Tragic cost of Australia’s housing crisis, as homelessness surges and rent stress worsens

Australia’s housing crisis is forcing more and more desperate people to sleep in their cars, pitch a tent in a park or couch surf at friends’ houses.

Australia’s housing crisis is forcing more and more desperate people to sleep in their cars, pitch a tent in a park or couch surf at friends’ houses, new data reveals.

At a national level, the rental vacancy rate – that is, the proportion of leased dwellings currently available – is at just one per cent, while in some major cities, it’s even worse.

That limited supply, coupled with significant demand, has pushed rental prices up sharply in virtually all parts of the country.

Renters are struggling to find a home, and when they do they’re being forced to pay much more for it, pushing many into precarious situations – and putting them at risk of having nowhere to live.

A tent camp in Brisbane is one of many, as people struggle against a housing crisis. Picture: Liam Kidston

The number of people sleeping rough or without a stable roof over their head has surged in the past year, statistics released today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare on the state of homelessness show.

The AIHW data reveals 273,600 people were assisted by specialist homelessness services in the 2022-23 financial year.

But alarmingly, the statistics show there were a total of 108,000 requests for help that couldn’t be met in the year – that is, people needing support but not receiving it.

“That’s about one-in-three people who seek help but get turned away,” Maiy Azize, Deputy Director of Anglicare Australia and spokesperson for the campaign Everybody’s Home, said.

“That number has risen in the past year and it speaks to the enormity of the problem. These services are extremely stretched and face enormous levels of demand. They’re simply not able to help a huge number of people when they ask for it, and that’s worrying.”

People accessing homelessness services across the country.

While the AIHW report said there are “a range of reasons” an agency can’t provide support, it conceded that a shortage of accommodation is the most common one.

Right now across the country, an estimated 640,000 households are deemed to be in ‘extreme’ rental stress.

That means they are at risk of slipping into homelessness if their rent increases, they endure a financial shock, or their personal circumstances suddenly change.

“That’s a huge number of people living in very strained circumstances,” Ms Azize said.

“Rents are completely out of control and the government really needs to do something about it. Homelessness is downstream from housing affordability. More and more people are homeless because they can’t afford to pay rent.”

Advocacy group Homelessness Australia said the AIHW figures are “stark and alarming” and a sign the housing crisis is deepening.

A homeless camp in a park in Sydney. Picture: Jack Evans

Of those who are homeless or sleeping rough on any given day across the country, 11,000 of them were adolescents and young adults, while about 19,100 were kids in families.

“It’s very hard to work or learn when you have no roof over your head or a real prospect of getting a home,” Homelessness Australia chief executive Kate Colvin said.

Ms Colvin said the number of people who are already homeless when they seek help has surged by 5.5 per cent, while the number of those who are sleeping rough jumped by 17 per cent.

There was a 16 per cent jump in people leaving homelessness support and winding up sleeping rough again, while there was a 12 per cent lift in exits to prisons or acute mental health facilities.

“Australians are facing a housing and cost of living crisis that is pushing more people into homelessness,” Ms Colvin said.

“Without more funding for critical homelessness first responders, we risk seeing these trends worsen, putting more Australians in jeopardy of experiencing the harsh realities of homelessness.

“The government must step up and provide additional income support to help low income households manage the cost of renting, and a $450 million emergency investment in homelessness services to enhance the capacity of homelessness services to respond to growing demand.”

A tent on Rundle Street in Adelaide’s CBD. Picture: Matt Loxton

Brisbane pensioners Peter Wood and Zinaida Grebenva recently stared down the barrel of homelessness when their rent was hiked by a whopping $140 per week to $570.

The couple had lived in their rental property for a decade but fell victim to an incredibly tight market.

Mr Wood said he phoned the Department of Housing to plead for help and received a staggering response, he told Channel 9’s Today show earlier this year.

“The lady said there were people living in tents … that I should go down the public park. You either live in your car or get a tent. What else is there,

“Politicians look after themselves and don’t care about the people. It’s abhorrent.”

In Sydney, where average rents are the most expensive in the country, tent camps have popped up in parks across the city as soaring prices force people out of their homes.

They have few, if any alternatives, given that in New South Wales alone there are 57,000 households on a waiting list for public and social housing.

Current rent prices and how they've changed. Picture: SQM Research

“I think governments have simply accepted a high level of homelessness. Many politicians have a mentality that homelessness is individual and not structural,” Ms Azize said.

“We know that this problem has gotten bigger and bigger as the housing affordability crisis has gotten worse and worse. We need to do something.”

For as long as he can remember, Glen* was one of the tens of thousands of people who are homeless in Sydney on any given night.

After enduring a series of major life events, including the shock death of his daughter, Greg’s life hell apart, leaving him emotionally exhausted and overcome with grief.

He slept on a wooden park bench and described life on the streets as “no good”, saying: “There’s no safety, no nothing. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.”

Community groups are under growing pressure as demand soars. Picture: Jack Evans

A community outreach team from the charity Missionbeat came across Glen and after a while, he was ready to apply for long-term, stable housing with their help.

“Missionbeat stuck with me and helped me when there was no one else out there,” he said. “I was a train wreck, but they’ve done a lot to help me. They’ve gotten my life back to where it was.”

* Name changed to protect privacy

Originally published as Tragic cost of Australia’s housing crisis, as homelessness surges and rent stress worsens