The Salvos need help to house and support women and children who are experiencing homelessness

One in seven people experiencing homelessness are children under 14

As one of the largest providers of homelessness services in Australia, this Homelessness Week (August 4-10) The Salvation Army is highlighting the catastrophic number of young children who are experiencing homelessness, with more than 5000 children under 14 (one in seven) seeking support through its homelessness services this year.

These shocking figures are reflected in newly released Homelessness Australia statistics, which showed a 20 per cent increase in women and girls who were currently experiencing homelessness when they reached out for support.

Of the women and girls seeking homelessness support, a massive 45% report having experienced domestic and/or family violence.

“The increase in women and children experiencing homelessness is a tragedy,” says Jed Donoghue, the National General Manager of The Salvation Army’s Homelessness services.

“Only 20 per cent of the national homeless population can get help from Homelessness Services due to limited resources, so we are only seeing the tip of a very large and nasty iceberg."

Donoghue adds that overwhelmed homelessness services are forced to prioritise the needs of people who are already experiencing homelessness rather than have a focus on the vital areas of early intervention and prevention.

“The Salvos Homelessness Services nationally already work with around 8,000 people experiencing homelessness every month.”

A recent report from The Salvos surveyed over 3,500 community members who had received food, financial assistance or material aid from The Salvation Army, and found that accessing and maintaining safe, secure housing was a persistent struggle, with high housing rental costs placing significant pressure on already over stretched budgets.

Housing stress, instability, and fears of homelessness were common, reflecting the compounding impact of financial hardship, limited affordable options, and complex personal circumstances.

Key findings included:

• Housing costs, such as rent and mortgage repayments, were the largest weekly expense for many respondents.
• More than seven in ten (71%) were in housing stress, spending over 30% of their disposable income on housing
• Almost one in three (32%) reported missing a rent or mortgage payment in the past 12 months due to financial hardship, a rate five times higher than the national average.
• Housing affordability was the most significant concern respondents had about their current living situation
• Housing instability was also a significant issue, with more than a quarter (27%) having moved or changed their housing situation two or more times in the past year. Frequent displacements were often driven by major interpersonal challenges, most commonly family violence (45%) and relationship or family breakdowns or conflict (40%).
• Respondents who were currently experiencing homelessness identified a range of contributing factors, including domestic and family violence, relationship and family breakdown, financial hardship, eviction, health and disability-related challenges, a lack of suitable housing options, natural disasters or emergencies, and social isolation or the absence of support networks.

Across Australia last year the Salvos provided:

• Assistance to one person every 17 seconds
• More than 1.76 million sessions of care to over 250,000 people in need
• Over 1.1 million bed nights to those who needed accommodation
• More than 1.5 million meals went to people who accessed our homelessness services.

If you or someone you know needs support from The Salvation Army, or to find out more information on The Salvation Army’s homelessness services, visit salvationarmy.org.au