There are now more than 65,000 people waiting for social housing in Victoria, according to the latest quarterly data from Homes Victoria.
Council to Homeless Persons said the latest showed there is an urgent need for building more social housing to meet the state's needs.
"There are now more than 65,000 people on the waitlist for social housing in Victoria. People are sleeping in cars with their kids, couch surfing or living in public spaces - we need to build more homes to be able to house them," Council to Homeless Persons' CEO Deborah Di Natale said.
The latest figures from the Victorian Housing Register show for the December 2024 quarter, there had been a 2.7 per cent increase in social housing applications compared with the previous quarter, taking the total number to 65,526.
Priority applications for the same period also increased by 1,067, taking the total number of applications up to 37,106.
"Tens of thousands of people desperately need help to find secure housing. It's hard to imagine that many people are doing whatever they can to maintain their jobs, routines and connections while they wait. We must end this struggle."
Both a parliamentary inquiry into the rental and affordability crisis and Infrastructure Victoria, the state's top infrastructure experts, have recommended building 60,000 new social homes in Victoria.
"We know what to do, and the case for doing it is rock solid. People in our state need help, and our members and the communities they serve are telling us how to do it. The social and economic benefits from providing support mean everyone stands to gain something from this sort of investment.
"We have the lowest proportion of social housing in the country. It's time to change that," Deborah Di Natale said.
Fast facts:
102,000 people sought assistance from homelessness services in Victoria in 2023/24 (up 4% from the previous year)
60,000 of them (58%) were women
13,000 were working Victorians (up 23% in 5 years)
One third of people seeking homelessness assistance in Australia are in Victoria, but we have the lowest proportion of social housing in the country (2.9%)
