COMMUNITY & SOCIAL HOUSING
BETWEEN December and March, an additional 6,658 people sought out homelessness assistance in Australia, as rent hikes and record low vacancies pushes many into crisis.
According to a new report by Homelessness Australia, the number of people seeking homelessness assistance spiked 7.5% over the period...
The further $450 million is needed to respond to new people needing homelessness assistance and people currently being turned away.
“A 7.5 per cent increase in demand in just four months is unheard of. It forces homelessness services to make extremely tough decisions about...
“Support services are triaging based on people’s vulnerability and need, but the reality is highly vulnerable people are...
The report found that the overwhelming majority of people reaching out for homelessness assistance were doing so as a result of financial stress and...
In March this year, 95,767 people sought assistance, with 83% or 79,244 of them needing help due to housing or financial stress...
Of the states, Queensland saw the largest increase in homelessness services used, up 12.9% from December to March...
Western Australia followed, up 11.1%, with New South Wales up 10.2%, South Australia up 7.1%, Victoria up 5.3% and Tasmania up 1.2%...
While seeing the second lowest increase by percentage, Victoria has the greatest homelessness population by state and is leaving more people at risk of homelessness with the lowest social housing stock in the nation.
“The bulk of increased demand comes from women and children, many of whom are fleeing violence,” added Colvin...
Women and children also represented 80% of those turned away due to the lack of resources, with children under 18 representing 31%...
If the current surge in demand continues, it will equate to an annual increase in demand equivalent to an additional 19,974 people, at a cost of an additional $97.9 million...
Which when combined with the 71,962 people currently turned away from homelessness services each year this adds up to 91,936 extra people needing support...
“The Federal Government has recently committed to new resources for social housing which is welcome, but while the housing crisis continues to...