The federal government must prioritise ending Australia’s massive social housing shortfall, Everybody’s Home said, as a new report reveals housing stress is the fastest growing main factor triggering homelessness.
This year’s Australian Homelessness Monitor reports a 36 percent rise in new service users citing housing affordability stress as their primary reason for seeking support from homelessness services in the three years to 2023-24.
The research by UNSW in partnership with Homelessness Australia also found that in recent years, the risk of homelessness has been affecting a broader range of people, with an increasing proportion of workers seeking crisis support.
Everybody’s Home spokesperson Maiy Azize said: “Australia’s worsening housing crisis is fueling the rise in homelessness. People simply cannot afford insanely high rents week after week – it’s pushing many into housing stress, leading them to sleep in cars or improvised dwellings, and on couches or the streets.