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. Source: SBS News.
The number of women and girls seeking homelessness services each month increased by 14 per cent between May 2022 and March this year, according to analysis by Homelessness Australia.
This compared to a 10 per cent overall increase over the same time frame, its analysis of monthly reports from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) shows.
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, said.
“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, about 45 per cent of these women and girls have experienced domestic and family violence, referencing AIHW data.
Ms Colvin said homelessness across the country has reached “emergency proportions”.
The peak body attributes women and families being pushed further into crisis due to rising rents, domestic violence and a lack of early intervention.
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.
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‘They have nowhere to go’: The Australians at the centre of a housing ‘emergency’ (SBS News)
