Charmaine Jones & Geoff Turnbull, Co-editors
The media focus on crime stories make us all feel as if we might be the next victim of crime and that we need to take extra care to avoid a growing problem. The crime statistics however tell us that most categories of crime are in fact falling and we are less likely to be a victim of crime.
Listening to the nightly news of sensational crime stories, and the elevated fear of crime which results, can stop some people getting out into their communities and getting the exercise and social nourishment we all need. We thought it would be useful to unpack community safety a bit in this issue of ISV to try and balance the “if it bleeds it leads” news stories.
Garner Clancy and Dr Rohan Lulham take us inside the statistics and show us the dramatic inner city Property crime decline. Michael Shreenan looks at his experience of the cost of fear of crime and what can be done about it in Confronting Fear of Crime and in a companion piece Colleen a health worker looks at her experience of working with street drinkers and users in Beyond Walls: My Mondays in Waterloo .
In Preventing crime through better design Olga Camacho Duarte explains its origins and how we can make spaces safer, while Charmaine Jones in Open spaces make happy faces looks at the importance of parks and what happens when they are not available. Finally in this community safety section A Helping Hand for Mental Health looks at some initiatives of a community group in Surry Hills to help both those experiencing mental health issues and the communities in which they live.
The Inquiry into Social, Public and Affordable Housing provides an opportunity for housing issues to be aired and investigated this year. The opportunity is there to make a submission and to read those that will be publically available. Witnesses will be called before the Inquiry and issues debated and reported in the media.
We thought it important to provide a context for this discussion and have provided an overview of the housing market from a Parliamentary Research Service paper on House prices, ownership and affordability: Trends in New South Wales. One response to the housing affordability problem has been the creation of an “affordable housing” category and Craig Johnston explores Affordable housing and the planning law debate and provides an explanation of the Parliamentary process in Two houses colliding. Chris Martin looks at Social housing and heritage.
David White reminds us that the Audit report is key for housing inquiry and Ross Smith in Select Committee on Social, Public and Affordable Housing outlines the Inquiry terms of reference and how to make a submission. One from the Vaults takes us back 30 years to the days when the Housing Commission made a surplus and there were government trading bodies like GIO to provide it with low interest loans.
On human service delivery Jusufspahic follows on from his article on the NDIS changes in last ISV by exploring the coming Ageing & Disability: Challenges in moving from Block funding to Unit funding.
You can download a PDF of this issue Inner Sydney Voice from Autumn 2014
Charmaine Jones & Geoff Turnbull, Co-editors Inner Sydney Regional Council for Social Development
Originally published in Inner Sydney Voice Issue 119 Autumn 2014
Caption: Kids activity at Summer on the Green