More need help as winter takes hold
Demand for emergency relief services has soared recently. Records show that each of our four busiest emergency aid centres had at least 20 per cent more people through their doors in the months leading up to winter. Things are only going to get busier as unemployment rises and the cold weather takes hold. Anglicare Victoria conducts an annual Hardship Survey just before winter each year and in the face of surging client numbers, this year's results are quite sobering. One in five people who took part in the survey had no warm clothes or bedding for the colder months. Further, two in every five participants could not afford to buy prescription medication and half could not afford to visit a dentist. These things are considered essential to a healthy life and it is astounding to think that some of the most vulnerable people in our community are being denied important medication because they can't afford it. Perhaps more concerning though is evidence that up to one in five people who access emergency relief suffer from a serious mental illness. In many cases these illness are undiagnosed and untreated. The Hardship Survey also found those missing out on life essentials were likely to have suffered a recent major stressful event such as the death of a family member, or a significant illness or injury. Of all the people surveyed, just two had not experienced a stressful event in the past 12 months. The overlapping nature of financial hardship, deprivation of essential items, stressful life events and serious mental illness calls for a review of the standard emergency relief service response. While it is vitally important to continue providing immediate relief in the form of food parcels and assistance to pay utilities, we need our governments, both state and federal, to invest in a more integrated approach that links people with the services they need to address deeper issues. Only then will families and individuals seeking short term relief have a chance to affect long term change.
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