Homeless Twice

Experiences of homelessness by people seeking asylum in Australia: A review of published and “grey” literature

“…All studies were published in or after 2003, all but one (Forrest, Hermes, Johnston, & Poulsen, ) were state or city focused. The number of participants ranged from nine (Couch, ) to 2,694 (Forrest et al, ), with ten of the eleven studies employing qualitative approaches to data collection and analysis. Please see Table for an overview of the published studies included in this review.…”

“…Although best practice suggests that they should be living in a location with people of similar backgrounds, in accommodation that is affordable, and an adequate size, often, they occupy small, expensive, and poorly located housing (Harte, Childs, & Hastings, ). Although there is some public or government housing in Australia, it is limited in number, often not culturally appropriate for new arrivals, and can have wait times of several months (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, ; Couch, ). Less than 10% of people seeking asylum access public housing within the first 18 months of resettlement; all other people seeking asylum access unaffordable rental properties in the private rental market, or rely on family or friends for temporary accommodation (Couch, ; Coventry, ).…”

“…Although there is some public or government housing in Australia, it is limited in number, often not culturally appropriate for new arrivals, and can have wait times of several months (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, ; Couch, ). Less than 10% of people seeking asylum access public housing within the first 18 months of resettlement; all other people seeking asylum access unaffordable rental properties in the private rental market, or rely on family or friends for temporary accommodation (Couch, ; Coventry, ).…”

“…For example, around half of asylum seekers live in what can be considered inadequate housing or are homeless in Vancouver (Francis & Hiebert, ; Murdie, ). This is related to the high cost of private rentals and the low vacancy rates and the finding that, like in Australia, many people seeking asylum are not well linked in with housing or settlement services that would be able to assist them (Couch, ).…”

“…Commentaries, opinions, and reviews were excluded, for example Farida Fozdar and Hartley () and articles that related to asylum seekers and homelessness in a context not directly related to housing were excluded, for example, East () describes the relationship of asylum seekers and homelessness through the description of an improvised dance routine. The same study was identified as being reported in two articles (Couch, , ), with identical results and discussion, so the research team decided to only include one article (Couch, ).…”