The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare releases a new report but the problem of homelessness remains

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), media release, 11 December 2020:

More than 290,000 Australians were assisted by government-funded Specialist Homelessness Services during 2019–20, according to a new report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

The latest Specialist Homelessness Services annual report covers the 2019–20 period, including months before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and is accompanied by updated Specialist Homelessness Services Collection Data Cubes with information on clients assisted in states and territories.

‘Government-funded Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) assist Australians who are experiencing homelessness—or at risk of becoming homeless—with services such as advice, counselling, professional legal services, meals and accommodation, said AIHW spokesperson Dr. Gabrielle Phillips.

‘Between 2015–16 and 2019–20, the number of clients helped by specialist homelessness agencies increased by an average of 1.0% per year from 279,200 to 290,500 people. ‘In 2019–20, about 114,000 clients were homeless when they first presented to services seeking help and 152,300 were at risk of homelessness.’

Of the 290,000 clients who were assisted in 2019–20, 60% (174,500) were female and 29% (85,000) were aged under 18 years.

About 119,000 clients assisted by Specialist Homelessness Services had experienced family and domestic violence, up from 116,000 clients in 2018–19. Ninety per cent of adult clients who had experienced family and domestic violence were female and over half (51%) of clients aged under 18 years had experienced family and domestic violence.

About 88,300 clients accessing services in 2019–20 reported having a current mental health issue which was almost 1 in 3 of all SHS clients (30%).

‘People with current mental health issues is one of the fastest growing client groups, increasing by 22% since 2015–16,’ Dr. Phillips said.

‘Various factors, including increased identification, community awareness and reduced stigma, may have had an impact on the increase in self-identification and reporting of mental illness among Specialist Homelessness Services clients.’

About $68.7 million in financial assistance was provided to clients in 2019–20, up from $61.1 million in 2018–19. This included $32.3 million used to help clients establish or maintain existing tenancies and $21.9 million to provide short-term or emergency accommodation, some of which was related to COVID-19 responses.

Clients supported each month can be found in our SHS monthly data product; the latest release includes preliminary data for the June–September 2020 time period.

In New South Wales in 2019-20 homeless agencies provided 70,400 individuals with a a service – 41% of these people were in regional areas, 1% in remote areas and 58% in major cities.

At least 38,334 of these individuals were homeless when they first presented (around 3,066 having no shelter or improvised shelter) and the majority of these homeless people appear to have been female.

Given that 1.6 million women in Australia are thought to have experienced sexual and/or physical violence from a partner it should come as no surprise that family or domestic violence was one of the top three reasons given by those seeking assistance.

The services offered by homeless agencies could have been information only, referral to another agency, overnight accommodation, short-term accommodation, advocacy in an effort to obtain permanent accommodation pr retain existing accommodation - or no assistance was able to be given at the time so that the individual walked out as homeless as when they entered the agency. On average 25 requests for assistance went unmet each day.

The 2016 national census revealed that across Australia 116,000 people were experiencing homelessness on census night. It also revealed the NSW Northern Rivers region was no stranger this homelessness. In the Richmond Valley – Hinterland 57.5 persons out of every 10,000 were homeless, in Richmond Valley – Coastal it was 53.9 persons per 10,000, the Tweed Valley 48.6 persons and Clarence Valley 44.8 persons.

In 2020 it was reported that local police believed that up to 400 women were sleeping in tents or cars in the Byron Bay area and it is thought that over 200 people may be sleeping rough in the Clarence Valley.

National DNA Program for Unidentified and Missing Persons has been established at the Australian Federal Police laboratories in Canberra

ABC News, 13 December 2020:

Each year, around 38,000 people are reported missing.

Most are found quickly — perhaps they are visiting relatives, or seeking some solitude, or on a drug-induced bender.

But at any one time, there are around 2,600 Australians who remain stubbornly unfindable, leaving in their wake trails of grief and confusion.

Less well known are the 500 sets of anonymous bones languishing in police archives across the country…….

This year, a national DNA database has been launched in the hope it will be a game-changer.

The $4 million National DNA Program for Unidentified and Missing Persons has been established at the Australian Federal Police laboratories in Canberra.

Program director Jodie Ward says it will apply world-class forensic science techniques to the backlog of unsolved cases in a methodical way…..

Until now, DNA sampling has been patchy and, crucially, not coordinated across the states and territories.

That means human remains found in New South Wales in the 1990s could belong to a person reported missing across in Victoria in the 1980s, with DNA samples from the bones and remaining relatives never having been compared.

State and territory police are auditing their DNA archives and collecting samples from the relatives of historical missing persons where needed.

They will be submitted to Professor Ward’s team along with DNA or bone samples from unidentified remains…..

Missing Persons In NSW

The Missing Persons Registry (MPR) was established in July 2019 and not only oversees every Missing Persons report in NSW, but also the unidentified bodies and human remains. Although the MPR is made up of a team of detectives and analysts, it does not usually investigate Missing Persons, instead it reviews each report and provides a supportive role to the police in the field.

In 2019 there were a total of 10,212 reported Missing Persons across NSW, averaging 28 missing people every day. Most people are located almost immediately however around 1% go on to become Long Term Missing Persons.

As of June 2020 there have been a total of 3,430 reports of Missing Persons, with 62 persons currently outstanding.

The MPR not only oversees the investigation of new reports but also historical Missing Persons dating back to 1945. There is currently 769 outstanding Long-Term Missing Persons across NSW however this number does vary slightly each day. 

The National Missing Persons Co-ordination Centre database can be viewed at:

https://www.missingpersons.gov.au/view-all-profiles.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison's arrogance brings Australia closer to an all out trade war with China

 

China is said to account for around one-third of Australia's export income. 

This may not continue into the future.

Given the growing tension between Australia and China, caused in great measure by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison acting as US President Donald Trump's annoying little barking dog snapping at the heels of Xi Jinping, it is possible that in 2021 Australia could face over $105 billion in lost trade with China.

 The Monthly, 15 December 2020:

…..Beijing appears to have officially blacklisted Australian coal for the foreseeable future. The Chinese government sure knows how to hit where it hurts. Australian coal exports to China were worth $14 billion last year, and, for the many coal-lovers in the Coalition, the one argument for the industry’s continued existence – the financial one – has just been crushed. It was hard enough justifying a project such as Adani’s Carmichael mine before; now it looks ridiculous. Trade Minister Simon Birmingham has urged China to clarify the reported ban, calling it unacceptable and discriminatory, while Scott Morrison somewhat hopefully called the reports “media speculation”, and warned that a blacklisting would “obviously be in breach of WTO rules and our own free-trade agreements, so we would hope that it is not the case”. It’s a lot more than media speculation, of course. And it’s hardly coincidental that this news has arrived hard on the heels of the stoushes over Australian iron ore. Where is all this heading?

Australian businesses are going to suffer, and people are going to get hurt. Journalist Anna Krien has been tracking a terrible situation involving sailors marooned off the coast of China, on ships full of Australian coal. For up to eight months, these ships have been unable to offload their cargo into Chinese ports due to an informal government ban. “China doesn’t want it. The seller won’t leave. A game of chicken except these men’s lives are at stake. Three are on suicide watch,” Krien reported via Twitter. “Their medicine has run out. The water they are being supplied with is bad – causing rashes that won’t heal and [are] pus-filled. They have families. One sailor’s father back home in India has died, his mother is dying.”

Some of the stranded seafarers haven’t been allowed to disembark for 20 months due to COVID-19. Do Birmingham, Morrison, Canavan, Pitt and Payne care about these workers? Does the Minerals Council? Let alone the hundreds of thousands of workers in the other sectors hit by China’s abrupt strikes on Australian products…...

Polluting the Pilliga was never a good idea - and unfortunately the NSW Berejiklian Government spurred on by Deputy-Premier & Nationals Minister for Regional New South Wales, 'Barracuda' Barilaro, is likely to make the Pilliga a template for rape of the Northern Rivers - from the Clarence Valley to the NSW-Qld border region

 

https://youtu.be/igv-9EWdK5M

Elders and Widjabul Wia-bal people: ‘We are tired of being ‘consulted’ and then ignored. Enough is enough.’

 

Echo NetDaily, 14 December 2020:

Widjabul Wia-bal traditional owners of the area between Dunoon and the Channon have told Rous County Council not to follow Rio Tinto with the destructive Dunoon Dam.

They have told the General Manager of Rous County Council, Phil Rudd, that they will not accept the building of the proposed dam, which would inundate ancient burial sites and extensive evidence of occupation in the past and in recent times.

John Roberts, a Senior Elder of the Widjabul Wia-bal said, ‘I was one of the stakeholders consulted in 2011 about the impact of the Dunoon Dam on cultural heritage.

‘In the 2011 Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment prepared for Rous, we stakeholders said with one voice that no level of disturbance was acceptable to us. We still say that. Nothing has changed. There is no need for another study. Our opinion has not changed.

‘Our cultural heritage is a direct connection to our ancestors. We have been here for thousands of years. These sites provide us with a link to our traditions, our land and our living heritage. They allow us to educate our young ones in their history.’

Unanimous decision

A unanimous decision of Elders and Widjabul Wia-bal people was given to the Rous County Council General Manager last Tuesday, December 8th.

The group insisted that Rous abandon plans for the Dunoon Dam.

‘So many of our cultural sites have been destroyed. To destroy more is unacceptable to the traditional owners,’ said Mr Roberts.

‘We are tired of being ‘consulted’ and then ignored. Enough is enough.’

The Widjabul Wia-bal collective insisted that Rous County Council no longer deals with individuals. They said in future Rous must consult with the whole stakeholder group.

Rous have agreed to provide all correspondence between Rous and the Widjabul Wia-bal representatives since the dam was first mooted in 1995……

Rous County Council, meanwhile, have issued a statement saying they will table their plan to future-proof the region’s water supply at their next ordinary meeting, on 16 December 2020.

Channon Gorge, threatened by proposed Dunoon Dam. Photo David Lowe.

The statement said, ‘The combination of solutions set out by the Future Water Project 2060 include:

• Utilisation of the Marom Creek Water Treatment Plant for the increased use of groundwater from the Alstonville area.

• Further detailed investigations into the viability of the proposed Dunoon Dam.

• Ongoing water conservation and demand management.

• Pioneering investigations into water reuse.

‘Councillors will carefully consider the plan in light of the outcome of a 10-week public exhibition of the Future Water Project 2060. Council acknowledges the community’s concerns and aspirations and greatly appreciates the time invested by those who made a submission.’

Rous have asked people who wish to find out more about the Future Water Project 2060 to please visit www.rous.nsw.gov.au/futurewater.

Dunoon local Jill Hawthorn responded on social media by saying, ‘When the experts say we need back up options for dry times coming – and 30% of our water system should be not rain dependent. This means we need to look seriously at water reuse and solar powered desalination – can you hear your community Rous?

As we near the end of 2020 this message needs to be acted upon......

 

My name is Greta Thunberg and I am inviting you to be a part of the solution.

As #ParisAgreement turns 5, our leaders present their 'hopeful' distant hypothetical targets, 'net zero' loopholes and empty promises.⁰⁰
But the real hope comes from the people.⁰
#FightFor1Point5 pic.twitter.com/o9mmFuIoyI

— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) December 10, 2020

 

Comes December 2020, comes a La Niña rain dump

 

This was the outlook on the NSW North Coast last Saturday evening…..

The Sydney Morning Herald, 12 December 2020:

Tens of thousands of residents in northern NSW were on high alert on Saturday evening ahead of wild weather expected to arrive late on Sunday and into Monday.

Sandbagging was under way and some residents were relocating to higher ground as the Mid North Coast and Northern Rivers regions braces for torrential rainfall and potential major flooding over the next 48 hours.

A deepening trough over the state was also expected to be accompanied by damaging winds gusting up to 90km/h and a damaging surf as waves were set to exceed five metres.

The Bureau of Meteorology has warned abnormally high tides could lead to coastal inundation and significant beach erosion north from Ballina.

It said rainfall was likely to be heavier in localities affected by severe thunderstorms. "This may lead to dangerous flash flooding,” it said.

The community of Ocean Shores, near Byron Bay, was caught without warning by flash flooding on Saturday afternoon.

An hour of pelting rain saw the streets inundated with whitewater in the coastal town.

The greatest concern in NSW looking ahead is for low lying properties that flank the Bellinger River, south of Coffs Harbour…..

The NSW SES urged people in flood-prone parts of the Bellingen region to relocate to the homes of family or friends outside the impact area….

A string of other areas across the Mid North Coast and Northern Rivers were also on flood watch on Saturday.

Catchments likely to be affected include:

Tweed and Rouse Rivers minor to moderate flooding

Brunswick River and Marshalls Creek minor flooding

Wilsons River minor to moderate flooding

Richmond River minor flooding

Orara River moderate flooding

Coffs Coast minor flooding

Nambucca River minor to moderate flooding

Hastings River minor flooding

Authorities warned high water levels due to spring tides added to the risk of flooding in low lying areas…...

From Friday 11 to Saturday 12 December, although at least 108mm of rain had fallen on the Clarence Coast and at least 125mm inland in the Grafton area, the rain had not been accompanied by destructive storms and the Clarence River system was in no danger of heavy flooding.

Evans Head on the coast which received 158.6mm of rain in the same period appeared to be weathering the rain dump reasonably well.

Early Monday morning after a day and night of continuing rain, strong winds, high seas and king tides the northern coastline of New South Wales was bruised and battered.

Main Beach in Byron Bay... gone! @9NewsSyd #NSWfloods pic.twitter.com/BWC6beCejy

— Hannah Sinclair (@hansinclair9) December 13, 2020

Gale warnings continue for waters from the Coffs Coast up to the Tweed Coast and into south-east Queensland.

The rain dump continues to sit on top of north-east NSW and the Bureau of Meteorology states that more heavy rainfall is expected, along with:

DAMAGING WINDS, with winds averaging 60-70 km/h and gusts exceeding 90 km/h are possible along the coastal fringe north from about Yamba, possibly extending south to about Crescent Head on the Mid North Coast during the day. 

DAMAGING SURF, with waves exceeding 5 metres in the surf zone can be expected, extending south to Port Macquarie during the day, possibly leading to significant beach erosion. 

ABNORMALLY HIGH TIDES are expected along the coast north from about Ballina during this morning's high tide, which may lead to localised coastal inundation. The combination of Damaging Surf and Abnormally High Tides may enhance the risk of significant beach erosion north from about Ballina. 

A Flood Watch is current for the Mid North Coast and Northern Rivers and Flood Warnings have been issued for the Tweed, Wilsons, Bellinger and Brunswick Rivers, 

See http://www.bom.gov.au/nsw/warnings/ for the latest Flood Watch/Warnings. 

Locations which may be affected include Tweed Heads, Byron Bay, Lismore, Grafton, Coffs Harbour, Port Macquarie, Sawtell and Dorrigo.

Overnight, there were over 700 SES call-outs along the Mid North and Far North Coast regions. 

As yet the NSW Road Traffic Authority is not reporting any road closures for main roads and highways.

It is being reported that by Tuesday 15 December 2020, three day totals of 300-600 ml are predicted to fall across the North Coast.