Three Million Australians ‘At Risk’ Of Homelessness

A new report has found that as many as three million people in this country could fall into homelessness because of high rents, poor incomes and a chronic shortage of government support services.

The report, commissioned by Homelessness Australia, found that the risk of homelessness is now 60% higher than it was in 2016. [1]

Kate Colvin, the CEO of Homelessness Australia, says the spiralling cost of private rental housing is putting families under huge financial strain.

"Demand for homelessness services has erupted and the system is so under-resourced that people who are homeless can't get in front of a worker who can help them," she said.

“People who could have afforded private rentals just a few years ago are now resorting to couch surfing, sleeping in cars or pitching a tent.”

Impact Economics modelling estimates that number of Australians at risk of homelessness increased by 63% between 2016 and 2022, representing between 2.7 and 3.2 million people.

Ms Colvin said the number today is likely to be even higher.

Research by the University of NSW suggests that 10,000 Australians are becoming homeless each month, with a large percentage of them employed people, including part-time teachers and nurses. [2]

Of the extra 10,000 people now seeking housing support each month, 4,636 were rough sleeping, while others were couch surfing or living in short-term accommodation.

The latest data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare shows that of the 280,000 people seeking emergency housing in 2024, the number rough sleeping had increased by 13% over the previous year.

Professor Hal Pawson of the University of NSW City Futures Research Centre blames the dramatic increase in homelessness on the high cost of private rental housing which has increased 29% since 2020.

“We’ve seen an extraordinary period of rent inflation, which has run over the last four years,” he said. “That has definitely pushed a lot of people into a riskier situation, or into homelessness.”

Employment does not guarantee a home

Research by the team at UNSW also reveals a significant increase in the number of employed Australians now accessing housing services – an additional 33,000 people, over the five years to 2022-23.

This finding is supported by Christie Haggard, the team leader at VincentCare which provides frontline housing services in Melbourne. “We see people who have income, who are teachers or nurses, but will be working part-time and can’t cover the cost of living,” she said.

Ms Haggard says that VincentCare is now seeing around 150 new clients each day who can no longer afford private rentals and want to apply for the limited supply of social housing across Melbourne. “Rent is increasing significantly, and people are unable to afford it,” she said. “So, they’ll come in for help because they’re in rent arrears or for help finding a new property because they have been trying, and there’s just nothing that’s affordable for them anymore.” [3] Kate Colvin from Homelessness Australia says that specialist agencies such as VincentCare helped almost 280,000 during 2024 but were struggling to keep up with the demand for their services.

“We are failing people at every turn – more families, workers and older Australians are being pushed to breaking point by skyrocketing rents and a broken housing system,” she said.

The latest government data, from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, shows a rise in persistent homelessness: up to 37,800 Australians in the past year, compared to 29,500 clients in 2018-19. [4]

More than 39% of all people using homelessness services have experienced family and domestic violence, while 28% of clients of homelessness services are First Nations Australians.

While welcoming rent assistance increases and commitments to social housing investment by federal and state governments, Ms Colvin said much more must be done to address what has become a homelessness emergency in Australia. [5] “Governments need to take immediate action and deliver an emergency homelessness investment so that when people reach out for homelessness support there is someone there to help them,” she said.

Sources:

[1] ABC
[2] The Guardian
[3] The Guardian
[4] Homelessness Australia
[5] The Guardian