A homeless person lies bundled on a park bench. Credit:John Donegan

“No mate, not there,” I say to my dog as he heads to his usual spot for his morning wee. Tilting his head as if to ask why, Iggy reluctantly yet obediently moves on to another favourite tree at our small local park but, again, I have to stop him before he lets go. “No Ig, that’s too close to that lady sleeping,” I explain, hoping the reason is somehow absorbed. Again, a curious tilt of the head and questioning eyes. If he could cross his legs and hop to hold his urge, I’m sure he would.

Looking around, I see there is no spot in the park that won’t be disrespectfully close to someone’s makeshift home for Iggy to relieve himself. You see, the park has turned into a dormitory of sorts, packed with homeless women and men of various ages and levels of distress; a visual human representation of Australia’s appalling homeless statistics which have been dubbed an “international embarrassment”.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics released figures this week showing homelessness increased by 14 per cent between the 2011 and 2016 censuses, revealing 116,427 with no permanent home, or 50 in every 10,000 Australians.

In a country as affluent as ours, these statistics are as hard to fathom as they are to tolerate. Yet the inhabitants of the microcosm that is the 20-odd metres of tufty grass in my relatively affluent suburb is a good indicator of how this appalling situation has come to be.