Australia Homelessness Statement on Wagga Baby Death

Homelessness Australia has expressed deep sorrow following the death of a baby in a makeshift camp, extending its condolences to the child's mother and all those affected. "This is a devastating tragedy and our thoughts are with the mother of this baby and everyone affected," Homelessness Australia CEO Kate Colvin said. "The uncomfortable truth is that tragedies like this don't come out of nowhere. They are the result of a housing system that has broken to the point that there is no safe housing or adequate support available, even for a mother with a newborn baby. "It is completely unacceptable a family that has welcomed a new baby cannot immediately access a home, but rentals are unaffordable and social housing is unavailable. Even where families are in touch with homelessness services, people in desperate need miss out every day because there is not enough social housing or homelessness support. "Right now, rising rents and the cost of basics like food and fuel are outpacing incomes, pushing more families out of housing while services remain in crisis mode. "This has been building for years. "What it calls for now is not just grief, but resolve. Resolve to make sure families have somewhere safe to go before things reach this point, and that when people need help, they can get it early, not only once everything has already been lost. "Without change, we will keep seeing tragedies like this, each one heartbreaking, avoidable, and a reminder people are being failed long before crisis hits."