Editing Skid row (section)

== Australia ==
=== Melbourne ===
[[Elizabeth Street, Melbourne]], [[Australia]], has an issue involving drug abuse, homelessness, and vagrancy. The ''[[Herald Sun]]'', in two 2016 articles about the growing homelessness, drug and alcohol abuse, and disturbance issues, described the street's southern end towards [[Flinders Street, Melbourne|Flinders Street]] as Melbourne's 'skid row.'<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.heraldsun.com.au/subscribe/news/1/?sourceCode=HSWEB_WRE170_a&dest=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.heraldsun.com.au%2Fnews%2Faggressive-beggar-harasses-pedestrians-on-melbournes-elizabeth-st%2Fnews-story%2F45f4b29407e77e41f5c3febaf1438ee1&memtype=anonymous&mode=premium&v21=dynamic-cold-test-noscore&V21spcbehaviour=append|title=Aggressive beggar harasses pedestrians on Melbourne's Elizabeth St. (PAYWALL)|publisher=[[Herald Sun]]|date=May 10, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bing.com/search?q=melbourne%20elizabeth%20skid%20row%20herald%20sun&qs=n&form=QBRE&sp=-1&pq=melbourne%20elizabeth%20skid%20row%20h&sc=4-30&sk=&cvid=88F611A6819A470ABF372D4A7F1C2FFD|title=Plan to clean up southern end up of Elizabeth St. (PAYWALL)|publisher=[[Herald Sun]]|date=July 27, 2016}}</ref>

In 2010, an Elizabeth Street [[housing project]] organization was founded, endeavoring to help homeless and needy people find housing and treatment for health and job-related issues. 131 studio apartments and 30 two-bedroom apartments were built.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.grocon.com/project/elizabeth-street-common-ground-melbourne/|title=ELIZABETH STREET COMMON GROUND, MELBOURNE|publisher=Grocon.com}}</ref>

In January 2017, reports of a camp of homeless people being moved from under [[Flinders Street station]] to an organized housing facility made the [[News.com.au]] headlines.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.news.com.au/national/victoria/news/victorian-government-funds-new-plan-to-help-flinders-st-station-homeless-camp/news-story/96959430d5f31eb1a0fdef83ae76f6cb|title=Victorian government funds new plan to help Flinders St Station homeless camp|publisher=[[News.com.au]]}}</ref> The [[Victoria, Australia|Victoria]]n state government spent $10 million on this project, with the intent of providing 30 new permanent modular and relocatable homes on public land to be in place by the end of 2017.

During the start of the [[COVID-19 pandemic in Australia]] in March, to June 2020, the Victorian government provided $15 million to homelessness organisations to find temporary accommodation in hotels for people who were sleeping on the street. On June 13, 2020, it was announced that a further $9.8 million was spent on the project to keep them there in the short term, but also help them plan a pathway into more long-term, stable accommodation. During these three months, at least 4500 people have been put up in hotels across the state of Victoria, 1000 in the [[Melbourne cbd|Central Business District of Melbourne]] alone.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/how-the-shock-of-covid-19-could-end-street-homelessness-in-victoria-20200612-p551vk.html|title=How the shock of COVID-19 could end street homelessness in Victoria|newspaper=[[The Age]] |author=Topsfield, Jewel|date=June 13, 2020}}</ref>