StreetCare advocates with lived experience of homelessness are successfully influencing decision-makers on access to public toilets.
The NSW Government is supporting a recommendation from the 2025 Public Toilets inquiry that people experiencing homelessness are not discriminated against in accessing public toilets.
This recommendation was one of several suggested by StreetCare, an advisory group of people with lived experience of homelessness supported by the JEC.
‘This is a good first step from Government, showing they are listening to people with lived experience of homelessness,’ StreetCare member Rocky said.
‘A lack of public toilets particularly impacts women, and as a woman with experience of homelessness, I’m glad my voice is being heard.’
Disappointingly, the Government has ignored or rejected recommendations made to the inquiry by other communities, including people with disability and the LGBTQI+ community. Clean, safe and accessible public toilets benefit everyone and we call on the NSW Government to ensure everyone has equal access to sanitation.
‘StreetCare plans to further improve and protect the rights of people sleeping rough, including their right to sanitation, when we give advice in the upcoming review of the Protocol for Homeless People in Public Places. Our guidance was integral to the last update and the Government has already committed to implementing our new recommendations.’
The Government will also be updating police training related to homelessness to improve officers’ capabilities when engaging with vulnerable communities in public spaces.
