(Reviewed by John Glennie)
In Select
Cinemas Nationally Today (6th October, 2022)
Incorporating World Homeless Day on 10 October
Directed by Sue Thomson (The Coming Back Out Ball Movie)
Narrated by Margot Robbie
An eye-opening and confronting documentary about homelessness in Australia – even more shocking when it is only looking at women over 50 years of age. Even more confronting when it is revealed that over 400,000 such women are homeless or facing homelessness!
The documentary introduces us to 10 ladies from various demographics who are homeless due to different circumstances:
- being kicked out of a de facto relationship after 24 years at the age of 84’
- lost a high-profile job and now being overlooked for every job because someone younger came along
- escaping a violent relationship
- out of work and kicked out of a rental during COVID lockdowns
The list goes on and it is really horrifying and unacceptable. It highlights the on-going inequality between men and women in the workforce and the way women are treated. To me, all people are equal and should be treated as such. It is so unfair that these women, some of them obviously very well educated and intelligent, are left with virtually nothing and are forced to live out of a car or van for years. A couple of these ladies are probably considered lucky that they could afford to buy a reasonably nice van in which to live and commute around the country – but they still don’t have a place to call home!
There was some consolation with the efforts of a charitable organization that seeks abandoned buildings and refurbishes them for temporary use by homeless people, until such time as the owners or developers of the building get around to doing what the eventually want with the site. I fully support this initiative and hope that it grows in popularity over the not-too-distant future.
I went to a charity dinner some years agon in Adelaide where it was revealed that, in South Australia alone, there were nearly 3000 high-school aged children living on the streets, with over 2/3 of those being girls. When you think about the others – young children with single Mum’s, homeless men, and other women without anyone – it becomes a staggering number. I often lie in bed at night when there is a storm outside or icy temperatures, and wonder how and where these homeless people are sleeping or trying to find shelter.
I have not given a rating for this documentary, as you can’t put such a quantifying number on homelessness. This is a documentary that, I believe, EVERYONE in Australia should see and take in the reality behind it.
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