CBD resident urges council to hold faith-based organisations accountable in combating homelessness

Jake Land is a CBD resident and a former council candidate and adult store proprietor. However, now in retirement, he has shifted his energy into a campaign calling for churches in Melbourne to do more to address the homelessness crisis.

Mr Land has called on the City of Melbourne to put “serious pressure” on churches to open their facilities and land to support people sleeping rough in the CBD.

Mr Land said that while community organisations such as The Salvation Army played a vital role, many churches were “failing to meet their moral obligations” when it came to helping the city’s most vulnerable.

“Throughout history, it’s always been the church’s responsibility to look after the poor,” Mr Land told CBD News. “The Bible’s very clear on that. I’m not a religious person myself, but I think it’s really the council’s job to remind them of those obligations.”

He believes that, as part of the City of Melbourne’s safety push, there must be greater accountability for faith-based organisations that benefit from public funding and tax exemptions.

Churches are generally exempt from paying council rates in the City of Melbourne because they are considered charitable or religious institutions.

Mr Land suggested that sites such as St Paul’s Cathedral could be repurposed to provide temporary housing solutions.

“They’ve got a huge piece of land there that could easily be turned into a homeless village – it wouldn’t even need to be inside the church,” he said.

While acknowledging that homelessness is a complex issue, Mr Land said that for a city like Melbourne, the problem should be manageable.

According to the most recent City of Melbourne data, 78 people were identified on the Melbourne By Name list as sleeping rough in the municipality.

“If a handful of churches each opened their doors to ten or fifteen people, we could practically end street homelessness overnight,” Mr Land said.

When he mentioned this to the council, he said that he received “evasive responses” from councillors.

“I’ve asked these questions before and only get political talk,” he said. “The council needs to stop passing the buck and start holding churches accountable.”

“The Bible doesn’t say, ‘take government grants and pray for the poor,’” Mr Land added. “It says to look after them – it’s time they did.” •