Under the NHHA, the Australian Government is improving funding for homelessness by ensuring homelessness funding is now ongoing and indexed. This will result in around $129 million from the NHHA being set aside for homelessness services this year. States and territories will match this funding.
The Australian Government is developing a National Housing and Homelessness Plan (the Plan) to help more Australians access safe and affordable housing. The Plan will be a 10-year strategy. It will set out a shared vision to inform future housing and homelessness policy in Australia.
The NSW Government's 2018/19 Budget commits more than $1 billion to homelessness services over the next four years to support new and existing initiatives, with $61 million of new funding over four years to implement the NSW Homelessness Strategy.
If the cost of the dwellings required was also added in, Spiller said eliminating homelessness would cost roughly an extra $127 billion, based on the value of between 300,000 and 400,000 homes in 2051. Fotheringham said the $17 billion figure would involve “30 years of consistent intervention”.
What is the leading cause of homelessness in Australia? In Australia, domestic and family violence (DFV) is one of the main drivers of homelessness in Australia. Sadly, many children, women and men have experienced or have witnessed abusive and violent behaviour towards a partner, former partner or family member.
What is Australia's homeless population? On Census night in 2021, statistics show 122,494 people were estimated to be experiencing homelessness. That's an increase of 5.2 per cent since the 2016 Census.
Proven housing-based policies include: Federal housing assistance: Federal housing programs are one of the most successful housing-based solutions to reduce homelessness. The two largest federal housing programs are public housing and federal housing vouchers, known as Housing Choice Vouchers or Section 8 vouchers.
Homelessness can be caused by poverty, unemployment or by a shortage of affordable housing, or it can be triggered by family breakdown, mental illness, sexual assault, addiction, financial difficulty, gambling or social isolation. Domestic violence is the single biggest cause of homelessness in Australia.
Across all Australian studies, mental illness and/or substance/alcohol abuse are the most common perceived causes of homelessness, followed by family breakdown, unemployment or economic problems, and a shortage of affordable housing. Increasingly, family violence is also seen as important.
While vagrancy is no longer illegal in Australia, the related practice of begging is still a crime in most Australian jurisdictions.
“There really is a whole new cohort of people that need our help.” The findings follow Australian Bureau of Statistics data that found the number of people experiencing homelessness in Australia has increased by 5.2%.
The Australian government's failure to invest in social and affordable housing and policy failures around welfare are the key drivers behind rising homelessness in Australia, according to new independent analysis.
Our goal. End homelessness and ensure people and communities in need can thrive.
Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Reduction Strategy
The key priorities in the Strategy are: Preventing residents from becoming homeless and assisting them when they have become homeless. Providing suitable accommodation for homeless households. Reducing and working towards the elimination of rough sleeping.
There are no internationally agreed upon definitions of homelessness, making it difficult to compare levels of homelessness across countries. A majority of people experiencing homelessness long-term in Australia are found in the large cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.
Homelessness can be caused by:
Family violence. A shortage of affordable housing. Physical and/or mental health issues.
How many children are homeless? According to the ABS Census, around 19,400 children (0.4%) aged 0–14 experienced homelessness on Census night in 2016. These children made up around 17% of the homeless population.
The number of homeless people in Finland has continuously decreased over the past three decades from over 16 000 in 1989 to around 4 000, or 0.08% of the population (Figure 1).
At 0.003% or roughly 1 homeless person per 34,000 residents, Japan is the country with the world's lowest rate of homelessness. Moreover, with a population of around 125.7 million people, the country also has one of the lowest numbers of homeless people.
In conclusion, while it may not have the smallest homeless population or the lowest rate of homelessness in the world, Finland is the country that handles homelessness the best.
Thirty-two per cent of Australia's homeless population lives in NSW. Other states and territories account for 21 per cent (Victoria), 19 per cent (Queensland), 12 per cent (the Northern Territory), 8 per cent (Western Australia), 5 per cent (South Australia) and 1 per cent each in the ACT and Tasmania.
At the last Census, 30,660 Victorians were without a home – that's 27 per cent of Australia's total (112,494). The most recent data on homelessness from the Australian Bureau of Statistics was collected at the 2021 Census and was published in 2023.
Australian policy interest in homelessness started in the early 1970s with the passage of the Homeless Persons Assistance Act (1974). Under the terms of the Act, NGOs were required to assist chronically homeless persons, most of whom were older men living in inner city areas (DeHoog, 1972; Jordon, 1994).