Council to Homeless Persons has urged the Victorian Government to immediately fund more homelessness outreach workers after a new bushfire warning for large parts of the state.
The Australian Seasonal Bushfire Outlook for Summer has forecast an increased risk of fires across most of western and northeastern Victoria, parts of greater Melbourne, Mornington Peninsula and southwest Gippsland after a lack of rainfall made more fuels available.
A dry past 18 months in southwest Victoria created more fuel within forests, making it easier for fires to start and spread.
CHP is warning that people experiencing homelessness in remote parts of the state's lives could be at risk with some regions having no assertive outreach workers.
Assertive outreach workers proactively find people who are sleeping rough in remote places – many of which are particularly vulnerable to bushfires – and offer a range of critical support.
Assertive outreach provision is particularly poor, or even absent, in large parts of Western Victoria and Gippsland. These are also the regions that face the greatest fire danger this year, according to the outlook.
CHP CEO Deborah Di Natale said action was needed to save lives.
"A serious increase in bushfire risk across large swathes of Victoria could be deadly for people sleeping in tents or in their cars across regional Victoria," she said.
"There is a dire shortage of homelessness outreach workers who are a lifesaving link to regional rough sleepers.
"There are huge geographical regions of Victoria that simply don't have this vital service available because the funding isn't there.
"A modest investment of just $5 million would ensure 10 regions across the state have assertive outreach workers to prevent a tragedy this summer.
"Without them, we simply don't know where people are living, which is a scary prospect given our serious bushfire outlook.
"Extreme heat and fires are intensifying in Victoria because of climate change but our homelessness outreach services are dangerously thin.
"Compounding this, the Rough Sleeping Action Plan which does provide some outreach services is due to expire at the end of June next year.
"The Victorian Government has the opportunity to prevent the avoidable deaths of some of the most vulnerable people in our society."
