Australia's Housing System Leaves Services Turning People Away

Almost two-thirds of Australia’s homelessness providers are turning away people they would previously have helped, a report prepared for the Albanese government found. Some services reject as many people as they accept. The people shut out include women fleeing domestic violence, who are being asked whether they can sleep in their cars, while frontline workers hand out tents instead of accommodation.

When Help Means a Tent

A homelessness-sector representative told researchers: “We have nothing to do but give people tents and suggest somewhere sort of safe to camp.” The representative described what happens when women leave family violence: “Women leaving family violence are being asked, ‘do you have a lock on your car?’ And if you have a lock on your car, you’re considered to be safe.”

The findings come from University of NSW research titled Breaking the Firestorm, included in a Homelessness Australia briefing prepared ahead of the government’s Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook. The report found 91 per cent of frontline services had faced increased demand over the past two years, while 0.4 per cent reported a decline.

Official figures showed that in 2024-25, only 3.9 per cent of clients who needed long-term housing received it. That shortage leaves providers trying to manage homelessness without enough permanent homes to offer. Eighty-two per cent said securing temporary accommodation had become harder, and 95 per cent agreed that social-housing shortages limited their ability to help people escape homelessness.

The Cost Lands on People Seeking Shelter

More than nine in 10 providers blamed worsening rental affordability for rising demand. Eighty-six per cent said finding permanent accommodation had become harder over the past two years. Women, children and young people fleeing domestic violence are among those needing somewhere safe, but services described tents and locked cars as the options left when accommodation isn’t available.

Homelessness Australia called for 34,000 new social homes each year, income-support payments of at least $600 a week, substantially more federal funding for frontline services, and 20,000 permanent supportive-housing places for people with serious mental illness and other complex needs.

The Australian Council of Social Service made a similar call: raise JobSeeker, Youth Allowance and Parenting Payment to parity with the pension and pension supplement, at least $618 a week at current rates, and index payments to wages as well as prices. Those are proposals for government action; the briefing does not describe a community-led program or direct-action response.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has said the fiscal outlook is deteriorating. Federal debt is forecast to exceed $1.2 trillion by 2030, with cumulative budget deficits of $150.5 billion projected over five years. Higher global borrowing costs could add billions to the government’s interest bill and limit its capacity to respond to spending demands.

Patch-Ups, Budget Processes and the System

Homelessness Australia chief executive Kate Colvin said governments could no longer rely on minor changes to existing programs. “There are now so many points of vulnerability in our housing and homelessness system that the cracks are starting to join. Small patch-ups just won’t do the job,” she said. She called MYEFO “an excellent opportunity to begin a robust response and pull the fraying threads of our housing and homelessness system back together.”

University of NSW researcher Andrew Clarke said the figures were the worst he had encountered. “The system is under extreme pressure,” he said. “Homelessness support services are swimming upstream against an ever faster current.”

A spokeswoman for Housing Minister Clare O’Neil said the government had invested $1.2 billion to support 50,000 vulnerable Australians, including more than 1,000 new crisis and transitional accommodation places for women, children and young people fleeing domestic violence. “Women tell us one of the main reasons they can’t leave a violent relationship is that they have nowhere safe and stable to go. That should never happen in a country like Australia,” she said. “We know there’s more work to do.”

The government did not commit to additional funding. It said future decisions would be made through the usual mid-year budget and budget processes, while providers continue turning away people they previously would have helped.