There is no doubt, Australia’s homelessness problem has worsened.

In a post covid setting, rapidly rising house prices have combined with a rental affordability and property scarcity crisis to displace those who are unable to afford, find or secure a rental property. Part of the problem is that landlords are able to earn more income from short-term holiday letting their investment properties rather than renting to a long term local.

As inflation continues to rise, interest rates have followed. This has combined with the aftermath of natural disasters that have ravaged communities across Australia over the last two years.  Bushfires and major flood events have impacted families enormously, destroyed property and affected infrastructure.

This post is not an attempt to map out all aspects of the homelessness issue in Australia; nor does it attempt to solve it

My aim has been to understand some of the key factors involved, and highlight a few possible solutions that are being considered, proposed in important research or, better still, are being implemented.

As Dharma Care begins to plan the delivery of a local project to build a Manufactured Housing Estate (MHE) near Murwillumbah, it felt important to understand the various aspects of what causes homelessness and what solutions are appropriate.

You will read more on Dharma Care’s MHE project towards the end of this post.

Australia’s homelessness problem is growing

It certainly is according to the The Australian Homelessness Monitor 2018, the first independent analysis examining the changes in the scale and nature of homelessness in Australia.

This analysis was inspired by the ground-breaking UK Homelessness Monitor project commissioned since 2011 by Crisis UK and funded by Crisis and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.

Launch Housing partnered with the University of NSW and the University of Queensland for this first of its kind authoritative insight into the current state of homelessness in Australia.

Drawing on the work of prominent UK researchers such as Fitzpatrick and colleagues who were involved with the original UK Homelessness Monitor, the report details the complex causes of homelessness, but also demonstrates that sound policies and programs can prevent people from experiencing, or continuing to experience, homelessness.

Drawing on statistical analysis, the report considers the consequences of the global financial crisis, the growing shortfall in affordable housing, decreases in welfare payments, higher rates of domestic and family violence, increases in older Australians experiencing homelessness, and many other difficulties people may face in trying to access or maintain a home.

Over the past five years, homelessness has increased nationally by 14%, and rough sleeping by 20%.

The past decade has also seen an 88% increase in those affected by overcrowding.

Why do people become homeless?

According to St Vincent de Paul Society, the main reasons for homelessness are:

Housing crisis – 40%
Family and domestic violence – 35%
Financial difficulties – 11%
Relationship or family breakdown – 5%
Mental health, physical illness or addiction – 2%.

Who are the homeless?

The Salvation Army highlights the increase in young people accessing help.

Youth homelessness statistics 

• 6 in 10 (61%) homeless youth aged 12-18 years live in ‘severely’ crowded dwellings
• Over four in 10 (40%) young people aged 15-24 assisted by Specialist Homelessness Services in 2019-20 had a current mental health issue
• Of the children aged 15-17 presenting alone to Specialist Homelessness Services agencies in 2019-20, over 60% were female.

Another large group of Australians presenting to Specialist Homelessness Services include families with young children. In 2019-20, 3 in 10 clients were under the age of 18. This equates to over 85,000 children. Families with children may be sleeping in cars or temporarily with friends or family in what could be classed as a ‘severely’ crowded dwelling.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) argues that many Australians known to be at particular risk of homelessness include those who have experienced family and domestic violence, young people, children in care and under protection orders, Indigenous Australians, people leaving health or social care arrangements, and Australians aged 55 or older.

What is required to solve the homelessness problem?

It is clear from the above statistics that the range of issues that cause homelessness and the solutions to address them are complex.

Real long-term solutions will require a combined approach involving Federal and State government agencies and providers, NFP / NGOs, community groups, and the private business sector working together.

Mission Australia Executive, Ben Carblis, makes the following plea to get these problems under control.

“It’s unacceptable that people and families across the country are facing enormous pressures with escalating rental stress and very limited availability of affordable places to rent, which is pushing them to the verge of homelessness.

Finding an affordable home to rent has never been so difficult. Many are heading into 2022 already homeless – often unexpectedly – because there aren’t enough accommodation options to go around for everyone who needs them.

Our dual housing and homelessness crisis is a blight on our country. With so much human suffering, the question remains: why isn’t more being done to repair and invest in Australia’s housing system?

This crisis demands the Federal Government take the reins of a national plan to end homelessness in Australia which focuses on long-term investment to address the stark shortage of social and affordable homes.”

A fantastic report released in November 2021 titled Ending Homelessness  In Australia by the Centre for Social Impact, at the Business School of The University of Western Australia, was prepared by Paul Flatau, Leanne Lester, Ami Seivwright, Renee Teal, Jessica Dobrovic, Shannen Vallesi, Chris Hartley and Zoe Callis.

The report proposes compelling new directions for solving many of these homelessness issues.

Their analysis of the last decade of evidence from the Advance to Zero database (2010-2020) reveals the high level of need that exists among those sleeping rough with many experiencing long periods of homelessness. There is a need for a supportive housing model for those seeking to access permanent, safe, and affordable housing. The analysis further demonstrates the role of key drivers of homelessness and the need to address these drivers and turn off the tap into homelessness.

The report argues homelessness is a complex problem and, if we are to end it, we need to understand and engage all the levers available to us (whether they’re currently being used or not).

It proposes five key actions to end homelessness in Australia.

1. Leadership and proactivity at the Australian Government level and a national end homelessness strategy applying across the states and territories.

2. An increase in the supply of social and affordable housing directed to an end homelessness goal.

3. Comprehensive application of Housing First programs linked to supportive housing for those entering permanent housing with long histories of homelessness and high health and other needs.

4. Targeted prevention and early intervention programs to turn off the tap of entry into homelessness which address the underlying drivers of homelessness.

5. Supportive systems and programs which build the enablers of an end homelessness program: advocacy, commitment, and resource flow to ending homelessness; effective service integration; culturally safe and appropriate service delivery including expansion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led and controlled services to help address high rates of homelessness in their communities; and improving data quality, evaluation and research around ending homelessness in Australia.

Northern NSW region

Dharma Care has its head office near Murwillumbah in northern NSW.  Our region is continuing to recover from a major flooding event in February and March 2022.

There are now an estimated 3,800 homes deemed unliveable on the NSW north coast according to North Coast Community Housing CEO John McKenna. He says they have been lobbying all levels of government to improve the situation in the area for a decade.

“We already had a housing crisis here where four of our local government areas here had declared housing emergencies before the flood,” Mr McKenna said. This has made what was already a tough situation even harder for many in our community.

Homelessness NSW has released a joint statement with NCOSS, CHIA NSW and ACHIA calling on the NSW Government to fund a significant and immediate housing recovery package to address both the short term and long-term impact of the floods in NSW with a request to:

• Establish immediate temporary housing options for people on low incomes;
• Prioritise the rebuilding of existing social housing affected by the floods;
• Invest in additional social and affordable housing to address the critical shortage of housing in the flood impacted areas; and
• Make recovery grants immediately available to local community housing, Aboriginal and homelessness services to assist people made homeless as a result of the floods.

Recent news headlines really show the impact and divide in the local community over the rapidly rising house prices and rental affordability: “The billionaires are pushing the millionaires out of Byron.” and Hollywood and homelessness: the two sides of Byron Bay.

During the past 18 months, the town and nearby villages that form part of Byron shire have seen an unprecedented rise in housing inequality. Between June and December last year, the average apartment rental price went up by 33%, while the house rental price increased by 66%. Over the course of the year, house prices rose 37%, as people left cities to work remotely.

Rents jumped 35 per cent between the fourth quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021, while the number of Airbnb properties as a percentage of the rental market increased from 40.4 percent to 41.4 percent. The average of these Airbnb properties in Byron is occupied for just over two months of the year, and more than half are owned by hosts with multiple listings.

A spotlight on solutions

It is now time to look at some of the solutions that are out there and are working.

End Street Sleeping Collaboration

End Street Sleeping Collaboration is a community initiative whose goal is to halve rough sleeping across NSW by 2025 as part of an international movement to end rough sleeping.

The Collaboration uses the proven methodology of the Institute of Global Homelessness (IGH) that works on solving two problems simultaneously. It:

1. gives front-line caseworkers the information they need to coordinate services to place individuals in secure housing with the appropriate wrap-around services; and
2. gives government and NGOs the evidence they need to show where the health, social services, justice and care systems are failing so that these problems can be fixed and in the future others don’t enter into street sleeping.

The Collaboration has been established under a Joint Commitment between the Institute of Global Homelessness, the NSW State Government, and the sector’s largest homelessness NGOs.ness