Australia’s homelessness crisis worsens, rough sleeping surge driven by rising housing costs

Samantha Lock and Alex Mitchell

AAP

2 Min Read

09 Dec 2024

The number of homeless employed people has jumped as housing costs have soared across the nation. Credit: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

Homelessness looms for more employed Australians than ever as the housing crisis worsens across the country.

Nationwide, rough sleeping increased by 22 per cent with NSW, the hardest hit state, witnessing a 51 per cent surge since 2020, according to a landmark report released by the Australian Homelessness Monitor on Monday.

The proportion of employed people accessing homelessness services jumped from 11 per cent to 15.3 per cent in the five years to 2022-23, which experts said showed the housing crisis had made sleeping rough no longer confined to the most vulnerable.

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Older Australians make up the fastest-growing cohorts of those affected by homelessness.

People aged 55 to 64 jumped by 15 per cent in the past six years, while persons aged 65 or older spiked by 31 per cent.

Under-the-pump homelessness agencies have seen a 12 per cent rise in their monthly caseloads since 2019-20, and three-quarters of those services reported it was significantly harder to find housing for clients than just a year before.

Lead report author Hal Pawson said unaffordable rent prices were heaping pressure onto services while forcing more people to sleep rough.

Of those needing homelessness services in the three years to 2023-24, 36 per cent more people cited housing affordability.

“Median rents have increased 51 per cent since the pandemic and there has been only a marginal expansion of social housing,” Professor Pawson said.

“Many support agencies are at a breaking point. Staff are operating in a completely clogged system. People exit support services into the same homelessness they were trying to escape.”

NSW’s surge in rough sleeping has been driven by an increase in regional communities, the authors found.

Homelessness Australia CEO Kate Colvin called for more investment in homelessness prevention, along with more funding for housing programs.

“Homelessness is no longer confined to the most vulnerable … with the housing crisis forcing working families into homelessness, this should be a wake-up call for action,” she said.

She called for governments to take “immediate action and deliver an emergency homelessness investment” to ensure support services remain accessible and operable long-term.

“We particularly need investment in homelessness prevention so we can stop people becoming homeless in the first place, as well as investment in world renowned Housing First programs to stop people cycling in and out of homelessness.”