Homelessness cycle adding to anxiety of those trying to find shelter

By Murray Silby

Mar 7, 2023

**Troubled times:** Dion Grahame has welcomed the reprieve a two-month allocation of emergency housing will bring him, but still wonders what will happen beyond that. Photo by Murray Silby

It is testament to the challenging journey Dion Grahame has been on that the promise of accommodation for the next two months feels like a sign of stability in his life.

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What happens beyond those eight weeks is uncertain, but for now, he has shelter. It is as simple as that.

“It’s not really what I was looking for, but it’s better than being in the elements,” he said.

Mr Grahame has been on housing waiting lists for half a dozen years and was living in a tent by the banks of the Goulburn River when floods hit the region last October.

The water washed away all his possessions, including a generator and an air conditioner, which helped make the conditions bearable.

“I was on a cot bed, it was about that high, so by the time I woke up and got out of bed in the morning, I went like that and I was knee deep in water,” he said.

“By then, half the tent was over. I tried to pull it back out, but it had mud and water and sh*t all through it and I just couldn't save it.”

He said he had had an application for emergency housing lodged for more than half a year and had been told it would take at least as long as that before his application was considered.

“They said it will be about eight months before my application is even looked at and it’s been in for eight months, so it’s going to be 16 months before it’s even looked at,” Mr Grahame said.

It has already been a challenging road for Mr Grahame, who has camped in the bush adjacent to the city since a caravan fire destroyed his accommodation.

He says it has been a battle to get a roof over his head ever since, with him stuck on a never ending merry-go-round of inaction, going from agency to agency hoping to be housed, but apparently no nearer to achieving that goal.

“I’ve gone to Emergency Relief Victoria and they keep rejecting me because my caravan burned down when I was at my mother's house. So then I shifted to the bush and when I shifted to the bush, I didn’t have an address, so they can’t give me temporary accommodation, because I had no previous address,” Mr Grahame said.

A disability pensioner, missing several toes, with bulging discs in his back and limited movement in his left arm, Mr Grahame said the struggle to get by wore him down even further, and he knew of about 20 people sleeping rough in similar circumstances.

“I just don't know what’s going on,” he said.

But for now, for Mr Grahame, the merry-go-round has paused, if not stopped.

The State Government has been approached for a response to Mr Grahame’s concerns relating to Emergency Relief Victoria.

If you or anyone you know is experiencing or at risk of homelessness, contact BeyondHousing on 1800 825 955. If you need support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.