Women make up lion's share of increase in homelessness

More than 122,000 Australians were homeless on census night in 2021, new data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) shows.

The figure represents a 5.2 per cent increase in the number of homeless across the country, compared to what was recorded in the previous 2016 snapshot of the nation.

While more than half of Australians experiencing homelessness were men - at 55.9 per cent - the number of women without a home surged by 10.1 per cent in the five-year period from the last census, compared with a 1.6 per cent increase for men.

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The census records people as being homeless if they are sleeping out or staying in an "improvised dwelling" such as a tent, as well as those sleeping in supported accommodation for the homeless, a boarding house, temporary lodgings or a "severely" crowded dwelling.

Georgia Chapman, ABS head of homelessness statistics, said the 2021 census data offered a "unique snapshot of people experiencing homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic".

The pandemic saw many state and territory governments set up temporary accommodation for people sleeping rough, largely in hotels and motels.

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"Measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19 throughout 2021 contributed to some of the changes in the homelessness data that we've released today," Chapman said.

"During the 2021 census, we saw fewer people 'sleeping rough' in improvised dwellings, tents or sleeping out, and fewer people in living in 'severely' crowded dwellings and staying temporarily with other households.

"However, we saw more people living in supported accommodation for the homeless, boarding houses and other temporary lodgings, such as a hotel or motel."

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