Vinnies NSW calls for action in Homelessness Week

Today marks the start of Homelessness Week 2023, with this year’s theme – ‘It’s time to end homelessness’ – calling for action to address drivers of homelessness including inadequate income support payments, a shortage of affordable housing, specialist services stretched to capacity as well as people remaining in unsafe living conditions due to a lack of viable alternatives.

Demand for assistance from St Vincent de Paul Society NSW’s homelessness and housing services has increased over the past year as a result of the worsening cost of living and housing crises.

“Our homelessness and housing services assisted 9,024 people in the past financial year, increasing by 4.9% from 12 months earlier,” said Yolanda Saiz, St Vincent de Paul Society NSW CEO.

“The Society’s capacity to meet the soaring demand for assistance has concerningly been stretched with unassisted requests for support from our homelessness and housing services increasing by 81% to 2,690 over the past year.

“We have been able to secure stable accommodation for 53% of people supported by our Specialist Homelessness Services, 50% of clients at risk of homelessness were assisted to maintain housing, while 40% of people who were homeless prior to receiving support are now in stable housing.”

The leading reasons for people seeking assistance from St Vincent de Paul Society NSW’s homelessness and housing services were: Domestic and Family Violence (29.1%); Housing Crisis, e.g. eviction (15.9%); Inadequate or Inappropriate housing conditions (8.7%); Housing affordability, e.g. rental increase (8.2%); and relationship / family breakdown (7.4%).

More than 57,000 applicants –the equivalent of 125,000 people – are currently on the waitlist for social housing in NSW.

Research commissioned by the Society from UNSW last year revealed that the NSW Government could be reduce the NSW social housing waiting list by three quarters by building 5,000 new social housing dwellings every year for a decade.

“Addressing homelessness requires a long-term approach from all levels of government, business and the community to ensure that people have the basic standards of living that we expect of society,” said Ms Saiz.