A new Victorian program is a positive step forward in the state’s battle against rough sleeping.
- Professor, School of Social Science, The University of Queensland
More than 120,000 people are homeless in Australia. The problem can be solved, but it will take more than just building more homes
Integrating affordable housing with accessible health and social services is a proven, highly cost-effective way to tackle homelessness and vastly improve people’s lives.
The main driver of homelessness in Australia is housing costs – post-COVID rents, house prices and interest rates are all much higher. To house everyone, the housing system needs a major overhaul.
One social housing application assessor told us getting on the priority wait list is so challenging, some applicants abandon the process altogether.
Australia found shelter for more than 33,000 rough sleepers and other homeless people during the pandemic, but a coming surge in homelessness demands a comprehensive national housing strategy.
Providing a bed for the night in a car park for people sleeping rough just treats them as a charity case. There are better ways to tackle homelessness.
Surveillance often results in people who are homeless being the target of enforcement measures. But a new study in Cairns shows surveillance can also be used to achieve more positive social outcomes.
A decade after the launch of a national campaign against homelessness, the trends are all going the wrong way. A new annual report highlights what’s gone wrong and what must be done.
People who self-identify as ‘homeless’ have poorer wellbeing than others in the same circumstances, yet that’s the label they must adopt to qualify for help.
Not only is it cheaper to provide permanent supportive housing to the homeless, but the improvement to their lives is immeasurable.
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