Video: A homeless protest for affordable housing

On May 10 2016, a group of homeless protesters set up in camp in City Square after a recent police crackdown on people sleeping rough in Melbourne’s CBD.

The crackdown came after local resident Shaun Luk claimed his girlfriend had been hassled by a number of aggressive beggars. The protesters claimed that the media coverage portrayed the homeless as violent and that the police were moving them on every 5 minutes, despite knowing they had nowhere to go.

In the video Danny Nepean, spokesperson for the homeless protesters, talks about the conditions that drove the group to set up in City Square and what changes their presence hopes to bring about. This  short film aims to put a human face on homelessness and help facilitate discussions on how to end this growing problem.

The video was originally published as part of a multimedia essay here. Featured image taken by Rod Ceballos.