Homelessness

Every night, roughly 1 in 200 Australians find themselves without a safe, secure or affordable place to sleep.

A home isn’t just four walls and a roof. It’s a foundation for safety and security. Access to safe and secure housing is one of the most basic human rights.

Young people

One third of homeless people in Australia are under 18 years old.

Young people are more likely to become homeless because they often experience difficulties securing long-term accommodation and are particularly affected by poverty and the shortage of affordable housing in Australia. When faced with the need to leave their family home, young people often have little option but to end up on the streets.

Causes of homelessness

The causes of homelessness are numerous and complex. Homelessness can be caused by poverty, unemployment or by a shortage of affordable housing, or it can be triggered by family breakdown, mental illness, sexual assault, addiction, financial difficulty, gambling or social isolation. Domestic violence is the single biggest cause of homelessness in Australia.

What this means is that homelessness is a product of many other human rights abuses.

We need to work towards eliminating the reasons why people become homeless in the first place, and support people experiencing homelessness to find more permanent living solutions.

Related Reading

• We have an ageing population, a high cost of housing, and a significant gap in wealth accumulation between men and women across their lifetimes. Explore the Older Women’s Risk of Homelessness: Background Paper.
• Review the lecture by ex-president Rosalind Croucher Housing and human rights.
• Human rights are a set of principles concerned with equality and fairness. Understand an introduction to human rights.
• Explore What are children's rights?