Indigenous homelessness / Christina Birdsall-Jones ... [et al.]

This report provides a comparative analysis of Indigenous homelessness in the contrasting settings of major cities and regional country town centres. The research sought to compare the understandings of Indigenous homelessness held by Indigenous homeless people, and those of the providers of services to Indigenous homeless people. It offers an analysis of the relationship between homelessness, household overcrowding and mobility patterns in the context of Indigenous culture. To this end, an anthropological consideration was undertaken of the social and cultural drivers of Indigenous homelessness. To understand 'the place, house and home needs' of Indigenous people, it was necessary to differentiate those aspects of Indigenous culture that structure the Indigenous response to homelessness from the forces of the wider Australian society that act on the ways Indigenous people solve the problem of housing in the context of poverty and a shortage of affordable housing. Data were gathered through ethnographic interviews yielding text which was subjected to thematic analysis. Interviews were conducted in Broome, Carnarvon and Perth. (Executive summary, edited.)