By -

The ability to access clean and safe bathroom facilities is a fundamental human right. The United Nations recognises access to sanitation as a human right, yet marginalised groups are frequently neglected and face discrimination when trying to access clean water and sanitation services.

People experiencing homelessness are often disproportionately affected by lack of access to bathroom facilities or services and may even face additional challenges, such as lack of accessibility and issues surrounding safety.

A public toilet inquiry was formed on 15 August 2024 to examine and report on public toilets including (among other things) the “provision, design, accessibility and inclusivity of public toilets across New South Wales.”

Hearings were held in March and April this year and the inquiry heard from a variety of specialist organisations and people, including those who have experienced homelessness.

“[T]he main thing for women around public toilets is safety. The layout and lighting and stuff like that can make women hesitant to access those services.

“[T]hat leads to a lot of social exclusion … people being more stigmatised because of their lack of hygiene … for people sleeping rough, that’s a massive issue…,” says Roxanna Kalnins, member of StreetCare, at the Justice and Equity Centre.

Kalnins has experienced homelessness firsthand. She knows how difficult it can be to access specialist homelessness services, and the effort required to access one. She explains that you need to know the routine, including the days that the service is available to do things like have a shower. “Otherwise, you’re just putting yourself at risk by just using … a public space to go to the toilet or do what you need to do,” she says.

For women, there are additional safety risks particularly if there are no public toilets available. Kalnins points out that women tend to use public toilets more frequently than men and spend longer periods of time in them. Women “take greater caregiving roles so they have to take other people to public toilets as well … children or family members or people with disabilities. [It] becomes increasingly tricky because they’ve got to work out alternatives.

“Some of the alternatives can lead to criminalisation and you know, being a woman, if you’re relieving yourself in public, you’re putting yourself at risk,” she says.

Kalnins has noticed a decrease in the number of public toilets. “[W]hen I was homeless, there were a lot more public toilet accessibility,” she says.

Increasing the number of public toilets or public toilet accessibility is important. As Kalnins explains, poor hygiene leads to discrimination and stigmatisation especially for homeless people. “[I]f you can’t access public toilets … your hygiene is going to be lacking. [T]hat’s a huge part of the discrimination that homeless people … are faced with each day.

“[Y]ou are refused access to venues and places and there’s just stigma around it even if you’re on public transport or you’re amongst other people. If your hygiene is poor then you’ve certainly experienced social isolation,” says Kalnins.

Changing demographics of homelessness

The data shows that more men experience homelessness than females. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), in 2021, 55 per 10,000 males experienced homelessness compared to 42 per 10,000 females.

Kalnins acknowledges that there is a greater number of homeless people and “that puts a strain on whatever services are available.

“I think the closing of public toilets … by councils … it’s a lack of understanding about social issues, homelessness being one of the significant ones,” she says.

The rising cost of living and a housing crisis are fuelling the homelessness situation. Access to public toilet facilities is just one of the issues faced by homeless people.“[O]ne of the common things we see is accumulating debt. [T]he biggest problem is a lack of adequate housing.

“As of February this year, the waitlist for social housing was 65,000 people and that number just keeps growing,” says Alannah Daly, policy officer at the Justice and Equity Centre.

According to Daly, as more households experience rental stress, there is a greater need for social housing as a “safety net.” Without it, “it’s going to be very hard to meet the demand.

“That means … higher demand on specialist homelessness services who are already having to turn away one in two people. [L]ack of access to facilities is just a symptom of that… ,” she says.

Kalnins agrees and adds there is an increase in the number of families who end up homeless due to the rental crisis and there has also been an increase in the number of women who are homeless. “Women over 55 are the largest group of homeless at the moment … a lot of them fleeing domestic violence so there’s heaps of issues that need to be addressed,” she says.

Solutions for the future

According to Kalnins, there is a variety of things that could be introduced into public toilets to improve access for homeless people, such as audio privacy. She says that things like hooks on the back of doors, having sufficient space in the public toilet to store belongings, adequate lighting and working locks are just some of the things that could be implemented in public toilets. For homeless people, who may be carrying all of their belongings, there needs to be a safe place for them to store their belongings “where it’s not on a wet … floor,” she says.

Kalnins shares the feedback received from homeless people is that the overwhelming demand on homelessness services is affecting how much assistance a person can get. She says that it’s common for people to experience “fatigue around having to repeat your story over and over and over again.”

Daly points out there is insufficient information about where public toilets are, what condition they are in and whether they’re accessible enough. She explains that public toilets are provided by multiple authorities from local government to train stations and maritime authorities. “[I]t’s quite varied and I don’t think those organisations speak to each other,” she says.

Daly says that the public toilet inquiry is important because it’s an example of how homeless people can be criminalised and the hurdles they face in accessing services that others take for granted. She explains that it examines a “hidden issue” that is not really discussed in society. “[P]eople with lived experience who know exactly how difficult it is … having to spend so much of their daily lives just trying to find a public bathroom when they’re already trying to meet other basic needs like food and shelter…

“[N]o one should have to do that,” she says.