Cameron Parsell
Australian Homelessness Monitor
Key findings
Australia’s homelessness problem is getting worse:
Homelessness in Australia is outpacing population growth.
Rough sleeping levels are increasing.
Severe overcrowding is the largest group.
Older Australians increasingly experience homelessness.
Indigenous Australians are overrepresented.
There’s increased demand for homelessness specialist services.
The main reasons for seeking assis
2018
Themes:
Homelessness: Australia's shameful story of policy complacency and failure continues
Exactly a decade ago in 2008, the Australian government committed to an ambitious strategy to halve national homelessness by 2020. Through stepped-up early intervention, better homelessness services and an expanded supply of affordable housing, the problem would be tackled with conviction.
2018
Themes:
Do We Have the Knowledge to Address Homelessness?
The Housing First approach, which prioritizes providing people experiencing homelessness with permanent housing before providing other support services like addiction counseling, for example, has taken hold as the idealized response to addressing homelessness.
2017
Themes:
Supportive housing is cheaper than chronic homelessness
It costs the state government more to keep a person chronically homeless than it costs to provide permanent supportive housing to end homelessness, recent research shows.
2016
Older Women's Pathways out of Homelessness in Australia
This study examines pathways out of homelessness for older women in Australia. It seeks to understand the range of possible responses and program models that would assist in addressing their homelessness. It explicitly intends to inform the service sector.
2014
Themes:
Preventing first time homelessness amongst older Australians
This study examines older people’s homelessness in Australia, with a particular focus on the experience of becoming homeless for the first time in later life.
2014
Themes:
Policy shift or program drift? Implementing Housing First in Australia
INTRODUCTION
Providing secure, sustainable housing options for people experiencing chronic homelessness has posed an enduring challenge for policy-makers and practitioners alike. While Australian homelessness responses are largely crisis based, there are long standing debates about the best means of ending long-term homelessness altogether.
2012
Themes:
"There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort."