FRONTLINE housing and homelessness services across Australia are operating under unprecedented pressure, with Ipswich-based services warning demand for help is far outstripping the supply of available housing.
The warning echoes findings from the No Way Out report, by housing campaign Everybody’s Home, which found nine in 10 housing and homelessness organisations nationwide have experienced increased workloads over the past year. Almost all expect demand to rise further through the year.
InCommunity CEO Paul Tommasini said the Ipswich specialist service was seeing the same pressures play out on the ground.
“We absolutely acknowledge the increasing demand for homelessness services like ours, highlighted in this report,” Mr Tommasini said. “Based on our experience within the sector, we’re surprised the findings aren’t 10 out of 10 frontline organisations reporting increased workloads.”
He said inCommunity was supporting a growing number of people who had never previously needed homelessness assistance, driven by rising rents, limited housing supply and increasingly precarious living arrangements.
“It’s startling how many people are now reaching out to our frontline team who’ve never before sought support from a homelessness service,” he said. “The demand for our homelessness programs continues to outstrip the supply of housing stock available.”
The Everybody’s Home survey found more than four in five services said the housing crisis was significantly disrupting day-to-day operations, with almost half warning it was undermining their ability to deliver services altogether. Workforce strain is also intensifying, with seven in 10 organisations reporting increased staff burnout.
Mr Tommasini said those pressures were being felt acutely by frontline workers as client needs grow more complex and pathways out of homelessness continue to narrow.
“It’s why we’re focusing on mobilising homelessness prevention and early intervention strategies nationally through the Tenancy Skills Institute,” he said. “Preventing people from falling into homelessness in the first place is critical when there are so few exit points once someone enters the system.”
He said there had been encouraging signs of increased interest from government at both state and national levels in prevention-focused approaches.
“Hearteningly, in recent months we’ve seen growing interest from government officials in the strategies the Tenancy Skills Institute leads to sustain tenancies, in partnership with the real estate industry,” Mr Tommasini said. “We’re optimistic this interest will lead to further action at budget time.”
Dallas Conventry-Scott, founder of Helping Our Homies, said demand for housing assistance had increased sharply, particularly among people referred by other charities unable to meet demand.
“We’ve noticed more people reaching out for housing assistance,” Mr Conventry said. “We’re self-funded and receive no government support, so there’s a limit to what we can do with housing and accommodation — but we still do our best to help people with all their needs and concerns.”
He said the organisation distributed more than 180 food relief hampers over Christmas and had remained extremely busy since, providing food, camping supplies, bedding and other essentials, as well as helping people explore options to improve their circumstances.
Nationally, the report found 85 per cent of organisations believe increased investment in public and community housing is the most urgent action needed.
Everybody’s Home spokesperson Maiy Azize said frontline services were stuck in “crisis mode”.
“These organisations are at the frontline of the crisis and they’re telling us they can see no way out,” Ms Azize said. “Without action, more people will need help and more workers will burn out.”
