December 2022
22,432
31,088
14,373
6,785
6,669
2,655
March 2023
24,730
32,733
16,225
7,538
7,143
2,686
Percentage change
10.2%
5.3%
12.9%
11.1%
7.1%
1.2%
The report also highlights the impact of the housing crisis on women and children, with women and children making up 74 per cent of all people using homelessness services. Of those turned away from homelessness services because they lacked the resources to assist, 80 per cent were women and children and 31 per cent were children under 18. The report finds that if the current surge in demand continues, it will equate to an annual increase in demand equivalent to an additional 19,974 people. 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 cost of funding this support is approximately $451 million.
Number of extra people needing support |
Cost of providing services |
|
Providing services to additional clients |
19,974 |
$97.9 million |
Providing services to people currently turned away |
71,962 |
$352.7 million |
91,936 |
$450.6 milion |
Homelessness Australia CEO, Kate Colvin, said the surge in demand was making it harder to assist people confronting homelessness. "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 who gets assistance. "Support services are triaging based on people's vulnerability and need, but the reality is highly vulnerable people are being turned away because services simply have too few staff and other support resources. When you annualise this demand and add it to the existing people turned away we are looking at a funding shortfall of more than $450 million. This is just one terrible side effect of the worst housing crisis in living memory. "The bulk of increased demand comes from women and children, many of whom are fleeing violence. It is beyond comprehension that we have to turn people away, especially in winter. "The Federal Government has recently committed to new resources for social housing which is welcome, but while the housing crisis continues to drive increased homelessness, a significant funding boost is needed to cope with this unprecedented surge in demand. Australia has the means to end homelessness, we just need the will."
