As the rental crisis deepens, news is surfacing of our own version of Nomadland. Homeless people are forced into remote campsites and mixing in with the grey nomad crowd who are facing – once again – COVID border closures. The call of the Australian outback is real for many but does reality match up?
All over Australia, campsites are occupied by an ever-increasing group of long-term, homeless travellers. Forced out of their homes by rising rental costs or by bushfire or flood damage, these residents have nowhere to go. They are joining the thousands of grey nomads many of whom can’t make their annual pilgrimage due to border closures.
As one says, “No-one’s going to give a rental to a bloke who’s on the dole, with two dogs and no money, just the dole. No, I can’t afford it.”
Remind you of Nomadland?
Read more about a group of homeless campers staying in NSW’s Coolongolook state forest in this excellent ABC article:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-09/homeless-community-in-state-forest/100188840
The Conversation also published a great insight into how the grey nomads have been impacted by COVID. Read more here:
https://theconversation.com/our-own-nomadland-the-australians-caught-in-a-covid-blind-spot-161907
Authors Amanda Davies and Sarah Prout Quicke at The University of Western Australia.