The main driver of homelessness in Australia is housing costs – post-COVID rents, house prices and interest rates are all much higher. To house everyone, the housing system needs a major overhaul.
More people than expected needed help, and the states have found stable housing for less than a third of rough sleepers who were put up in hotels. A hands-off federal government simply isn’t helping.
Australia found shelter for more than 33,000 rough sleepers and other homeless people during the pandemic, but a coming surge in homelessness demands a comprehensive national housing strategy.
Providing a bed for the night in a car park for people sleeping rough just treats them as a charity case. There are better ways to tackle homelessness.
Last week seven people were arrested for being alleged members of a begging ‘syndicate’. Stories like this entrench public perceptions of the homeless as criminal.
Homelessness in Australia is increasingly concentrated in the capital cities, where nearly two in every three people without a home are now found. That’s the finding of a study of the data since 2001.
It’s easy to be cynical about charity drives like the Vinnies CEO Sleepout. Are they just PR stunts or can they make a difference beyond fundraising? Our study shows they can, and they do.
A decade after the launch of a national campaign against homelessness, the trends are all going the wrong way. A new annual report highlights what’s gone wrong and what must be done.