‘Shocking’: Rough sleeping rises 33 per cent as housing crisis escalates

More than 280,000 Australians have become homeless in the past year. 

Homelessness in Australia has reached “devastating levels”, according to new data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). 

In total, 280,100 people received assistance from specialist homelessness services in 2024. 

The number of rough sleepers has risen 13 per cent in the past year, and 33 per cent in the past two years. 

A staggering 31 per cent of people who needed emergency or short-term accommodation didn’t receive it. 

“This is a humanitarian crisis and these shocking new figures must be a wake-up call for governments across Australia,” Kate Colvin, CEO of Homelessness Australia, says. 

“We are failing people at every turn – more families, workers and older Australians are being pushed to breaking point by skyrocketing rents and a broken housing system.” 

The people at the greatest risk of homelessness are women and domestic violence survivors. 

Sixty percent of people who sought help from homelessness services in 2024 were women, and two in five clients had experienced domestic or family violence. 

“We knew it was bad, but this data shows us it’s getting even worse,” Colvin says. 

The states with the starkest increases in rough sleeping were Queensland and Western Australia – the same states that have seen the highest spikes in rent and house prices. 

Queensland saw a 51 per cent increase in the number of people sleeping rough. In Brisbane, house prices rose 14.8 per cent over 2024 – more than twice the national rate. 

In Western Australia, rough sleeping rose 35 per cent off the back of a 25.3 per cent annual increase in Perth house prices. 

“This is no longer a challenge for just the most vulnerable – working Australians and families are becoming homeless,” Calvin says. 

“It’s time for leaders to step up and ensure no one in Australia is left without the support they need to keep a roof over their head.”