to ensure that people can secure appropriate and affordable housing. It is also expected that by the year 2031, the indigenous communities will be living in appropriate housing at a rate of 88% (Miller, 2023). The latest statistics indicate that the rate is at 81.4% and indicate that the government trajectories are in the right direction (AIHW, 2022). Besides this, it is also expected that in the next 8 years, the indigenous communities living in nearby town in NSW areas will be meeting or exceeding the standards of households classified as discrete (AIHW, 2022). 

Currently, home ownership among the indigenous communities is very low at 14% by 2021. Homeownership without a mortgage has been reported to increase to 42% by the year 2023 (ABS, 2023). Census data also indicates that 35% of the indigenous communities were renting privately by the year 2021. It is also evident that the indigenous communities have been receiving the Commonwealth Rent Assistance form of housing assistance provided for Australian households (ABS, 2023). However, the figures are still very low with data indicating that as of 30th June 2022, only 6% of the indigenous communities were receiving the funding (ABS, 2023). 

Reconciliation Australia has also played a huge role in reconciling the indigenous communities and the rest of the Australians by giving them back land and dwellings that were illegally snatched by the colonial government (AIHW, 2022). This has seen land policies and priorities with affirmative actions directed at addressing the housing instability faced by the indigenous communities (Anderson & Collins, 2019). 

The federal government alone is not capable of handling the increasing demand for housing across Australia. This requires collaboration with other stakeholders. Strategic communication is needed across community-controlled organizations to help in reducing the gaps observed in housing insecurity (Cox, Henwood, Rice, & Wenzel, 2018). Improving housing among the indigenous communities requires addressing the causes of inequities observed in terms of employment, income, welfare, and education and improving public transport (Bender, Yang, Ferguson, & Thompson, 2018). 

Capacity building has also been taking place for the indigenous communities (Burgard, Seefeldt, & Zelner, 2022). This is important since it will play a role in providing culturally appropriate affordable housing for Indigenous Australians. It will also address the client's needs and inculcate innovation and flexibility (Bender, Yang, Ferguson, & Thompson, 2018). 

Conclusion 

Indigenous Australians continue to suffer from homelessness and housing instability due to colonial injustices. There are huge gaps in terms of housing and the quality of housing among the indigenous communities and the non-indigenous communities. The rising population continues to widen the gap further. Racial discrimination, stigma and other social injustices are some of the social deconstructs affecting the indigenous people. However, the government has made several strides in addressing the homelessness issue. With the projections targeting 2031, the national housing framework has placed some strategies that are addressing the issue of homelessness. They include providing funding to the poor and homeless people to ease the burden of housing. There is also an essential collaboration with the funders and organizers of Indigenous communities to help address the housing issue. Generally, addressing cases of inequality and discrimination will help in combating the social determinants of health including housing. 

References

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