It’s with a heavy heart that Shelter NSW opens this final newsletter for the 2025-2026 year. The death of Bikram Lama, known to many in Sydney as the “Birdman” of St James, has shaken our sector and many in the wider community. Mr Lama, a former international student from Nepal, died while sleeping rough near St James Station. For days, thousands of commuters passed by his body before it was discovered. 

His death is a tragedy, but it is also a stark reminder of the gaps in our homelessness response. Shelter NSW, alongside homelessness services and advocates, has long warned about the ‘Catch-22’ faced by some people experiencing homelessness who do not hold permanent residency status. Many are unable to access social housing, income support, healthcare and other services, leaving them with few pathways out of homelessness. 

We join calls from Homelessness NSW, the Justice and Equity Centre and others for a coronial inquiry into Mr Lama’s death, so that the systemic failures that contributed to his circumstances – and ultimately, his death – can be fully examined and addressed. 

Bikram Lama should not be remembered only for the way he died. But if there is to be any meaning drawn from this loss, it must be a renewed commitment to ensuring that no one is left without access to the housing, support, and dignity they need. 

Responding to homelessness, and rough sleeping in particular, is an essential part of a housing system recognising housing as a human right. But prevention of homelessness, making it rare, brief, and non-recurrent, and a housing system that provides a safe, secure, affordable home to all, remain the ultimate goals. Shelter NSW welcomes the recent housing taxation changes announced in the Federal budget, and we continue to work with NSW Government on legislative and systemic reform, including on a promising investigation into minimum energy efficiency standards for rental properties. Good planning and urban design, as usual, continues to occupy significant amounts of our time, with contributions to planning in City of Sydney, the Inner West, Newcastle, Waterloo, and more.