Taking the homelessness crisis to Parliament

(L-R) Erin Longbottom (St. Vincent’s Health), Nicole Yade (WAGEC), Angela Argent (House of Welcome), Elijah Buol OAM (ASC), Ronnie, and Jenny Leong MP

Taking the homelessness crisis to Parliament

“Housing is a human right… but for people seeking asylum, it’s a journey that requires all our efforts and collective compassion.” – Elijah Buol OAM

To mark National Homelessness Week, the Asylum Seekers Centre partnered with Jenny Leong MP to host an urgent briefing at NSW Parliament.

We invited MPs to listen, to understand, and to address the disproportionate impact homelessness has on non-residents and visa holders in Sydney and across NSW.

Hidden Stories – Ayan’s Medicine of Community

The urgent reality facing our community

The briefing opened with a poignant screening of Hidden Stories: Ayan’s Medicine of Community. The film captured the quiet, heartbreaking reality of an ASC community member who fled unimaginable dangers and found himself homeless in Australia.

“I found a tunnel next to a train station where I could sleep.

“I was so scared to take my shoes off in case they were stolen. I had no other shoes… the lack of food was the hardest part. “

After the film, Jenny Leong opened the floor to leaders from House of Welcome, WAGEC, St. Vincent’s Health, Ronnie – a person with lived experience, and our CEO Elijah Buol OAM.

The panel shared their insights in confronting the realities facing temporary visa holders like Ayan that too often fall through the cracks.

Non-residents, already predisposed to financial precarity and exploitation owing to their temporary visa status, are at a heightened risk of housing insecurity in NSW.

This vulnerability is exacerbated by their exclusion from government-funded services and safety nets made available to citizens and permanent residents.

At the Asylum Seekers Centre, 86% of the community members referred for intensive crisis and casework support in FY25–26 were experiencing homelessness or in unstable housing conditions. This has doubled from last financial year.

Elijah urged parliamentarians to see the real human lives affected.

“Sometimes we talk about migration as a national issue – it is. But also the people who hang around our streets are our neighbours,” he said.

“We can help them get a safe space.”

Ronnie’s story

Ronnie, a person supported by the ASC, brought the human toll into sharp focus, recounting their arrival in Sydney.

“I slept in the airport,” Ronnie recalled during the panel.

“With the few dollars that I had, I then took a train and I went to the Asylum Seekers Centre.

“They made me feel welcome. They made sure that I was stabilised because I wasn’t stable mentally. They showed me humanity.”

Finding shelter created unique hurdles for Ronnie as an intersex person within a strictly binary accommodation system.

“It was only a matter of me being on the street or just choosing to go either into a male facility or a female facility,” Ronnie shared.

“Then I had an amazing caseworker, Marina, who kept on fighting…

“She fought very vigorously because it wasn’t easy. It was emotional. It was hard. It was heartbreaking.”

Elijah, Marina Camarao (ASC Caseworker) and Ronnie

Thankfully, Ronnie secured temporary accommodation at WAGEC. They were also linked to other sector organisations for employment and support.

Yet, systemic walls remained once that stay ended.

“I could not qualify for public housing because of my visa status.”

Collaborative action and advocacy

Ronnie’s story underlines both the lifesaving power of partner collaboration and the drastic need for structural reform.

Elijah challenged mainstream services to shift their approach.

“Make sure when people say, ‘oh, I’m a person seeking asylum’, they don’t just shut the door.”

They can say, ‘look, there’s opportunity for you here. How do we support you?'”

We call on Homes NSW to turn its housing commitments into practical action including fair access to bond loans and safety programs.

Housing is a human right.

Everyone seeking safety in Australia must have a safe place to rebuild in dignity.