HOMELESSNESS is growing in the suburbs of Australia’s capital cities, driven by the increasing shortage of affordable private rental housing and social housing.
According to the latest research from AHURI, more people are experiencing homelessness in areas with a greater shortage in rental dwellings affordable for low-income households relative to demand.
“As the majority of people experiencing homelessness tend to remain in the same area, localised responses to homelessness are really important. Homelessness services and affordable housing options need to be expanded in areas where they are needed, and not just where existing services are located,” said Deb Batterham, lead researcher.
With a higher percentage of Specialist Homelessness Service clients returning for support after having been assisted in these areas.
Homelessness is also higher in areas with smaller supplies of social housing relative to demand, with the research suggesting an increase in social housing should significantly reduce homelessness.
“In order to provide housing to clients who accessed a Specialist Homelessness Service in 2021–22, we estimate that around 158,000 one- to two-bedroom dwellings and 25,000 three-or-more-bedroom dwellings are needed nationally,” added Batterham.
“These dwellings must be affordable and available to households with the lowest incomes (quintile 1) with a maximum rent of $220 per week ($2021). Social housing is the best way to do this.”
Homelessness in Australia has become more suburban, with more than 60% of those experiencing homelessness at the 2021 Census found in capital cities, up from around 48% in 2001.
“We found that there were declining rates of homelessness in the CBD areas of all capital cities (except Hobart and Sydney) between 2001 and 2021. However, homelessness is spreading out across capital cities and becoming more suburban over time,” said Batterham.
In Greater Sydney, high homelessness rates extended in a corridor 40 kilometres west of the CBD.
With 13 suburban clusters within a 10–15 kilometre radius of the Sydney CBD, eight had rates of homelessness amongst the highest rates nationally, including Sydney Inner, Canterbury, Strathfield, Burwood, Ashfield, Marrickville, Sydenham and Petersham.
In Greater Melbourne, very high rates of homelessness were seen closest to the CBD, in Maribyrnong, Port Phillip, Melbourne City, Yarra and Stonnington East.
In Brisbane, a very high rate of homelessness was found in the central city area, while outside the CBD, the highest homelessness rate was recorded in Springwood–Kingston.
The CBDs of both Perth and Adelaide has very high rates of homelessness, with high rates of homelessness also observed in the SA3s. In Freemantle and Swan in Perth and all SA3s in Adelaide.
In Darwin, the CBD area had a very high rate of homelessness, with high rates of homelessness stretching across all of the city.
While Hobart’s CBD had a very high rate of homelessness and so did Hobart North West.
In 2021, each capital city had at least one SA3 close to their CBD area with a very high rate of homelessness.
