‘Frightening’ rise in homelessness in Geelong forecast

Geelong’s homeless population is expected to have risen by close to a quarter by June next year.

GEELONG’s homeless population is expected to have risen by close to a quarter by June next year, with more people likely to be experiencing financial stress than ever before.

An alarming new report released by national organisation Everybody’s Home predicts Geelong’s homeless population will have increased by 23 per cent between February 2020 and June 2021.

The rate the region’s homeless population is expected to rise by is much higher than projected national average of 9 per cent.

Equity Economics economist and report author Angela Jackson said the impending homelessness crisis was driven by surging unemployment across the nation over the past 12 months.

Projections in the report indicate Geelong’s unemployment figures could jump to 5.9 per cent by June.

Ms Jackson said the prediction could be directly correlated with the level of housing stress which is expected to rise by 62.7 per cent.

“More people are at risk of entering homelessness and there are less people leaving homelessness,” Ms Jackson said.

She said the full social impact of the coronavirus pandemic would be felt when the Federal Government’s Jobseeker supplements end in March.

The report found the supplements had lifted 2 million Australians out of poverty, but stated many people still struggled to pay rent while receiving the payment.

It also found older women to be the fastest growing group of homeless people in Australia, increasing by 31 per cent between 2011 and 2016.

Everybody’s Home spokeswoman Kate Colvin said modelling painted a “frightening” picture of the months and years ahead.

“No child should go to school unsure if their parents will lose the house before they get home. But that is the type of stress that’s about to be inflicted on thousands of Australian families and individuals,” Ms Colvin said.

Give Where You Live chief executive officer Bill Mithen said Geelong’s most vulnerable residents were falling victim to the region’s property boom and growth.

“It’s a really disturbing statistic to see that Geelong is going to fare worse that the majority of Australia,” Mr Mithen said.

Mr Mithen said the region’s growing homeless population was the “underbelly” of the region’s success.

“It’s the dark underbelly of the incredible growth story and it’s one that is not often looked at,” he said.

“The bottom end of the market is becoming less and less affordable for people to purchase.”

The State Government announced in November that $180m would be invested across the Greater Geelong region as part of Victoria’s largest-ever public housing construction blitz.

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Originally published as ‘Frightening’ rise in homelessness in Geelong forecast