Arabic version: دعوات لإنشاء مرحاض تعيد تسليط الضوء على المشردين في أديلايد

According to ABC News, homelessness advocates and a nearby café owner are calling for a public toilet, water fountain and rubbish bins in Adelaide’s south-eastern parklands near the Hutt Street Centre. The centre supports people at risk of or experiencing homelessness.

Hutt Street Centre chief executive Chris Burns said he had raised the request with Adelaide City Council staff, councillors and the Lord Mayor through conversations, emails and formal letters over six years. He said no action had followed. Burns described access to toilets, drinking water and bins as a “basic human right”.

The closest toilet to the centre is about 600 metres away near a parklands playground. When nearby Victoria Park is closed to the public for events, including this month’s Adelaide Grand Final, people sleeping rough near the centre may face a 15-minute walk to the next closest facility. Burns said the distance is not always practical or safe, particularly when the centre is closed and its toilets, showers, water and bins are unavailable.

Parco café owner Antonia Leverink, whose business is opposite the Hutt Street Centre, said she also wanted a toilet installed nearby. She said she does not refuse rough sleepers who ask to use her facilities, but a public toilet would be cleaner and more hygienic for local businesses and parklands users.

Adelaide City Council says it has 58 public toilets across its area, including three within one kilometre, or a 13-minute walk, of the Hutt Street Centre. Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith said the council must choose where to place new facilities and has a list of toilet blocks to prioritise. She said the existing number “may not be enough” as homelessness rises, while adding that addressing homelessness itself was the core issue.