I've got 33 years of my life to work through!' - understanding iterative homelessness: the case of people with mental disorders

It is believed that one in five Australians suffer a significant mental disorder (Robinson, 2000: 5). It has also been shown that Australians with mental disorders may constitute a large percentage of the homeless population in some areas (Hodder, Teesson and Buhrich, 1998: 9). So why do some people with mental disorders become homeless? Why are some people with mental disorders trapped in a cycle of iterative or repeated homelessness, moving from one form of inadequate accommodation to the next? This short paper reports on a research project funded by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) and undertaken by Catherine Robinson from the Urban Frontiers Program, University of Western Sydney. The paper outlines some of the key connections between the experiences of repeated and ongoing homelessness and mental disorders.