Mornington electorate homelessness
Chris CREWTHER (Mornington) (09:45): As Shadow Assistant Minister for Housing and Rental Affordability and the member for Mornington, I rise to speak about the worsening Mornington Peninsula homelessness crisis. Disturbingly, our region on the peninsula has the highest number of people experiencing homelessness now across Victoria. Many are women, young people and those over 55. There is only one limited crisis accommodation on the peninsula. With inadequate public transport, it is unrealistic for people in crisis to access services outside our community. This has been raised continually by the Southern Women’s Action Network, SWAN, who I met with in Parliament yesterday along with my colleague the Shadow Minister for Housing. New national research has again exposed the shocking scale of child and youth homelessness. More than 13,000 Australian children aged 12 to 17 sought help on their own last year, and three-quarters remained homeless even after support ended. Groups like Fusion Mornington Peninsula do a great job in this area, but there is insufficient funding for them and for the support that is needed. Even more devastating, more than 500 children have died in the past decade after seeking homelessness services. That is around one child every single week. Locally, the housing crisis is biting hard. We need significant investment in this area not only on the Mornington Peninsula but across Victoria.