Web resource:	http://www.ahuri.edu.au/publications/download/40158_pp
Type:	Journal Article
Title:	Sustainable tenancy for Indigenous families: what services and policy supports are needed?AHURI Positioning Paper
Authors:	Cooper, Lesley Morris, Mary
Keywords:	Policy;Indigenous issues;Regional rural and remote areas;Housing
Year:	2003
Publisher:	Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute
Citation:	No. 58
Notes:	This position paper describes the background to, aims and methodology for a research project being undertaken throughout 2003 to identify the major factors that initiate and sustain iterative homelessness among Indigenous families in both urban and remote areas, especially Indigenous women and children. The literature review identified that there is a gap in academic literature on Indigenous women’s understanding of patterns of homelessness. Some main findings include: ‘hidden’ homeless due to constant mobility – but most women did not recognise this as being ‘homeless’ while service providers identified it as a ‘cycle of homelessness’; disempowerment arising from the context of colonisation and a major factor in family violence, which is one of the key reasons for the cycle of homelessness among Indigenous women and children; impact of the Stolen Generation on the ability to sustain tenancy; overcrowding; drug and alcohol abuse which add to family violence and homelessness; and intergenerational unemployment and poverty. Barriers to accessing support are found to include: ‘shame’ which prevents women from seeking help and reporting family violence (women did not access either mainstream or Indigenous-specific services); living in a state of perpetual fear and chronic stress (affecting physical and mental health and engendering a lack of trust); lack of formal support in finance, transport, urban living skills and skills to access services; poor access to legal redress to fight eviction or non-payment of debt; racial discrimination when accessing housing; discrimination against women and children in Cherbourg for safe tenancies because men who perpetrate domestic violence or sexual abuse stay in the houses and women and children are forced to leave; lack of appropriate crisis and temporary housing; and high costs of providing safe housing in remote areas. Implications for support strategies and policy are laid out.
URI:	https://anrows.intersearch.com.au/anrowsjspui/handle/1/12140
ISBN:	9781920758745
Physical description:	52 p.
Appears in Collections:	Journal Articles

Items in ANROWS library are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.