Calls to install toilet to give Adelaide rough sleepers 'basic human right'

An Adelaide homelessness organisation says repeated calls for a public toilet to be installed in the south-eastern parklands have gone unanswered by the city council, resulting in rough sleepers relying on the goodwill of local businesses.

Hutt Street Centre CEO Chris Burns said he had spoken, emailed and written formal letters to multiple Adelaide City Council staff, councillors and the Lord Mayor about the need for a public toilet, water fountain and garbage bins to be installed in the parklands near the centre.

He said despite multiple requests over a six-year period, action had not been taken.

"It's a basic human right [for people] to have access to a public toilet, to be able to get access to drinking water and to be able to clean up after themselves and put stuff in a garbage bin," Mr Burns told the ABC.

"The parklands appears to be a sacred ground that can't be tarnished by things like public toilets."

The Hutt Street Centre is located near the south-eastern parklands and supports people at risk of or experiencing homelessness.

The closest public toilet to Hutt St Centre is about 600 metres away near a playground in the parklands.

Mr Burns said the number of people sleeping rough in the area increased during events such as this month's Adelaide Grand Final, when the nearby Victoria Park, which has a public toilet, is closed to the general public.

He said when the Victoria Park is closed, those sleeping rough near the Hutt Street Centre face a 15-minute walk to reach to the next closest public toilet — a distance which is not always practical or safe.

"When we're not open, people don't have ready access to toilets and showers and running water and garbage bins, so people tend to come up onto the street and use the facilities available in commercial facilities like hotels and restaurants," he said.

"They [rough sleepers] don't always look after the bathrooms they use.

"It does upset the facility owners who are supporting these people but not making any money out of it, so understandably they get upset."

'Basic necessity' for rough sleepers

Parco café owner Antonia Leverink, whose business is located opposite the Hutt Street Centre, said she had also been calling on the council to install a public toilet nearby.

She said she would "never say no" to a rough sleeper wanting to use her toilet.

"Sometimes you're in the middle of service and people don't always ask as nicely as they should," she said.

"It would be so much cleaner and hygienic for Hutt Street to have a public toilet, not just for my business but other local businesses as well.

"At the end of the day, having a public toilet is a basic necessity."

Ms Leverink said a public toilet could also benefit walkers, runners and families who use the south-eastern parklands.

Public toilets nearby: Lord Mayor

According to the Adelaide City Council, there are 58 public toilets located within the council area.

Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith said three of those are located within one kilometre, or a 13-minute walk, of the Hutt Street Centre.

She said she had not heard from the Hutt St Centre about its request for a public toilet to be installed in the south parklands.

"Honestly, everybody wants more public lavatories, they are the things that people want — not always next-door to their houses — but they want them generally," she said.

"We have to make choices about where to put them.

"We have a list of lavatories that need to be installed and we are trying to prioritise them."

Ms Lomax-Smith said she understood the number of public toilets currently installed "may not be enough" given the increase in homelessness in the city.

She said the city council invested "very significantly" in the homelessness space.

"If there is an increase in homelessness, that's the core issue that needs to be dealt with," she said.