Tam, 38, used to live with his family in the Fairfield area. He used to work as a kitchen hand but was injured on the job. He says he comes to the camp for the sense of community, to have somebody to talk to. ‘This is where people feel safe. Some of us have health issues. That’s why I’m out here. We’re not lazy. A lot of people here have jobs. They wake up here, they go to work, they come back here again, because it’s too expensive to live [anywhere else]. The prices of the food have gone up, every year the private health insurance goes up. I can’t afford to pay it now.’

Photograph: Matthew Abbott/The Guardian