Perth Voice Interactive

CONRAD LIVERIS is shedding his suit and tie and living for a week on Perth’s streets.

He’s hoping sleeping rough will help him better understand homelessness and see where services are needed.

“It gives us an insight into the struggles for homeless people at this time of year,” he says.

“I’ll have a better understanding of the services there are and how homeless people use them.”

The 21-year-old policy analyst and student is a founding member of Street Smugglers, an advocacy group formed in 2012 by a group of friends concerned by the rise of homelessness.

Experiencing it first-hand has led to some insights he hadn’t previously picked up in conversations with homeless people.

While most people probably had the air-conditioner blowing on what they figured was a warm summer’s night on Monday, he was shivering through the early hours of the morning at Perth foreshore, sheltered behind a fence. He eventually left and caught a couple hours’ kip in the Royal Perth Hospital emergency room, a popular spot for homeless people on cold nights.

“During the day I struggle to keep myself cool enough, at night I can’t get warm,” he says.

Mr Liveris says he also didn’t realise how difficult it is to pass the time while homeless: Boredom quickly sets in, and he was so weary from only getting a few hours’ sleep the night before that he found focusing on his book impossible.

“One of the other things I realised is: I can’t fathom how homeless people [transition back] to work.

“Being homeless is exhausting. There is just a general tiredness. I never really understood that as well as I did this morning.”

The homeless people he’s spoken to so far have been supportive of his experiment.

“They’re glad they have some support and someone’s shedding some light on it.”

While some friends were concerned for his safety, Mr Liveris says he’s never felt in danger dealing with homeless people.

With a high rate of mental illness among homeless, he says people often misinterpret confusion or frustration as aggression, but he’s yet to run into any problems.

“We’re talking about people in a really vulnerable state… generally people asking for money have been homeless for some time, their ego has been bruised quite a lot.”

He says the problem isn’t easily solved because it’s often tied up in mental illness, family breakdowns and a difficult road back to employment, but people passing by can have an impact on homeless people’s lives.

“I’m a really big fan of people having a conversation with homeless people,” he says. “It doesn’t seem like much, but it adds a lot.

“Otherwise, buy them a meal, or some water!”

You can follow his week on the streets at the Street Smugglers Facebook page.

by DAVID BELL