Nearly 170 South Australians have died while waiting for public and community housing since April 2020, freedom of information data shows

A staggering number of South Australians have died while waiting for public and community housing over the past four years – and many of them had spent years on the waitlist.

Nearly 170 South Australians have died while waiting for public and community housing over the past four years – and more than 100 of them had spent years languishing on the waitlist.

Figures released to the Greens under Freedom of Information laws showed 169 applications were cancelled between April 2020 and June 2024 with the reason recorded as “customer deceased”.

The SA Housing Trust, which compiled the data, noted it was possible that more people had died on the waiting list but the Trust was not informed and the reason was instead recorded as “not contactable”.

Greens housing spokesman Robert Simms. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Morgan Sette

Housing Minister Nick Champion. Picture: Matt Loxton

Of the 169, 104 had been waiting longer than two years and another 41 had been waiting for between a year and two years.

There were 41 people who died while on the category one waiting list – the highest priority – while 68 had been placed into category two, 55 in category three and in five cases the category was unknown.

Greens housing spokesman Robert Simms said the figures were heartbreaking.

“This is totally unacceptable. Surely South Australia can do better than this?” he said.

“Sadly, I fear that these figures may not reveal the full extent of this tragedy, as many deaths of people on the housing waitlist are simply not reported.”

Mr Simms said housing is a fundamental human right, and all South Australians have a right to a roof over their head and a place to call home.

“The state government must step up and build the public housing we need to get this crisis under control,” he said.

Housing Minister Nick Champion said he shared Mr Simms’ sentiment: “any death is heartbreaking”.

“Currently there’s more than 54,000 occupants in SA Housing Trust properties and a further 15,000 people on the housing register,” he said.

“Together, those 69,000 people are some of the most vulnerable South Australians in our community.

“It is why, for the first time in a generation, the Malinauskas Labor Government is increasing the number of public houses in this state.”

Mr Champion said the government is committed to improving the quantity and quality of public housing “following decades of cuts and mandates to sell housing by former governments”.

Those on the public housing waiting list may be eligible for emergency accommodation, which is government-funded and has over the past year experienced a 27 per cent surge in demand for hotel/motel nights.

Other short-term accommodation responses include transitional housing programs, boarding houses, shelters for men and women, youth crisis accommodation services and head-leased private rental properties.

The Advertiser this week launched the Be Their Champion campaign, calling on the state government to do more to address South Australia’s housing crisis.