The Council of Homeless People has called the homeless rates in Australia a ‘national epidemic’ after 100,000 Australians were recorded as homeless in 2016 Census.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics defines homelessness as the ‘absence of a secure home’, with the nearly half of those counted as homeless living in overcrowded conditions.
Liz Allen, a demographer from the Australian National University, said that “Australia has a problem with housing that goes beyond the traditional idea of sleeping rough”.