READING COMPREHENSION | Homeless in Australia

In Around Oz (page 36), Peter Flynn asks what should be done with people who are
HOMELESS IN AUSTRALIA. Read the article again here and check your understanding.

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1 A few weeks ago, I saw an exhibition of photo-
graphs by young homeless people. The photos
were being shown in a disused shop directly
opposite a grand old theatre where a Shakespeare
5 play had just opened. Only a couple of doors
away were Gucci and Prada stores, together with
other boutiques selling expensive jewellery and
fashion items.
The exhibition was titled Home Is Where My
10 Heart Is. My favourite image was a night shot of
a floodlit bridge covered with graffiti. That is
somebodys home.
For the big Commonwealth Heads of Govern-
ment Meeting in Perth in October, welfare agen-
15 cies were paid extra money to get homeless peo-
ple off the streets. The authorities didnt want the
world to see people sleeping in parks or begging.
The homeless, though, young and old alike, will soon be back in the city centre, for the simple reason
that its the safest place to sleep rough. Thats because of lighting, safety in numbers and the fact that
20 the city stays awake longer.
There are many reasons why people are homeless, and Im not your typical bleeding-heart commentator
on the issue. Id focus on getting young kids off the streets, simply because they are the ones most
at risk.
The long-term homeless represent a more difficult problem to solve. Its not the lack of a proper roof
25 over their heads, but the fact that some have drug and alcohol problems, and that many are mentally ill.
Homeless or not, one in 14 Australians has a diagnosable mental illness. Decades ago, we stopped put-
ting the mentally ill into institutions and began relying on family and friends to support them.
The behaviour of the homeless who are mentally ill can be quite bizarre, although its usually not
threatening. It could be the guy who talks to the traffic lights, the one who collects the leftover food
30 from McDonalds to feed to his favourite pigeons, or the wildly dressed woman who rides her bike
through the shopping mall to protest loudly against her imaginary injustices.
Such people are not easy to have around. A lot of them get food and shelter thanks only to wonderful
charities and welfare groups. Others and Ive known many in all the cities in which Ive lived dont
want organized accommodation. This second group probably makes up about 20 per cent of the
35 100,000 Australians who are homeless on any night of the year. That means 20,000 will be sleeping in
parks, under bridges or in makeshift shelters. The rest will get a roof and a bed thanks to a charity.
As many as 300,000 more Australians, mostly families, are on waiting lists for public and social housing.
These are the hidden homeless who are living temporarily sometimes for years with relatives
or friends.
40 For those living on the streets, the most urgent need is mental-health care. Those best placed and best
qualified to provide it are not in government, but in the many welfare agencies that are active every day
and night of the year, looking out for the homeless. A large donation to these organizations would go a
lot further than giving a few coins to someone begging on the street.

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 1. The other half
What does the article say? Choose the correct sentence endings.
a) The author saw a photo exhibition...
1. in a former shop. 2. in an expensive boutique.
b) The photographs in the exhibition...
1. showed homeless people. 2. had been taken by homeless people.
c) Most homeless Australians prefer to live in city centres...
1. because it is less dangerous there. 2. because they get more help there.
d) About 100,000 Australians...
1. per year become homeless. 2. per night are homeless.

2. Between the lines

What does the author really think? Decide if the statements below are true (T) or false (F), or if the
author doesnt say (D).
a) Unless they are children, homeless people dont deserve much sympathy. a
b) People with mental illnesses would be better off in mental institutions. b
c) Most homeless people with mental illnesses are not dangerous to others. c
d) The author has lived with homeless people. d

3. The right preposition

Look at the article again to find expressions with prepositions to replace the phrases in bold below.
a) There was a shot of a bridge with graffiti all over it. ____________________________________________________
b) The authorities tried to find places for the homeless to live. __________________________________________
c) Children on the streets are the most in danger. __________________________________________________________
d) A woman rode her bike through the shopping mall, complaining about her injustices. _______________
e) The homeless get somewhere to stay with the help of a charity. _______________________________________

4. Useful phrases
Complete the sentences below with words from the article to form common collocations.

a) If you sleep _________________________, you live on the street.

b) You are safer in a group than alone: theres safety in _________________________.
c) We throw so much away. We should try to cut down on _________________________ food.
d) Some homeless people build _________________________ shelters from cardboard boxes and plastic bags.
e) Money given to charities goes a lot ________________ than money given to people begging on the street.

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