A couple of days ago, in a restaurant in a northern town, a man named Aiden was being served his meal.
He said he had been waiting in line for hours to buy food.
His brother had been the only one to arrive.
“I’ve been waiting since 11.30, but it’s only since about 6.30,” Aiden said.
“There’s no other place I can go.
And I’m starving.
I’ve been told the only way to get food is to take the bus.”
Aiden had spent the day queuing outside a shop in a shopping centre in the town of Gisborne, a suburb of Victoria.
He says he has been waiting for hours, but is not allowed to eat or drink.
“If you don’t go in, we’re going to take you back to the police station and send you to jail,” he said.
Aiden is not the only person to go to the shop and ask for help, and the situation is not good.
“We’re just going to have to stay in the shop,” he added.
“It’s very difficult.
We have no money.”
Many of the people in Gisbourne are people who live in poverty, but the situation for the homeless in the towns south of Sydney is even worse.
“In Gisbane, about 60 per cent of the homeless population is people who are on food assistance,” says Peter Gartside, a homelessness campaigner who has been in Gisele for the past year.
“People are living in shacks, on the streets, on a lot of rubbish and a lot, a lot are living on a roof.
They’re not getting the social support that they need.”
Gartday said it was not uncommon for people to be given food vouchers or cash vouchers to buy a meal, but he added that there was not enough information to know exactly how many people were in the community.
“The people that we know are often in their 30s, 40s, 50s,” he told Al Jazeera.
“That’s why we have so many people in these shacks.”
Gisburne has been hit hard by the housing crisis.
According to the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) government, nearly 1,000 people died in 2016, the highest number of deaths in 20 years.
Aged over 55, homelessness is the biggest killer of Australians aged between 15 and 64, with more than 6,000 deaths on the ACT’s Death Row.
“At the end of the day, homelessness affects people in every generation,” said Gartaday.
“What you see in Gisfelland is people born and bred here, people who grew up here, who have grown up here.”
The lack of affordable housing is the real issue, said Gisborn’s Mayor Michael Hodge.
“Most of the houses are sold off,” he explained.
“A lot of the property in Gislangdale is owned by someone else, or is going to be sold off to developers.”
In recent years, Gisburgh has been experiencing an influx of new residents.
“Every time we have a new person, we have more people,” said Hodge, adding that the area is currently experiencing a rise in rents.
“As you move into the region, you’re seeing a lot more people coming in and we’re seeing more and more of them in the city.”
Gislangee’s Mayor said that as a result of the housing shortage, the town had seen a spike in homeless people and drug use.
“They’re starting to come to Gislanges houses because they’ve got nowhere else to go,” he claimed.
“And that’s when they get into trouble with the police, because they’re not doing the job of keeping the peace.”
Gisaard has seen a surge in homeless, drug use, drug-related crime and violence.
“Homelessness is increasing, and people are turning to drugs because they can’t get affordable housing,” said Mayor Hodge in his response to the Guardian’s story.
Many other local communities across the country are experiencing similar problems. “
When we have new people in, that’s a really bad sign, because we’re starting a cycle of drug use and violence.”
Many other local communities across the country are experiencing similar problems.
Gisbrook, the capital of Queensland’s Pilbara region, has seen an increase in drug use since the election.
“All the drug dealers and the homeless are just lining up,” said Councillor Chris Gannon, who said it had become a problem for locals.
“Some of them are from Gisburgle, so they’re coming from there.
Police officers from Brisbane are also on the job in the region to help deal with the increase in”
Then we’ve got the homeless people, because that’s what we have.”
Police officers from Brisbane are also on the job in the region to help deal with the increase in
