St Vincent de Paul Dubbo inundated as cost-of-living bites

St Vincent de Paul Society Dubbo helped 80 people in July 2023, an increase from 60 people in January 2023, marking a 33 per cent increase.

The biggest demographic of people needing help changed from 40-49-year-olds (29 per cent) in January to a younger demographic of 30-39 years old in May/June.

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Of those who are seeking help, people experiencing housing stress now makes up a whopping 43 per cent. Housing stress is classed as spending 30 per cent or more of your income on housing.

The regional director for Vinnies' north west region, Phil Donnan, said those on the front line were noticing a "substantial increase" in the number of people who couldn't afford to buy food because of housing has become too expensive.

"While we can help them out with food, the base problem for them is housing stress, rents and affordability," Mr Donnan told the Daily Liberal.

From January to July, the number of Vinnies Dubbo clients asking for assistance with basic food items raised from 77 per cent to 80 per cent, and the number of people asking for help for the first time increased from 10 people per month to 15.

Many couples and families are approaching the charity for the first time in their lives.

Of those who sought assistance, couples with dependants increased from six per cent to eight per cent during the period.

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Some were spending so much money on rent they couldn't afford to eat and clients with private rentals increased from 26 per cent in January to 29 per cent in July.

There was an increase in the number of people who were admitted as homeless, from 12 to 16.

"We are starting to see couples and young families that are not on a pension payment - that are actually employed and in private rental situations, and a few mortgage holders and homeowners - start to seek help as well," Mr Donnan said.

Vinnies can help people with food, accommodation, medical, electricity and power bills, no interest loans for appliances and referrals for other services.

The organisation is hosting a community sleepout at the Old Dubbo Gaol on Friday, August 25, to draw attention to homelessness.

"We're encouraging people to come along, have a very light simple meal, learn more about what homelessness is and discuss what they can do personally and what we can do as a community to help the situation," Mr Donnan said.

The situation is mirrored in the nearby Bourke and Cobar local government areas [LGA], where a CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes team has worked with 256 clients who were homeless or at risk of homelessness in the past year.

Through the organisation's Specialist Homelessness Services, they provided 322 nights of short-term accommodation or emergency accommodation.

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Of the clients who were homeless or at risk of homelessness, almost two-thirds - 65 per cent - were female.

CatholicCare Wilcannia-Forbes Safe Homes portfolio manager Kimeaka Bermingham said in metropolitan areas, homelessness often took the form of rough sleeping and was therefore visible to the community, but in regional and remote areas it was often more hidden.

"Forty per cent of our clients in the Bourke and Cobar LGAs were living with relatives rent-free, or couch-surfing when presenting to our service," she said.

Homelessness Australia is hosting Homelessness Week and the theme for 2023 is "It's time to End Homelessness".

Across the country, one in seven homeless people are children, one in five identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, and 23 per cent are aged 12 to 24 years.

During the week homelessness services and community groups educate the community and advocate for change via national and local community events, media and social media activities.

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