The number of people experiencing long-term homelessness has surged by over 25 per cent, new data from the Productivity Commission shows.
Amid a housing shortage and cost-of-living crisis, the commission’s report on government services showed 37,779 people experienced persistent homelessness in 2023-24.
The figure is an increase of 26.3 per cent from 30,306 people who lacked homes long term in 2019-20.
People who are homeless for more than seven months in a two-year period are defined as experiencing persistent homelessness, with more than one in five people who seek support services falling under the category.
Kate Colvin, CEO of Homelessness Australia, called the data “grim findings”.
“More Australians than ever are trapped in long-term homelessness, and even those who find housing are struggling to maintain it without adequate support,” she said.
“Each day, an average of 208 people seek accommodation and are turned away empty-handed.
“Over the year, that amounts to 53,292 people — one in three of those needing accommodation — who received no housing assistance at all.”
Ms Colvin renewed the call for more funding into homelessness services, saying “sustained investment” was shown to work in helping people escape the cycle of homelessness.
More than 120,000 people were homeless in 2021 according to the last census, a figure that represents nearly 50 individuals out of every 10,000 people.
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The report showed most people at risk (80.9 per cent of the general population and 79 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people) were able to avoid homelessness through support services or other means.
The ABS defines homelessness as not simply sleeping without a roof, but someone lacking a sense of security, privacy, or ongoing stability in their place of living.
This includes primary homelessness — someone lacking a physical shelter — as well as secondary, being those who are forced to move between different types of accommodation for want of stability.
The federal government has committed to funding at least 55,000 social and affordable homes as part of a housing policy agenda, including a $10 billion investment fund that will use returns to build some of the promised houses.
The Australian Homelessness Monitor 2024, released in December, described housing affordability as the critical factor for people seeking support with homelessness services.
Advocacy group Everybody’s Home spokesperson Maiy Azize said the monitor’s report showed the housing crisis was directly fuelling the rise in people lacking safe and secure homes across low and middle-income groups.
“The housing crisis is driving a new wave of people seeking crisis support for the first time and is trapping many Australians in homelessness for longer periods,” Ms Azize said.
Minister for Housing and Homelessness Clare O’Neil has been contacted for comment.
