Key Points
- Australian cities are experiencing a housing crisis and homelessness is on the rise.
- A new report has called for action and warned Australia could end up with "entrenched homelessness problems".
- Finland is close to achieving zero homelessness. Could this ever be possible in Australia?
As Australians grapple with a rental crisis and soaring cost of living,
According to a new report, Australia could end up with an "entrenched" rough sleeping problem if effective solutions are not implemented.
Homelessness is a common concern worldwide, but some places than others.
So how big is the issue in Australia, and how can it be improved?
What is the state of homelessness in Australia?
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) estimated there were 122,494 people homeless on Census night in 2021.
This marked an increase of 5.2 per cent from 116,427 in 2016.
Of these, 45,850 (or 23 per cent) were children and young people. The highest rate of homelessness was in the 19-24 age group, with 91 people per 10,000.
The number of people living in boarding houses and supported accommodation both increased, while numbers in 'improvised dwellings', tents or sleeping out, and 'severely crowded' dwellings decreased.
The ABS said this may be partly associated with measures put in place by local and state governments in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In 2021, 24,930 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people were estimated to be experiencing homelessness, up 6.4 per cent from 23,437 in 2016.
This represents one in five (20.4 per cent) people experiencing homelessness in Australia.
Cameron Parsell, a professor of social science at the University of Queensland, said all of the evidence suggests that the state of homelessness in Australia is at a "crisis level".
"It's at a crisis level not just because it is increasing in terms of the extent of homelessness, but we also know that it's affecting a greater section of the Australian population."
What are the main causes behind Australia's homelessness crisis?
Parsell said the main cause of homelessness in Australia is the lack of affordable housing.
While there are other issues homeless people experience such as domestic violence and mental illness, Parsell said those events won't contribute toward homelessness if there's sufficient supply.
"Rather than focus on the problems that people or homeless have, we need to understand that it's really a housing supply issue that drives the rate of homelessness in Australia," he said.
Jed Donoghue, Salvation Army’s general manager of homelessness, said there are additional factors driving the rising rates of homelessness in Australia, including the growing population, , a lack of resources, and the issue being neglected.
"There are more people looking for houses and the supply was already short in terms of affordable housing," he said.
"As rents have increased ... that , and that supply is based at an unaffordable level for people on a pension or benefit."
How do Australian cities compare to the rest of the world?
Launch Housing, a community organisation that delivers homelessness services, has released a new report comparing homelessness in Auckland, Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne, Dublin, London, New York, San Francisco, Vancouver and Toronto.
All 10 cities examined have a "serious homelessness crisis", according to Launch Housing, with a familiar structural dynamic of a lack of affordable and social housing, and tight, expensive rental markets.
Of the 10 cities, the Capital Cities Homelessness Index ranked Dublin the best, with Adelaide second and Vancouver and Sydney tied for third.
London was fifth, while New York, Melbourne, Toronto and Auckland were all placed sixth, and San Francisco was ranked worst.
The ranks were based on four categories: total homelessness, rough sleeping, social housing and low-income households in rental stress.
Dublin topped the Capital Cities Homelessness Index, while San Francisco came in last. Source: SBS News
“While Australian cities fared comparatively well on most measures, if we don’t aim high with our solutions, we could end up entrenching the type of rough sleeping we see in other cities around the world," Warner said.
“Homelessness has structural causes and while personal factors are intertwined, homelessness is not an outcome of individual failure. It occurs when poverty and fewer and fewer housing options collide."
What can Australia learn from Finland about homelessness?
Finland was not included in the index, but is widely considered a world leader in addressing homelessness.
The number of people experiencing homelessness in the country has fallen from more than 16,000 people in the 1980s to 3,950 at the end of 2021, according to the Housing Finance and Development Centre of Finland.
The country has a population of approximately 5.5 million people.
In 2007, Finland adopted a 'housing first' principle, which affirms people have a right to access housing and useful social services.
Through this system, social services assign rental housing to those in need and treat issues such as mental health and addiction while people are living in affordable rental accommodation.
In the capital Helsinki, no one sleeps on the street.
Finland is a world leader in eradicating homelessness. Source: SBS News
"Finland also has other services and resources that ensure that people don't experience the same forms of social disadvantage that they do in Australia," he said.
Despite having the financial wealth to end homelessness, there's a "lack of political will" to solve the crisis in Australia, according to Parsell.
"Our research has also demonstrated that when we keep people homeless, the state then responds to their homelessness in a way that costs us an awful lot.
"So ending homelessness is not just the morally right thing to do, there are also substantial cost implications associated with ending homelessness."
Parsell said Australia's housing system is structured to benefit homeowners and those individuals constitute a significant number of the voting population.
"I think one of the greatest challenges we have is that many people see increasing the supply of social housing to be at odds with the interests of property-owning people.
"The way that the housing market is structured as a form of investment is a real barrier to realising that political will."
Is zero homelessness a possibility?
With a rate of less than one per cent, Finland is close to achieving zero homelessness.
Donoghue believes this is possible in Australia and points to c as an example of successfully addressing homelessness and overcrowding.
"Primary homelessness was addressed by moving people into hotels, and income levels for people on a pension or benefit were increased, so where there was affordable accommodation they were able to access that," he said.
"COVID showed us how much of the rental market has been soaked up by short-stay accommodation."
With the right policies and plans, he believes Australia's homelessness crisis can be eradicated long-term if governments act now.
"The issues can be addressed, but in order to address any problem you have got to have a plan," he said.
Parsell said there's no doubt Australia could eradicate homelessness.
"We need to think about homelessness as a choice of the way we organise society, but similarly, we need to think about the opportunities we have to organise society differently.
"Historically, people have described homelessness as a choice of people who are homeless. I think what we need to do is reframe the debate and describe homelessness as a policy choice that we make for how we withhold resources, but we have the capacity to choose differently."
