Everybody needs a home

This year, Homelessness Week, held every August focussed on the theme Everybody Needs a Home.

Raising awareness about the issue of homelessness is especially important right now, as we’ve been seeing rates of homelessness steadily increasing in Australia.

116,000 people were experiencing homelessness in Australia on the night of the last Census.¹ That’s 50 people experiencing homelessness for every 10,000 people.¹

According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 290,300 people were assisted by Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) in 2018-19.²

The negative impacts of experiencing homelessness affect not only the individual person, but also their family and friends, and our communities as a whole.

Homelessness is a complex problem, and factors for a person experiencing homelessness can include domestic violence, financial crisis, intergenerational poverty, and long-term unemployment.³

People experiencing homelessness can also be at an increased risk for experiencing harms from alcohol and other drugs.

Homelessness and alcohol and other drugs

There is a strong – and complicated - association between harms from alcohol and other drugs (AOD) and homelessness.

About 10% of people accessing Specialist Homelessness Services are experiencing issues with alcohol and other drugs.² The 2016 Illicit Drug Reporting System report showed 80% of people who inject drugs had a history of homelessness.⁴

While rates of substance use tend to be disproportionately high among people experiencing homelessness, homelessness cannot be explained by substance use alone.

For example, many people who are dependent on substances never experience homelessness but a person experiencing housing instability (often due to low income) has an increased risk of losing their housing if they use substances.⁵

What can Australians do to help?

Many Australians are concerned about the rising number of people experiencing homelessness in our country, but many also feel at a loss about what they can do to help.

The Council to Homeless Persons suggests a number of practical things that can be done to help people experiencing homelessness, including:⁶

• Watch your language - The simple act of speaking about people experiencing homelessness with respect can decrease stigma and help to spread understanding and empathy among your community.
• Educate yourself and others - By educating yourself and others about the issue of homelessness, you can learn to dispel damaging stereotypes and recognise people experiencing homelessness as individuals.
• Support homelessness agencies - If you are able, donate money to homelessness services. Money allows services to be flexible and respond to clients’ needs in specific ways when needed. If you can’t donate money, generally canned food is a useful donation, as are new socks and blankets. Call services to find out what they are most in need of as this can change over time.
• Volunteer - Many homelessness services rely heavily on the skills and expertise of volunteers to deliver their services. There are many ways in which you can help. Call around or check out jobs and volunteer boards to find services that are in need of a helping hand.
• Treat people without homes as you would a friend or workmate - People with a lived experience of homelessness often talk about the emotional toll of feeling invisible and unwanted. A smile or a ‘hello’ can go a long way to alleviating this extra burden that they carry.