Winter in Canberra is famously unforgiving. As overnight temperatures plummet well below freezing, most of us retreat to our comfortably heated homes. But on Alinga Street, just a short walk from the warmth of the Legislative Assembly, a 53-year-old rough sleeper named Rachel crawls under a mountain of rubbish. She huddles inside a sleeping bag, wrapping her feet in plastic bags just to survive the bitter cold and avoid dying of exposure.
She is our fellow Canberran, yet we routinely fail her. Rachel says she must plead with 20 or 30 passersby just to get a simple cup of hot water.
Worse, she has been assaulted, with people hurling heavy electric scooters at her. While a few dedicated volunteers offer a rare kind word, the vast majority of us walk right past. We stare straight ahead and pretend she is not there.
What does it say about our priorities when a lonely woman sits within a fortress of garbage in the heart of our city, and some people's primary concern is whether she makes the place look untidy?
We do not pretend this crisis is simple. We have no idea what brought Rachel to this desperate point, and we know those sleeping rough often battle severe personal challenges.
Sometimes, she lashes out verbally at people walking by. Business owners and the Property Council understandably worry about trade, community safety, and hygiene.
But simply calling police to move people on, or blasting classical music from store awnings to deter them, is not an effective or compassionate response. It is just sweeping our most vulnerable citizens under the rug.
We must not give up on them. Flip the situation for a moment and reflect. Ask yourself: "Am I walking by somebody's mother, daughter, or sister?"
How would you feel if someone you had known and loved ended up on the street, and people only saw them as an unsightly problem to be removed, or just chose not to see them at all?
These are our fellow human beings. Do those with power even give them a second thought, or is their desperate plight just an accepted part of the Canberra status quo?
As a community we may not have all the answers to solving homelessness, but we cannot afford to not care.
We cannot allow apathy to freeze our humanity.
We need a co-ordinated, humane response from our leaders that goes beyond temporary fixes.
We must start treating the rough sleepers freezing on our streets with basic dignity. Please look them in the eye.
See them as fellow people, deserving of compassion and respect.
