More than 20-thousand Queenslanders are experiencing homelessness. A potentially busy fire and cyclone season, those with lived experience of life on the streets are teaming up with social workers and emergency personnel to make disaster preparation more inclusive.
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00:00 With no fridge to store food and no oven to cook with,
00:05 Jasmine Udale found homelessness toughest during the COVID-19 pandemic.
00:10 It actually led us into having to pick out our bins for food or beg for food.
00:15 The 23-year-old found emergency service workers a challenge to deal with.
00:19 They just treated us like criminals.
00:21 They didn't look at our situation and go, "Oh, hey, how are you doing?"
00:24 Jasmine Udale is among those who've shared their lived experience with researchers
00:29 for a new set of resources aimed at making sure those without a safe place to live
00:34 aren't overlooked in a crisis.
00:36 We tend to make assumptions that everyone has a home,
00:39 that everyone can read at a certain grade level.
00:41 Emergency services and council workers across Queensland are being offered training.
00:46 There's around 140 people sleeping rough most nights here in Cairns.
00:49 There's probably another 4,500 people that don't have a safe place
00:52 or secure place to call home on any given night.
00:55 Each year we get a different cohort of people that have come to this town
00:58 that never heard of cyclones, for example.
01:01 Other states are starting to take up the concepts too.
01:06 Rather than resources and information and pamphlets,
01:09 but actually start with a real human conversation, person to person,
01:13 so that people can break down those barriers and the stigma that we hold in society.
01:19 With compassion for those doing it tough.
01:21 They're seen as a human being, but have feelings and emotions
01:25 and not be blamed because they're homeless.
01:27 I'm hoping it gets rid of the unconscious bias around homelessness.
01:30 timelessness.
01:32 [BLANK_AUDIO]