The Big Issue

Aaron sells The Big Issue at the corner of Little Collins and Swanston streets, Melbourne.

“I come from a good home – well, what they say is a good home. One of those households where they bought a big house and basically spent their whole life working for it without time for anything else.
I had some trouble with Mum and Dad, left home and moved into a house with other young people in the same situation. Turned out I ended up living with drug dealers – that’s how I started with the drugs and homelessness.

I’ve been clean for about five years – it was easy for me to stay clean in jail because I didn’t want to end up catching AIDS. I had offences against property, in major department stores – I was a bit of a ‘shopper’.

I’ve been out of jail for two years, but haven’t committed an offence for five years. I was on remand for so long that they automatically pulled my parole and although after 12 months the charges were
dismissed, I had to start my parole again. This sort of thing happens a lot.

I heard about The Big Issue through a mate five or six years ago. I just wanted some money to buy drugs, basically. When I got there I did it for a couple of days, but it wasn’t my thing – I felt like a fraud.

I went a bit downhill a few times in the five years I’ve been clean, but not back to what I used to be. I hit a few bumps – I nearly got married last year. I got engaged and was really excited about it, but things went wrong: I couldn’t handle it and ended up back on the street. That’s when I came back to The Big Issue, about seven months ago. I decided that I had to do something, and it was a positive step.

I’m at Little Collins Street and Swanston Street on Thursdays. I’ve got a lot of regular customers who come by and say hello to me and my dog, Levi. He’s a good dog and has got a lot of fans. He was a pup when I got out [of detention].

I’ve spent a long time seeing youth workers – basically my whole life. I’ve never done much school, but a mentor of mine suggested doing youth work because I know what it’s all about. Now I’m doing a one-year TAFE Youth Work course, and give talks to schoolchildren for The Big Issue. Year 9 kids come into the city to The Big Issue office, where we talk about what it’s like to be homeless, how hard it is, and try to break down the stigma attached to homelessness.

I spend a lot of time with my girlfriend and we go over school stuff – she’s in the same class. And walking trails, bushwalks around Melbourne. The Big Issue was the start of all that. I’ve made quite a few friends here, like Craig, Lachlan, Bushy, De – people who are on the right track and are positive about what they are doing. That’s a big thing, mixing with people who are positive and don’t want to fall back into the ugly side of things.”

interview by Peter Ascot photograph by James Braund