Homelessness on the rise, reaches Premier of New South Wales office

The City of Sydney has recorded its highest numbers of rough sleepers in its biannual street count in 2016, with 486 heads in the summer and 394 in winter. The rising number of homeless people in Sydney has now become a Premier problem, as they have already reached the Premier of New South Wales office.

The Sydney Morning Herald notes that homeless people would settle into the city's crevices during the summer. They also usually stay beneath bridges and awnings and even sleep below NSW Premier Mike Baird's conference room.

In relation to this, a regular camp beneath a Martin Place development was organised by a founder of the Occupy movement, Lanz Priestley. It is currently dubbed as "Sydney's most prestigious new address."

Priestley has initiated the setting up of the camp a few hundred metres from the site of one of the world's longest-running Occupy sit-ins. It aims to serve as a safe place for women after the Occupy movement founder has learned that many were being assaulted on the street.

He is also running a dinner service for the homeless people in Martin Place. "Then this came along and I thought, why not take it 24/7?," Priestley said.

Meanwhile, NSW has claimed that it is spending $188 million on specialist homeless services this year. The Department of Family and Community Services is in charge of assisting the homeless in the central business district to find immediate accommodation, as well as solutions to their long-term needs.

However, Baird has admitted that there are still a number of homeless people in the area. "Despite our efforts, it is strikingly apparent that many people are homeless and sleeping rough on the streets of Sydney and around our state," Baird said.

Baird said it is clear that there is still more that should be done. He assured that they will continue to work with the City of Sydney council to ensure everything possible is being executed to help people in need.