Housing market problems a cause of significant increases in homelessness
The number of people experiencing homelessness across Australia has steadily increased over the past 10 years, with an increase of 13.7 per cent since 2011, as measured by the 2016 Census. When considering that the Australian government has concurrently increased its total recurrent expenditure on homelessness services by 28.8 per cent between 2012 and 2017, these statistics become striking.
Groups which experienced the most marked increase in homelessness were overseas-born migrants, people aged over 65 and those living in New South Wales, with an increase of 40, 30 and 27 per cent, respectively.
A recent study from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute has found that changes to Australia’s housing system have played the most predominant role in rising homelessness across the nation, stating that, “what seems to contribute most to individual risks of homelessness is the state of the private rental market.” The research found that this is indeed a far more crucial role than government expenditure on homelessness services is able to offset.
- Since 2011, the number of homeless people in Australia has risen by 13.7 per cent to 116, 427 people.
- Overseas migrants make up 46 per cent of the homeless in Australia, despite representing 28 per cent of the population.