‘Heartbreaking’: Shocking number of homeless

As the nation grapples with a worsening housing crisis, everyday Australians are turning to homelessness services for the first time, with the number of people sleeping rough in WA doubling since 2016.

A new report from Shelter WA found more than 2300 people in WA were sleeping rough across the state.

The alarming figure represented 25 per cent of people in the state experiencing homelessness, which was four times higher than the national average.

This week, Shelter WA released its pre-budget statement to end rough sleeping by 2025.

The organisation has called on the WA government to invest in affordable, social and community housing to fix the problem before it gets worse.

‘Heartbreaking’: Shocking number of homeless

Shelter WA chairman Kieran Wong said like the rest of the nation WA was facing the worst housing crisis it had ever seen.

“The stories are heartbreaking and the toll on families is devastating,” he said.

“Frontline workers are overwhelmed and stretched to breaking point.

“This will have an ongoing generational impact if we do not correct housing in our state.

“It is a housing emergency, and we cannot afford not to invest in safer and affordable housing.”

Each year in WA more than 24,000 people sought help from homelessness services.

In September last year, there were 19,114 households on a waiting list for social housing.

Only 6400 clients who were experiencing homelessness were assisted into housing last year.

By 2041, WA will need 85,700 social and affordable housing properties, which equates to 4700 new homes each year.

Currently, there is an estimated shortfall of 32,000 affordable dwellings in WA.

That number is expected to dwindle when the National Rental Affordability Scheme ends, with the loss of 3766 affordable rental properties from 2023 to 2026.

Shelter WA chief executive Kath Snell said WA’s housing crisis was breaking all the wrong records.

“But we have an incredible opportunity to solve it with this budget,” she said.

“After five years of large surpluses and a GST windfall, the government must centre this year’s budget on housing and homelessness.”

Ms Snell said there was now more demand on services and more people presenting to homelessness services who had never presented before.

“Tranby House recently had 440 requests for assistance in a day; in 2009 it was 80 requests a day,” she said.

“Essential workers like nurses, school teachers and construction workers can only afford to rent one per cent of rentals and are paying up to 70 per cent of their income on rent.

“The number of desperate people turning up at homelessness services has exploded, forcing overwhelmed staff to decide who to help and who to turn away.

“Now is the time to use our incredibly strong budget position to invest in the prosperity of all West Australians.”

While Housing Minister John Carey would not speculate on the forthcoming budget, he said the government was aware of the pressures being faced in WA’s housing market.

“We are not shying away from that we are stepping up to the challenge and I want to ensure Western Australians that we are taking this very seriously,” he said.

“We are throwing everything at this to boost housing supply for our most vulnerable.”

Mr Carey said the government had made a record investment into affordable housing which included $2.6bn over four years to deliver 4000 social homes.

“In January, we boosted $50m into critical homelessness services,” he said.

“I want to ensure Western Australians that we are taking this very seriously and that we are doing everything we can to provide critical housing for people in need.”

He said while the government would not privatise public housing to community housing organisations, they would support community housing through grants and had worked with the Shire of Harvey to build 12 homes.

“We are investing around $200m in community housing grants to grow the sector,” he said.

“We have delivered 2000 social housing homes to date in the toughest construction market on record.”

WA Alliance to End Homelessness executive officer David Pearson said having a roof over your head was a basic human need.

“Thousands of people across WA were living in their cars, tents or couch surfing because they could not find a place to call home,” he said.

“The number of people sleeping rough is as shocking as it is heartbreaking.

“But we know we can solve this. We’re seeing great results in communities like Geraldton and Mandurah, where a dedicated outreach, housing and collaboration has reduced the rough sleeping numbers in recent months.

“I’ve also seen first-hand how cities like Glasgow have managed to effectively end rough sleeping through dedicated effort.

“Homelessness is solvable, but it takes leadership and continued investment, we need funding for additional full-time staff to expand the Advance to Zero framework across more WA communities to help us demonstrate this”.