'Aussies Trapped by Housing Crisis: No Options Left'

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This article contains references to domestic and family violence.

Women and girls are at the centre of a homelessness crisis which has reached “emergency proportions” across Australia, the country’s peak body has warned.

The number of women and girls seeking homelessness services each month increased by 14 per cent between May 2022 — when the Albanese government was first elected — and March this year, according to analysis by Homelessness Australia.

The number of women and girls seeking assistance who were already homeless increased by 20 per cent — from 24,517 in May 2022 to 29,449 in March this year.

“What that reveals is more women and girls are not getting the support they need to avoid homelessness,” Kate Colvin, CEO of Homelessness Australia, told SBS News.

“They’re not getting early intervention, and they’re coming to homeless services already having exhausted perhaps their friends, their family networks.

“They have nowhere to go. And then, the reality is homeless services don’t have the resources they need to provide safe accommodation for women and girls in that situation.”

The number of women and girls seeking support who were at risk of homelessness was also up 8 per cent.

Overall, it said around 45 per cent of these women and girls have experienced domestic and family violence, referencing AIHW data.

‘Emergency proportions’

Colvin said homelessness across the country has reached “emergency proportions”.

“We have hundreds of people every day pushed out of the housing market into homelessness, and then not able to get back into housing,” she said.

“The situation just keeps getting worse and worse.”

The peak body attributes women and families being pushed further into crisis to rising rents, domestic violence and a lack of early intervention.

Meanwhile, overwhelmed services are being forced to make difficult decisions around who to help and who to turn away.

Minister for Housing, Homelessness and Cities Clare O’Neil said Australia is “confronting a housing crisis which has been building for 40 years”.

“It’s affecting the lives of millions of Australians, and the most urgent and disturbing part of it is the rising homelessness all of us can see in our own communities,” she said.

Our staff are ‘forced to triage’

Frances Crimmins is the CEO of YWCA Canberra, a specialist women and children’s homeless service provider.

“Normally, what we find is that if they haven’t already presented with domestic and family violence as the cause of their homelessness [we later learn after building trust] it has often formed part of the reason they have become homeless,” Crimmins said.

YWCA Canberra leases 60 properties from the ACT government, and has 19 of its own — some of which have been provided by the federal government specifically for women and children escaping domestic and family violence. They are all full.

“The current level of demand just keeps on increasing, and so our staff are forced to triage,” Crimmins said. Triaging refers to making decisions about which clients to prioritise in offering support.

Supporting women and children escaping violence may include safety planning and preparing a vacant property. If there is no accommodation, it may involve safety planning to return to living with a perpetrator until housing becomes available.

A woman sitting on a couch with her head in her hands

For some victim-survivors, a lack of housing options may lead them to stay in, or return to, a violent relationship. Source: AAP / Diego Fedele

Family and domestic violence is the main reason women and children leave their homes, according to the AIHW. Many of them experience housing insecurity, and in some cases, homelessness. For some victim-survivors, a lack of housing options may lead them to stay in, or return to, a violent relationship.

“That’s a really sad fact … it can often be known that [a woman] might know the perpetrator’s behaviour, and that can often be less risky than the unknown, which is sleeping rough or in a car with your children,” Crimmins said.

When it comes to transitioning clients out into the community, Crimmins said a lack of social and affordable housing has left them “stuck”.

“It’s nearly impossible for us, currently, to transition women with three or more children,” she said.

“We are stuck. We know we have other women we need to accommodate, but we can’t exit those women and children back into homelessness. That’s what the staff are managing every day.”

Crimmins called for a “big uptick” in social housing to provide more exit pathways.

“We need it urgently,” she said.

Calls for more social housing, a national plan

O’Neil said the government has a particular focus on crisis housing.

“We’re making a record investment of over $1.2 billion in crisis housing and last term, we delivered a 45 per cent boost to rent assistance which helped a million Australians struggling to pay their rent,” she said.

She said the most important action for the Commonwealth is building more social and affordable homes.

“We’re delivering 55,000 new desperately needed social and affordable homes — 28,000 are under construction or planning right now. Every one of these homes will change the life of an Australian family.”

Colvin said the government’s commitments are “certainly very welcome” after over a decade of underinvestment in social and affording housing.

“The thing is they’re not sufficient to catch up to where we need to be,” she said.

The latest annual report from the government’s National Housing Supply and Affordability Council, released in May, said a “significant uplift” was needed to support Australians who depend on social and affordable housing.

In 2021, this proportion of households was around 4 per cent.

The report recommended governments and the private and not-for-profit sectors commit to restore the proportion of the housing stock over the medium term to 6 per cent. A long-term target should be as high as 10 per cent, it said.

Homelessness Australia is also calling for an increase in social housing to 10 per cent of all dwellings — one of three “critical actions” included in its plan to address rising homelessness that was launched on Tuesday.

The peak body is also calling for a national housing and homelessness plan to set reduction targets and guide major reforms, along with new investment in services in partnership with states and territories.

The government is developing a housing and homelessness plan as part of its housing strategy, with consultation taking place in its first term. It’s understood this work remains a priority.

If you or someone you know is impacted by family and domestic violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, text 0458 737 732, or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au. In an emergency, call 000.