122,494 TOO MANY

For 26 years and 683 editions, our big issue has been homelessness. In our very first magazine, we set out our goal: to provide the people who sell our magazine with an income, a job and security.

Back then, 60,000 Australians were homeless. Now, that number is more than double. The new Census figures, released by the ABS this month, reveal there are more than 122,000 people who don’t have a place to call home.

In this edition, we go beyond the statistics to hear from the very people these numbers represent. Many Big Issue vendors have experienced homelessness – from rough sleeping to couch-surfing to boarding houses and crisis accommodation. In this edition, many have shared the lived realities of homelessness, and its pervasive impact on their lives. Their stories are illuminating and devastating, at times hopeful, and evidence that homelessness is more than not having a place to sleep.

More highlights in our edition:

• The Big Issue Classroom speaker Danni shares her journey to finally having her own home after experiencing 20 years of homelessness.
• In 1981, Melburnian Karen Marks released three pop-synth tracks. Now, after a slow-burn cult following and Spotify success, the singer reveals she’s set to make her live debut performance in April.
• Japanese director Kore-eda Hirokazu talks to us about his new offbeat, socially conscious comedy Broker, about unconventional families in South Korea.
• For local author Sally Colin-James, a trip to Florence’s Uffizi Gallery sparked the idea for her historical novel about the generational threads that bind women.
• Writer James Colley reveals his first year of fatherhood has seen sleep deprivation, food-stained shorts, boredom and a lot of joy.
• In The Big Picture, photographer Chris Round captures the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme and its lasting effects on its Alpine environment.
• Plus, Helen Tzouganatos shares her aromatic pasta dish recipe for Corfu’s Pastitsada Chicken in Tomato Sauce in Tastes Like Home.