Opal miners Aaron and Skye Buschmann never thought they would be homeless.
Their day job involved scouring the outback in search of the precious gems.
"We've been through Coober Pedy, Andamooka and met some of the best miners in the country," Mr Buschmann said.
Mr Buschmann said they were living comfortably in a house on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula until the rent was increased by $170 a week.
They travelled to South Australia to find a house to rent but had no luck and eventually ended up in New South Wales.
The married couple have spent the past six months in a tent at Wilks Park, a floodway in the Wagga Wagga's north.
"It's a nightmare," Mr Buschmann said.
"You're waking up in a recurring circle — you just go around and around doing the same thing every day.
Mr Buschmann said people did not understand that anyone could become homeless.
"We were in one of the richest areas in the country and we're out here," he said.
"So it just goes to show, all those people saying it can't happen to them — it can happen to them.
"We've been in a high position and now we're down in a low position."
Mr and Mrs Buschmann are on a list for social housing, but have been told they face a five to seven-year wait.
He said the Salvation Army had offered temporary accommodation at Young in return for some farm work, but he needed to make sure the hours did not breach his disability pension requirements.
Worrying figures, bleak outlook
Figures from campaign group Everybody's Home show the rental vacancy rate in regional NSW is sitting at less than one per cent.
Rents have increased by 10 to 20 per cent.
Homelessness Australia spokesperson Kate Colvin said the issue was getting worse.
"More and more people, particularly in regional areas, are sleeping in tents," she said.
Ms Colvin said 50 per cent of people visiting homeless services said they were experiencing financial difficulties, while 30 per cent were fleeing family and domestic violence.
"Australia has a huge shortage of social housing that means there's not a safety net for people who get squeezed out of the rental market," she said.
"Homelessness Australia, along with other organisations, are calling for the federal government to invest in 25,000 social housing properties a year because we have a shortfall of social housing of more than 400,00 properties."
She said homelessness was increasing and she didn't want Australia to end up in a situation like the United States, where it was very common for low-wage workers to be homeless or living in a caravan.
Charles Sturt University economics professor John Hicks said he expected the cost of living to increase.
He said governments should build more housing but communities needed to look after people doing it tough.
"That inflation is going to continue for some time yet so it's becoming increasingly difficult for households, particularly at the lower end of the socio-economic scale, to make ends meet," he said.
"It appears that things in Europe are getting somewhat worse — that's adding to cost pressures.
"We are seeing those cost pressures flow through into our own prices and, in addition to that, we have flood disasters that will again give quite a boost to prices, as a lot of crops have been wiped out."
