More than 76,000 Australian children a year are seeking help from homelessness support services and almost 16,000 of them are alone - unaccompanied by a parent or carer - when they flee family violence, abuse or neglect.
That's just one of the shocking realities of the homelessness crisis hitting Aussie families revealed in an alarming new report released on August 5 by Homelessness Australia.
The 2024 Child Homelessness Snapshot made public to coincide with the start of 2024 Homelessness Week reveals that more than 25,000 children remained homeless in Australia even after seeking help from specialist support agencies in 2022-23, a nationwide 3.2 per cent increase over the previous year.
A further 19,833 children were turned away from support services without receiving any assistance - the result of what Homelessness Australia describes as the "severe lack of resources and overwhelming demand faced by the sector".
The most recent annual statistics showing the extent of family and child homelessness in Australia also include:
- More than a third of the 88,696 family members who sought assistance were still homeless during their last contact with homelessness support services;
- NSW had the highest number of unaccompanied children seeking help from specialist services (7152), followed by Victoria (3271) and South Australia (2306).
- First Nations children are overrepresented among children experiencing homelessness, making up 32 per cent of homeless children nationally, despite comprising only 6.8 per cent of the population under 18.
The report to be presented on Monday in Sydney to Minister Clare O'Neil and Children's Commissioner Anne Hollonds shows that Australia's housing crisis has inflamed an already bad situation and overwhelmed homelessness support services.
"These figures should ring alarm bells among politicians and policymakers that action to tackle child and family homelessness is urgently needed," Homelessness Australia chief executive Kate Colvin said.
"How can a parent settle a child to sleep, keep them safe and have them ready for school if they are sleeping in their car or a tent in the middle of winter?"
Homelessness Australia is calling for a range of measures to address the crisis as part of the National Housing and Homelessness Plan.
Its key recommendations to the federal government's 10-year strategy include setting "ambitious targets and timelines for action on the major drivers of homelessness: rental stress, domestic and family violence" and more investment in the frontline services that support families and children seeking help.
Other recommendations include a proposal to unite child-centred services to ensure young people at risk of homelessness receive the care and accommodation they need.
"It's a national shame that in a wealthy, developed country like Australia, we have tens of thousands of families and young people - many of whom are grappling with domestic violence - without a safe place to call home," Ms Colvin said.
"We urgently need a comprehensive national strategy to ensure that no Australian child ever experiences the trauma of homelessness. Our nation has the resources to solve this crisis. What we need now is the ambition to make it happen."
The theme for Homelessness Week 2024 is "Homelessness Action Now" and local, state and national homelessness services and community groups will devote the week to building public awareness and support for the sector and its call for more government action.
