MORE than a quarter of a million Australians required access to government-funded homelessness services in 2021-22, including more than 75,000 children but Australia’s social housing stock has plummeted to 4.2% which is 2.9% below the OECD average.
According to a new report released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), over 270,000 Australians who were homeless or at risk of homelessness used government-funded specialist homelessness services (SHS) over 2021-22.
This reflects SHS agencies providing $104 million in financial assistance to clients over the 2021–22 period.
The report is based on information collected by SHS agencies, including those who offer a range of services such as prevention, early intervention, accommodation, advice and information, meals and shower or laundry facilities.
“People experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness are among Australia’s most socially and economically disadvantaged. About 1.5 million people have been supported by SHS agencies since 2011, with an annual average increase of 1.4% since 2011–12,” said Gabrielle Phillips, spokesperson for AIHW.
Over the period, clients using SHS agencies including 76,000 children and teenagers under 18 years old, 25,300 people aged 55 and older, 85,000 people with a current mental health issue and 108,000 people who experienced family and domestic violence.
This comes after a recent report revealed that only 3% of women and children experiencing family and domestic violence and presenting to homelessness services received long-term housing assistance.
“In 2021–22, about 75,000 (44%) of clients were known to be homeless when they started receiving support. When support ended, this has been reduced to 57,500 (34%) known to be homeless. Around 85% (83,100) of clients at risk of homelessness avoided it,” added Phillips.
The report also revealed that more than 35,000 clients of SHS agencies had been experiencing homelessness for more than seven months over a 24-month period, indicating an increase in persistent homelessness of more than 5,700 since the 2018-19 period.
On the other hand, over 16,000 clients were found to have returned to homelessness after a period of more secure housing, which is down 700 people from 2018-2019.
Demographic-wise, the majority of SHS clients were women, at 60% or around 164,000 clients, with 58,400 women presenting homeless compared to 51,800 men.
At 91,6000, women clients were also far more likely than men to be at risk of homelessness than men at 48,500.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders were over-represented among SHS clients, with 28% or almost 72,900 clients—of those who provided information on their Indigenous status— identifying as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.
This reflects 787.7 Indigenous clients per 10,000 of the Indigenous population nationally, compared to 79.0 for non-Indigenous clients.
For the 39,300 young people aged 15-24 presenting alone to SHS agencies, the housing crisis was the leading reason for seeking assistance, at 7,200 clients.
This comes as more and more Australians are locked out of the private rental market, with rents soaring amidst a dire lack of supply ,
This significantly outpaced the 6,200 clients experiencing family and domestic violence and the 4,700 experiencing a relationship or family breakdown.
While social housing stock comprised 7.1% of total housing across the country in 1991, it now sits at 4.2%, or 2.9% below the OECD average.
With approximately 119,350 people currently on a multi-year waitlist for social housing, according to a conservative estimate by Duncan Rouch, a researcher affiliated with the Victorian Greens’ housing and homelessness working group
AHURI has stressed that Australia needs an estimated 36,000 affordable social housing properties each year to meet demand.
