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SBS Australia
6 days ago
- Health
- SBS Australia
'They have nowhere to go': The Australians at the centre of a housing 'emergency'
This article contains references to domestic and family violence. Women and girls are at the centre of a homelessness crisis which has reached "emergency proportions" across Australia, the country's peak body has warned. The number of women and girls seeking homelessness services each month increased by 14 per cent between May 2022 — when the Albanese government was first elected — and March this year, according to analysis by Homelessness Australia. The number of women and girls seeking assistance who were already homeless increased by 20 per cent — from 24,517 in May 2022 to 29,449 in March this year. "What that reveals is more women and girls are not getting the support they need to avoid homelessness," Kate Colvin, CEO of Homelessness Australia, told SBS News. "They're not getting early intervention, and they're coming to homeless services already having exhausted perhaps their friends, their family networks. "They have nowhere to go. And then, the reality is homeless services don't have the resources they need to provide safe accommodation for women and girls in that situation." The number of women and girls seeking support who were at risk of homelessness was also up 8 per cent. Overall, it said around 45 per cent of these women and girls have experienced domestic and family violence, referencing AIHW data. 'Emergency proportions' Colvin said homelessness across the country has reached "emergency proportions". "We have hundreds of people every day pushed out of the housing market into homelessness, and then not able to get back into housing," she said. "The situation just keeps getting worse and worse." The peak body attributes women and families being pushed further into crisis to rising rents, domestic violence and a lack of early intervention. Meanwhile, overwhelmed services are being forced to make difficult decisions around who to help and who to turn away. Minister for Housing, Homelessness and Cities Clare O'Neil said Australia is "confronting a housing crisis which has been building for 40 years". "It's affecting the lives of millions of Australians, and the most urgent and disturbing part of it is the rising homelessness all of us can see in our own communities," she said. Our staff are 'forced to triage' Frances Crimmins is the CEO of YWCA Canberra, a specialist women and children's homeless service provider. "Normally, what we find is that if they haven't already presented with domestic and family violence as the cause of their homelessness [we later learn after building trust] it has often formed part of the reason they have become homeless," Crimmins said. YWCA Canberra leases 60 properties from the ACT government, and has 19 of its own — some of which have been provided by the federal government specifically for women and children escaping domestic and family violence. They are all full. "The current level of demand just keeps on increasing, and so our staff are forced to triage," Crimmins said. Triaging refers to making decisions about which clients to prioritise in offering support. Supporting women and children escaping violence may include safety planning and preparing a vacant property. If there is no accommodation, it may involve safety planning to return to living with a perpetrator until housing becomes available. For some victim-survivors, a lack of housing options may lead them to stay in, or return to, a violent relationship. Source: AAP / Diego Fedele Family and domestic violence is the main reason women and children leave their homes, according to the AIHW. Many of them experience housing insecurity, and in some cases, homelessness. For some victim-survivors, a lack of housing options may lead them to stay in, or return to, a violent relationship. "That's a really sad fact … it can often be known that [a woman] might know the perpetrator's behaviour, and that can often be less risky than the unknown, which is sleeping rough or in a car with your children," Crimmins said. When it comes to transitioning clients out into the community, Crimmins said a lack of social and affordable housing has left them "stuck". "It's nearly impossible for us, currently, to transition women with three or more children," she said. "We are stuck. We know we have other women we need to accommodate, but we can't exit those women and children back into homelessness. That's what the staff are managing every day." Crimmins called for a "big uptick" in social housing to provide more exit pathways. "We need it urgently," she said. Calls for more social housing, a national plan O'Neil said the government has a particular focus on crisis housing. "We're making a record investment of over $1.2 billion in crisis housing and last term, we delivered a 45 per cent boost to rent assistance which helped a million Australians struggling to pay their rent," she said. She said the most important action for the Commonwealth is building more social and affordable homes. "We're delivering 55,000 new desperately needed social and affordable homes — 28,000 are under construction or planning right now. Every one of these homes will change the life of an Australian family." Colvin said the government's commitments are "certainly very welcome" after over a decade of underinvestment in social and affording housing. "The thing is they're not sufficient to catch up to where we need to be," she said. The latest annual report from the government's National Housing Supply and Affordability Council, released in May, said a "significant uplift" was needed to support Australians who depend on social and affordable housing. In 2021, this proportion of households was around 4 per cent. The report recommended governments and the private and not-for-profit sectors commit to restore the proportion of the housing stock over the medium term to 6 per cent. A long-term target should be as high as 10 per cent, it said. Homelessness Australia is also calling for an increase in social housing to 10 per cent of all dwellings — one of three "critical actions" included in its plan to address rising homelessness that was launched on Tuesday. The peak body is also calling for a national housing and homelessness plan to set reduction targets and guide major reforms, along with new investment in services in partnership with states and territories. The government is developing a housing and homelessness plan as part of its housing strategy, with consultation taking place in its first term. It's understood this work remains a priority. If you or someone you know is impacted by family and domestic violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, text 0458 737 732, or visit In an emergency, call 000.
ABC News
21-07-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Homelessness under Albanese government 'worst in living memory', peak bodies warn
Homelessness rates, particularly for women and girls, have worsened under the Albanese government's first term due to service underfunding and a lack of affordable housing, according to the industry peak body. The issue has reached its "worst levels in living memory", Homelessness Australia said, with analysis of data from homelessness services across the country showing women and girls fleeing domestic violence are the most affected. The number of people accessing homelessness services each month has increased by 10 per cent since Labor was elected in May 2022, but for women and girls, the increase has been by 14 per cent, the data shows. Despite the government's attempted focus on the housing crisis in its first term, Homelessness Australia's chief executive Kate Colvin said commitments made to social housing have not hit the mark and are condemning vulnerable families to homelessness. "Even with those commitments, the proportion of social housing is still going to continue to fall," she said. "We need government to do a lot more. "This is a huge problem." It comes as a new report from housing lobby group Everybody's Home has found social housing has declined to around 4 per cent of all homes, down from 4.7 per cent in 2013, with the group's chief executive, Maiy Azize, calling on the Albanese government to deliver more affordable rentals. "The government mustn't take for granted the Australians who voted them in with the hope of making housing more affordable," she said. Homelessness Australia's analysis of Australian Institute of Health and Wellbeing data shows an additional 72,000 people were turned away from services in 2023-24 — and three in four were women or children. Ms Colvin said the shortage of reasonably priced rentals meant not only were people being forced into homelessness, but women ready to move out of a domestic violence or homelessness refuge had nowhere to go. Last week, the ABC revealed the Treasury department advised Labor soon after it was re-elected that its signature pledge to build 1.2 million homes over five years to address the housing crisis "will not be met". Housing and Homelessness Minister Clare O'Neil told the ABC the government has invested more than $1.2 billion in crisis and transitional housing. "We're acutely aware of just how complex the challenge of homelessness is, which is why we continue to listen to people with first-hand knowledge right across the homelessness sector," she said. "In this new term the government has appointed a special envoy for social housing and homelessness, Josh Burns, to work with the sector on a variety of complex problems affecting different communities." Ms Colvin said while she appreciated the government had committed funding towards building more homes, in the meantime, homelessness services were turning away more and more people. "The homeless services haven't had increased funding because the housing crisis has gotten worse," she said. "They just have more people coming." In the inner Sydney suburb of Redfern, the 200 beds at the Women's and Girls' Emergency Centre are full every night. Its chief executive, Nicole Yade, said her staff have the "horrendous" task of choosing between desperate families whenever a bed at the refuge becomes free. "It's an impossible choice," she said. She said frontline workers she had spoken to found it easier to transition clients into an affordable rental five years ago than they do now. The lack of social and affordable housing meant women and their children are often taking up beds for months longer than necessary, because they cannot afford anything in the community, Ms Yade said. "They get stuck in the refuge," she said. "It doesn't feel like there's been enough change for us on the ground when we're delivering services to women who are escaping family and domestic violence." Ms Colvin said the government's commitments to housing for this term of parliament are still "not where we'd like them to be." She is calling on the government to complete a national plan to end homelessness, invest more in homelessness services and grow social housing to 10 per cent of all dwellings. The government began consultation on a national housing and homelessness plan in 2023, to determine a policy vision for the sector. The ABC understands that work is ongoing.
News.com.au
15-06-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
More than one million Aussie homes at risk from fires, floods as housing crisis deepens
More than 1000 homes have been left uninhabitable by devastating floods on the NSW Mid-North Coast, a report has found, amid fears the climate crisis could put millions more at risk. The report by the Housing, Homelessness, and Disasters National Symposium last week found 1153 homes were left uninhabitable by the floods. Another 1831 homes were damaged. Some 23,000 Australians are displaced by floods, bushfires, and cyclones each year, with the report finding 5.6 million homes are at risk from bushfires as climate impacts accelerate. Homeless Australia CEO Kate Colvin said as climate disasters become more regular, there was a risk of a 'two-tiered society' in which housing security determined disaster survival. 'There is a gap between people who are best able to protect themselves and people who are least able to,' she said. Ms Colvin said renters were often limited to cheaper properties in more flood-prone areas and were less resilient to climate-related disasters, compared with higher-income earners. Renters also often had less access to government support and faced a 'superheated' rental market. 'They can't compete because all those people who had insurance often also get a special payments system to afford rent during the time when their home is not available,' Ms Colvin said. 'They then can't get a rental because you've got this superheated market, so you have another wave of homelessness just because of the housing market impact'. Ms Colvin called on the federal government to make renters or people facing homelessness a priority in future disaster responses, and include disaster resilience in its 10-year housing plan. 'In the planning phase, include the homelessness sector, include strategies around housing resilience … (and) in the response phase, be inclusive of people who are facing homelessness.' The symposium brought together more than 100 professionals across the housing, emergency management, and governmental sectors to examine how 'secondary crises' affect NSW. Factors included the prevalence of construction workers who flood disaster zones in the wake of climate events, inadvertently driving up rents for already struggling locals. The symposium found that in Australia, some 953,000 homes were vulnerable to flooding and 17,500 were at threat from coastal erosion, with 169,000 people on the public housing list. HowWeSurvive UNSW Sydney academic and co-author of the symposium report, Dr Timothy Heffernan, said climate disasters were already hitting 'housing-vulnerable' communities. 'When you have 6.5 million homes at risk from bushfires, floods or coastal erosion, and a housing system that can't meet demand, every disaster becomes a humanitarian crisis,' he said. 'Hotels and motels fill up immediately, caravan parks are often in flood-prone areas … We're asking an already strained system to absorb sudden surges of thousands of displaced people.' Social Futures general manager Martelle Geurts said the Northern Rivers housing system was 'already fragile' when it was hit by the 2022 flood disaster, damaging more than 10,000 homes. Despite extensive recovery efforts, the Northern Rivers accounted for about a third of rough sleepers in NSW in 2025. The most recent NSW Street Count - an annual audit of people facing homelessness - found 346 people sleeping rough in the City of Sydney. In the Northern Rivers, there were 654 people. 'Climate events are becoming more frequent and severe, and they destroy homes. So, climate change and homelessness are inextricably linked,' Ms Geurts said. 'People can't recover without stable housing. 'Disasters displace people and can cause lasting trauma. Some people experience PTSD, and the impact of that can be lifelong. 'What we know is that people can't recover psychologically unless they have a secure place to live.'
Perth Now
15-06-2025
- Politics
- Perth Now
Reason housing crisis could get worse
More than 1000 homes have been left uninhabitable by devastating floods on the NSW Mid-North Coast, a report has found, amid fears the climate crisis could put millions more at risk. The report by the Housing, Homelessness, and Disasters National Symposium last week found 1153 homes were left uninhabitable by the floods. Another 1831 homes were damaged. Some 23,000 Australians are displaced by floods, bushfires, and cyclones each year, with the report finding 5.6 million homes are at risk from bushfires as climate impacts accelerate. Homeless Australia CEO Kate Colvin said as climate disasters become more regular, there was a risk of a 'two-tiered society' in which housing security determined disaster survival. 'There is a gap between people who are best able to protect themselves and people who are least able to,' she said. Ms Colvin said renters were often limited to cheaper properties in more flood-prone areas and were less resilient to climate-related disasters, compared with higher-income earners. Renters also often had less access to government support and faced a 'superheated' rental market. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Taree following the 2025 floods. Dean Lewins/POOL/ NewsWire Credit: News Corp Australia 'They can't compete because all those people who had insurance often also get a special payments system to afford rent during the time when their home is not available,' Ms Colvin said. 'They then can't get a rental because you've got this superheated market, so you have another wave of homelessness just because of the housing market impact'. Ms Colvin called on the federal government to make renters or people facing homelessness a priority in future disaster responses, and include disaster resilience in its 10-year housing plan. 'In the planning phase, include the homelessness sector, include strategies around housing resilience … (and) in the response phase, be inclusive of people who are facing homelessness.' The symposium brought together more than 100 professionals across the housing, emergency management, and governmental sectors to examine how 'secondary crises' affect NSW. Factors included the prevalence of construction workers who flood disaster zones in the wake of climate events, inadvertently driving up rents for already struggling locals. The symposium found that in Australia, some 953,000 homes were vulnerable to flooding and 17,500 were at threat from coastal erosion, with 169,000 people on the public housing list. HowWeSurvive UNSW Sydney academic and co-author of the symposium report, Dr Timothy Heffernan, said climate disasters were already hitting 'housing-vulnerable' communities. At least 1153 homes were left uninhabitable by the floods on the Mid North Coast. NewsWire / Glenn Campbell Credit: News Corp Australia 'When you have 6.5 million homes at risk from bushfires, floods or coastal erosion, and a housing system that can't meet demand, every disaster becomes a humanitarian crisis,' he said. 'Hotels and motels fill up immediately, caravan parks are often in flood-prone areas … We're asking an already strained system to absorb sudden surges of thousands of displaced people.' Social Futures general manager Martelle Geurts said the Northern Rivers housing system was 'already fragile' when it was hit by the 2022 flood disaster, damaging more than 10,000 homes. Despite extensive recovery efforts, the Northern Rivers accounted for about a third of rough sleepers in NSW in 2025. The most recent NSW Street Count - an annual audit of people facing homelessness - found 346 people sleeping rough in the City of Sydney. In the Northern Rivers, there were 654 people. 'Climate events are becoming more frequent and severe, and they destroy homes. So, climate change and homelessness are inextricably linked,' Ms Geurts said. 'People can't recover without stable housing. 'Disasters displace people and can cause lasting trauma. Some people experience PTSD, and the impact of that can be lifelong. 'What we know is that people can't recover psychologically unless they have a secure place to live.'
The Guardian
30-01-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘Grim': number of Australians facing long-term homelessness surges 25% in five years
The number of Australians experiencing long-term homelessness has surged almost 25% in just five years, according to new figures described as 'grim' by a peak advocacy group. The Productivity Commission's latest report on government services reveals close to 37,780 people were stuck in 'persistent homelessness' in 2023/24, up from 30,306 in 2019/20. An individual is considered to be in 'persistent homelessness' if they have been homeless for more than seven months in the preceding two-year period. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email 'These are grim findings,' the chief executive of advocacy group Homelessness Australia, Kate Colvin, said. 'More Australians than ever are trapped in long-term homelessness, and even those who find housing are struggling to maintain it without adequate support.' Colvin pointed to a glimmer of positive news in the report to be released on Friday, which showed that homelessness was averted in 81% of cases in which an at-risk client sought help. 'We know what works, we just have to resource it properly,' Colvin said. 'The high success rate in preventing homelessness shows that early intervention is effective. 'With sustained investment in support services, we can prevent people cycling back into homelessness and lay down the foundations of healthy, functional lives.' The renewed plea for secure homelessness funding comes as the Albanese government trumpets its investment in social and affordable housing. The government will release a list of 12 projects, comprising 800 dwellings, to be delivered under the first round of its $10bn housing future fund. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion The flagship fund – which was established in November 2023 after months of bitter negotiations between Labor and the Greens – must spend at least $500m of its earnings each year on social and affordable housing projects. The first round of funding is supposed to result in more than 13,000 dwellings, out of an overall total of 55,000. 'Labor's building Australia's future with the largest investment in social and affordable in over a decade – eclipsing the Coalition's efforts in more than a decade in office in just the first round of Labor's Housing Fund,' the housing minister, Clare O'Neil, said. 'Every single one of these dwellings represents more than just a roof over someone's head – it's the foundation for building a better and more prosperous life. O'Neil claimed the fund would be under threat if Peter Dutton won the election after the Coalition opposed its establishment in parliament.
