News Article
Missionbeat celebrates 30 years in Sydney - 14 January 2009
 In 2009, Missionbeat celebrates 30 years providing transport, information and referral services to people in distress and need in Sydney’s inner city.
Missionbeat first hit the streets in 1979 when the NSW government abolished laws making public drunkenness a criminal offence.
Because police were no longer required to pick up and jail heavily intoxicated individuals, Mission Australia – or the Sydney City Mission as it was then known – offered to play a role in providing care to people in this state.
Mission Australia’s answer was to establish Missionbeat and 30 years later its four vans still patrol Sydney’s inner city seeking out people in need and taking them to a safe place where they can access showers, clothing, food and a warm bed.
When Missionbeat began the common profile of a homeless person was a male in his fifties or sixties, usually with a very serious alcohol problem.
However, the face of homelessness has changed. Most homeless people – men and women – are in their early 30s and rather than alcohol have problems with mental illness and substance abuse.
Recent statistics also report child homelessness to be at disturbing levels, with over 12,000 kids under the age of 12 without a place to call home.
In response, Missionbeat has evolved from providing a simple crisis service to becoming a crucial link between people in distress and the vital services that can help transform their lives.
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