It is National Homelessness Week in Australia. The reasons why people seek assistance from Specialist Homelessness Services might surprise you. Family and domestic violence affected 39% of clients, but accommodation issues and housing crisis was 52% in the 2019-20 year. This situation is getting worse due to less affordability and low vacancy rates in the private rental market and the reduction of social housing. From the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare Specialist Homelessness Services Collection below.
SHS clients identify a number of reasons for seeking assistance, reflecting the range of situations that contribute to housing instability in 2019-20:
- Accommodation issues (including housing crisis, inadequate or inappropriate dwelling conditions or that previous accommodation had ended) were nominated by 52% of clients (or around 149,500 clients).
- More than one-third (34% of clients) were experiencing housing crisis.
- A high proportion were experiencing financial difficulties, identified by 41% of clients, while over 1 in 4 clients were affected by housing affordability stress (29%).
- Interpersonal and relationship issues, including family and domestic violence, affected over half of all SHS clients (53% or about 152,600 clients). Within this group, 39% identified family and domestic violence.
These are the reasons why our focus remains on housing affordability, improving private rental laws and the critical need to invest in social housing. Our hope is that one day, we will not need to dedicate a week to homelessness in Australia!
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