I really don't understand how, in affluent Australia we have a...

I really don't understand how, in affluent Australia we have a chronic homeless problem. People aren't homeless because they want to be. They are homeless because an event or events in their life have gone horribly wrong. They may be homeless because of abuse at home or homeless because of mental health problems.

Why do we have this in Australia. No government has been able to fix it and maybe no government wants to fix it.
It should be a top 5 priority. Forget $43 billion for a broadband network when Australia has this shameful problem. I don't get it and it really frustrates me.

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http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/half-of-citys-homeless-face-death-risk-20100614-y7jk.html

Half of city's homeless face death risk June 14, 2010

More than half of Brisbane's homeless community is a high risk of dying early, a survey suggests.

Teams of outreach workers and volunteers have interviewed people who live on Brisbane's streets, using an index to determine their mortality risk.

The vulnerability index looks at a person's risk of death based on factors including the length of time they've been homeless, and the presence of major indicators of poor health.

Of the 231 people surveyed, 118, or 51 per cent, were found to be vulnerable or at high risk of death.