There’s No Place Like Home : A Discussion on Homelessness

Australia has nearly 120,000 people experiencing homelessness & while COVID19 had managed to get a lot of them in shelter during the pandemic, a significant number are still sleeping rough. Those in shelter are put back on the social ladder with access to support services to get their lives back on track. However, when things do slowly revert back to normal & if there’s insufficient investment by the state governments, what happens to the thousands of people in temporary shelter. Will they be left to go back on the streets ? Can COVID be the social driver for change we desperately need to find permanent solutions for the homeless ?

Panellists

Deputy Lord Mayor Arron Wood

Councillor Arron Wood was elected in 2012 and 2016 as the Deputy Lord Mayor of Melbourne. In addition to being the Deputy Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Councillor Wood is also the founder and principal of the highly acclaimed Kids Teaching Kids Program which is an award winning environmental education program that promotes positive wellbeing, resilience and awareness in young people in matters of local and global issues. In April 2019, Councillor Wood participated in the SBS docu-series Filthy Rich and Homeless where he left the comfort of his home to spend 10 days sleeping rough of the streets of Sydney and experience the homelessness crisis firsthand. Councillor Wood’s most recent achievement was being appointed a member of the Order of Australia (AM), for his service to local government, the environment and his local community.

Major Brendan Nottle

Born and bred in Melbourne, Major Nottle, 49, leads Salvos Melbourne Project 614, which seeks out those living on society’s fringe and helps them ease their way back in. He is a Salvos veteran of 22 years and leads a small team of dedicated staff and more than 1000 volunteers, works on establishing one-on-one relationships with the homeless and disadvantaged and then getting them the help they need. Brendan is a member of the Premier’s Ice Action Taskforce and the Victorian Housing Ministers Rough Sleeper’s Roundtable. Brendan was a Monarch of Moomba in 2013 and has been the Collingwood Football Club chaplain for 16 years. Brendan is married to Sandra and has 3 daughters. In 2013, he was awarded Melburnian of the Year award in recognition of his compassionate and tireless efforts to help homeless and disadvantaged people. Plus two special guests who will share their real life experiences of homelessness.

Moderator Ali Moore

Ali Moore has more than 25 years experience as a journalist and broadcaster, working for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia’s Nine Network, and for the BBC’s global news network, based in Singapore. She has covered major news and current affairs events across the region, reporting from Australia, Singapore, HongKong, Malaysia, Indonesia, and China. Her previous roles include ABC China Correspondent, host of Australia’s premier late night TV current affairs program (Lateline), and anchor of some of the country’s key business news programs (Business Sunday, Lateline Business). In Singapore, Ali worked for the BBC’s major regional television news programs, reporting on key events for an international audience (2012-2016). She is a former Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of Melbourne, a position held for two years during which she produced and presented the ‘This is Not A Drill’ series of hypotheticals with Asialink, the ABC and the Wheeler Centre (2017-2019). Ali is now a freelance broadcaster and journalist, regularly appearing as a host on ABC Radio Melbourne.