STATEMENTS BY SENATORS

Senator WALKER (South Australia) (13:45): Recently, I had the privilege of joining over 100 members of the Fleurieu community in Port Elliot for a forum on homelessness hosted by the Fleurieu Community Foundation. It was an incredibly powerful evening, and I want to thank the foundation for bringing people together for such an important conversation. We heard from organisations including Junction, Cottage Holmes, Christian Community Care, headspace and the Whalers Peninsula Community Association—people who are on the ground every day supporting those experiencing housing insecurity across the region.

What really struck me was the discussion about hidden homelessness. Homelessness doesn't always look like someone sleeping rough. It can be a young person couch surfing because home isn't safe; it can be a family moving between temporary accommodation, never knowing where they'll be next month; it can be an older person suddenly facing housing insecurity after a lifetime of stability.

These are challenges that can sometimes be less visible in regional communities, but that doesn't make them any less real. We also heard about the extraordinary local response. The Fleurieu homelessness fund, managed by the Fleurieu Community Foundation, is a fantastic example of a community looking around, seeing that their neighbours need help and deciding to do something about it.

It's a powerful example of what can be achieved when a community comes together with compassion and purpose. Government has an enormous responsibility when it comes to housing and homelessness, and we have to keep working to make sure people have access to safe and secure homes. But what I saw in Port Elliot was also the power of a community that genuinely cares for its own.

Thank you to everyone who organised the evening, everyone who shared their expertise and experience and every organisation doing this work across the Fleurieu. Your community is stronger and better because of it.