SHANE CUTHBERT joins vinnies ceo sleepout

Homelessness is something Shane Cuthbert understands all too well, as someone who has been homeless and in 2018, homeless in Cairns. Shane remembers his experiences very clearly, catching Dengue Fever after spending the night sleeping at Muddy's playground on the esplanade after being told by staff at the Cairns Emergency Department 'you can't sleep here' and spending a few nights in the skatepark, experiences he shared speaking at last years Vinnies CEO community Sleepout.
Shane was eventually supported by community organisations and facilities such as OzCare and the Quigley St homeless shelter (now in disrepair) and would like to see more investment into social housing at the local level. Shane can relate to those whom have been forced onto the streets, through no fault of their own and was part of an Inter-University team, that last year developed a prototype app, addressing the needs of those doing it tough.
Huge thanks to Isaac at Art Life Films for taking the time to document this event and putting this video together to help me raise awareness around this issue, effecting thousands of Australians.
TRANSCRIPT
Hey, my name's Shane Guber and I'm down here tonight at the Vinnies Sleep out.
It's my second year being here, And, uh, it means a lot to me, obviously, as someone who 5-6 years ago, I was sleeping on the Esplanade. But there's a lot of people through no fault of their own, end up homeless or, you know, they're They're sort of, uh, what we call temporarily homeless, you know, which which is those that don't have the long-term, um, issues with mental illness or social economic issues and, um, drug and alcohol issues. But, you know, maybe someone that's, uh, their rent's been going up for the last two years, and they can't afford it anymore.
So you're talking about single mothers, um, that have four kids and full mouths to feed that are really doing it hard and, you know, living in cars and things. So it's an issue that really does affect the youth as well.
I've been here for my second year now raising awareness for this issue, but also, uh, not just to know that there's there's people that you can ask for help, but just to highlight the fact that there's a lot of people doing it tough right now. Um, there's a lot of people. The cost of living is rising and, you know, we really need to support those people.
Copyright © Shane Cuthbert 2026 In the spirit of reconciliation, Shane Cuthbert acknowledges the traditional owners of the land upon which he stands and their connections to land, sea and community. Shane Cuthbert pays respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander peoples and thier leaders, past, present and emerging.