Declaring a State of Emergency for Homelessness in NSW
Petitioner:
Miss Samantha Bing
| Member:
Leong, Jenny
| No. of Signatories:
1,074
| Date closed:
25/12/2024
To the Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly,
We the undersigned NSW residents draw the attention of the House that there is a significant increase in people experiencing homelessness across NSW, that is not receiving the level of response that is required for the scale of this crisis. According to the 2021 Census 35,011 are experiencing homelessness, in the three years following there has been a significant increase in these numbers, with frontline homelessness services struggling and not keeping up with the rising demand for emergency and temporary housing reaching unseen levels.
Homelessness is a disaster, declaring a state of emergency means a coordinated, whole-of-government approach to ensure those affected by this disaster are returned to safety, and people experiencing homelessness should be treated no differently. With winter upon us, not another day can be wasted.
Therefore, we the petitioners ask the Legislative Assembly to call on the Government to declare a state of emergency in NSW for people experiencing homelessness and deploy all appropriate measures to provide shelter and support.
