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A new report from Mission Australia showed an “alarming” number of Australians are seeking homelessness services, sparking calls for urgent action to address the country’s “housing emergency”.
The charity’s latest report, A Safe Place to Call Home, showed demand for the organisation’s homelessness services jumped by 26 per cent to 7,378 people between January 2020 to December last year.
Concerningly, data also showed the number of people seeking help who were already homeless increased by 50 per cent in three years to more than 3,500, mainly due to an inadequate supply of affordable housing.
Of those experiencing homelessness, only a third, or 31 per cent were supported by homelessness services into secure long-term housing, while half were transitioned into short-term or emergency housing due to the lack of long-term housing.
“Our frontline staff are seeing an influx of people seeking help from our homelessness services, and they’re telling us the housing situation is the worst they’ve ever seen,” Sharon Callister, Mission Australia’s chief executive said.
Alarmingly, the report also found a staggering 120 per cent increase in the number of individuals seeking assistance from Mission Australia’s services after living in tents, cars, makeshift shelters, or rough sleeping, reaching a total of 640 people within just three years.
These findings coincide with recent data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), which revealed that an average of 300 pleas for assistance are denied daily by homelessness services throughout the nation, mainly due to the lack of accommodation available.
According to the report, skyrocketing rents, low wages and income support payments, and a significant shortage of social and affordable housing, had compounded to turn homelessness in Australia into a “national emergency”.
In light of the grim housing conditions, Mission Australia called on governments to invest more in homelessness prevention and support services, as well as in one million new social and affordable homes.
Ms Callister underlined that without a significant boost in social and affordable housing across the country, “homelessness cannot be eradicated”.
“Mission Australia is calling on governments for greater investment to build the one million new social and affordable homes that will be needed over the next 20 years to ensure that everyone who seeks help is connected to a safe place to call home.”
She also urged further investment in homelessness services, particularly those focused on prevention, such as extending the length of service contracts.
“This would enable our incredibly compassionate and skilled frontline staff to meet the increasing demand and help everyone who needs it,” she concluded.
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