Begging is the practice of asking others for a favour, normally money, with no expectation of repayment. Those who are beg are generally homeless and are found in public areas like parks and busy shopping centres, and asking for usually money, but it may also be food or drink. Begging is not optional for some people, living on the streets, not having a permanent place to sleep, no reliable source of income, this is the only way that they can provide for themselves. Those who beg aren’t able to provide financially for themselves, and they may also suffer from a mental health illness and cannot find an available hospital or medical bed. They may even have crippling debts that they owe, so they rely completely on the kindness of strangers to survive.
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Those who are begging may even suffer from mental health issues, social or economic issues that without proper financial support could severely impact themselves. This isn’t just a problem in Australian cities, there are homeless people begging for money in nearly every country with different laws applied in every one of them. Fining those at their most vulnerable is not the solution for the begging problem in Australian cities.
The idea of giving beggars fines is unfair, counterproductive, and criminalises the simple act of asking for help. To criminalise the act of asking for help, State Governments are trying to exclude, or even ignore those who are at their most vulnerable. Quite frankly, it shows that they don’t really care about the wellbeing of those who do beg and sees it as another way to make money by imposing fines. Professor Tamara Walsh, of the University of Queensland believes that current situation for beggars does “criminalise poverty” and can lead to a “massive increase” in these street offences. So, what is …show more content…
These state governments should be providing adequate care and support for those who are desperately in need for help, so much so, that they are rely on the compassion of strangers to support their daily needs. They should be improving the access to assistance for the homeless and those who beg, instead of punishing them, like Anglicare for example. Anglicare is a company set up to create opportunities and to transform futures for those who are disadvantaged. Anglicare Victoria is the state’s largest provider for out-of-home services for disadvantaged Victorians, and the Chief Executive Officer of Anglicare South Australia, Reverend Peter Sandeman has stated that the level of the begging in South Australia is “building up” but the company isn’t able to keep on with the increasing demands. In 2015, Anglicare which has five centres in South Australia, helped out 2300 homeless people. This may seem like an amazing number, but along with the 2300 disadvantaged people helped, up to 100 poor people each week were turned away because they do not have the adequate services to cater for the quickly increasing number of underprivileged people. An amazing company like Anglicare are going out of their way to help those in need and are struggling to provide for the ever-increasing demand for the homeless. And what are State
Those who are begging may even suffer from mental health issues, social or economic issues that without proper financial support could severely impact themselves. This isn’t just a problem in Australian cities, there are homeless people begging for money in nearly every country with different laws applied in every one of them. Fining those at their most vulnerable is not the solution for the begging problem in Australian cities.
The idea of giving beggars fines is unfair, counterproductive, and criminalises the simple act of asking for help. To criminalise the act of asking for help, State Governments are trying to exclude, or even ignore those who are at their most vulnerable. Quite frankly, it shows that they don’t really care about the wellbeing of those who do beg and sees it as another way to make money by imposing fines. Professor Tamara Walsh, of the University of Queensland believes that current situation for beggars does “criminalise poverty” and can lead to a “massive increase” in these street offences. So, what is …show more content…
These state governments should be providing adequate care and support for those who are desperately in need for help, so much so, that they are rely on the compassion of strangers to support their daily needs. They should be improving the access to assistance for the homeless and those who beg, instead of punishing them, like Anglicare for example. Anglicare is a company set up to create opportunities and to transform futures for those who are disadvantaged. Anglicare Victoria is the state’s largest provider for out-of-home services for disadvantaged Victorians, and the Chief Executive Officer of Anglicare South Australia, Reverend Peter Sandeman has stated that the level of the begging in South Australia is “building up” but the company isn’t able to keep on with the increasing demands. In 2015, Anglicare which has five centres in South Australia, helped out 2300 homeless people. This may seem like an amazing number, but along with the 2300 disadvantaged people helped, up to 100 poor people each week were turned away because they do not have the adequate services to cater for the quickly increasing number of underprivileged people. An amazing company like Anglicare are going out of their way to help those in need and are struggling to provide for the ever-increasing demand for the homeless. And what are State