• Creativity in Cold Lentils
• Recovering Hope
• Truth Is A Two-Way Street
• Our chance to stand in solidarity
• Human Rights: a common meeting place?
• The Heart of God
• Dare to Dream
• Learning to Listen
• Finding meaning in the experience
• Towards An Understanding of Home
• Silence
• Peregrinasaun Haksolok Hamutuk
• Peace
• The Big Show
• Weakness and Strength
• United in Peace
• The Ring
• ACUSA
• People as seeds of hope and change
• Being Grateful
• In the midst of 250,000 people
• UN World Habitat Day
• Praying The Rosary
• I Want To Make A Difference
• How Fragile we are
• The Challenge of email
• Being Socially Responsible
• Thirsting for Knowledge
• The Lord is my Shepherd
• Archived Thoughts of the Week
• An Idea

Every year, the first Monday of October is observed as the UN World Habitat Day, upholding the basic right of adequate Shelter for All.

Homelessness is a growing problem and Australia is grappling with this. Our Census indicates that, on any given night, around 100,000 Australians are homeless; about 14,000 sleep out in the open and in improvised shelters. Our 2001 census data challenges the stereotype of a typical ‘homeless person’, single, middle-aged male with drug or alcohol problem, sleeping on the streets.  The results showed that 54% of the homeless were aged 25 years or older, 36% were young people aged 12–24 years, and another 10% were children under 12 years. 42% of the homeless were females.

The problem is getting worse despite the nation's soaring wealth, admits both the ruling and opposition parties. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare estimates that public housing stock has fallen by 25,000 since the mid-1990s. The current real estate scenario of soaring home prices and sky-high rentals is not helping build an inclusive society either.

This is where Laurie Baker's words assume significance: "We need to care for all our countrymen and to use our resources carefully. Any excesses, any wasteful or unnecessary use of materials, are a slap in the face to those who have no home and no hope of ever getting a home as long as we squander the wealth of our land" (Laurie Baker, UN Habitat Award Winning Architect).

• Girija Krishnaswamy,
• School of Business and Informatics,
• NSW