UQ research released today suggests that homeless people in Queensland face a wide range of legal problems, and have great difficulty obtaining legal advice and assistance.
Dr Tamara Walsh, Lecturer in the TC Beirne School of Law at The University of Queensland, undertook a large-scale survey of 264 homelessness service providers in Queensland. The results of the survey demonstrate that homeless people are routinely faced with serious legal difficulties, discrimination and they are often victims of crime.
"The survey found that the most common legal difficulty faced by homeless people in Queensland is an inability to pay fines," Dr Walsh said.
"68 percent of respondents said their homeless clients experienced difficulty paying fines. Homeless people often receive fines for minor criminal offences such as begging and offensive conduct, even though the behaviour that leads to these charges is generally conducted out of necessity.
"The survey found that homeless people also experience family law problems, tenancy-related problems, and they have trouble repaying debts, particularly utility bills.
"They also experience social security law problems; many have their social security benefits docked for reasons out of their control.
"The multitude of legal difficulties faced by Indigenous homeless people is of greatest concern. According to the respondents to this survey, the most common legal issue that Indigenous homeless people present with is an arrest for failing to move on."
Dr Walsh said this finding was most troubling in light of the recent announcement by the Queensland Government to extend the police move-on powers to all areas in Queensland.
"Currently, police can only move people on from certain areas," she said.
"Once the changes come in, police will be able to move people on from any place in Queensland. Since the move on powers already seem to be disproportionately used against Indigenous people, this is likely to impact most heavily on Indigenous people.
"This is in clear contravention of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Justice Agreement which the Government committed to in 2001."
Another finding of this survey was the rate at which homeless people experience discrimination and victimization.
"65 percent of respondents said their homeless clients have been victims of crime, and 58 percent said their clients had experienced discrimination on the basis of their homelessness," Dr Walsh said.
"The results of the survey also demonstrated how much trouble homeless people have in accessing legal advice and representation. The vast majority of respondents said their clients did not have reasonable access to the justice system."
The results of this research will be presented to delegates at the National Homelessness Conference being held at the Convention Centre in Sydney from March 1 to March 3, 2006.
Media: Further information, Dr Tamara Walsh, telephone 07 3365 6192 or Liz Rourke telephone 07 3346 9350.
