Australia’s homelessness crisis is deepening as rising living costs, unaffordable housing and growing demand for support put increasing pressure on vulnerable households.

Canberra is emerging as a stark example of the nationwide housing crisis. Homelessness services across Canberra and Queanbeyan provided more than 19,000 instances of support in the past financial year, a 38 per cent increase from the previous year.

In the ACT, about 3,600 approved applicants are currently waiting for public housing. Priority applicants wait an average of more than five months, while standard applicants face an average wait of more than five years.

The situation reflects a broader national trend. Australia’s public housing waiting list reached 189,536 households as of June 2025, the highest level recorded since 2014 and a 12.4 per cent increase in one year.

Around 40 per cent of those households were classified as being in greatest need. Yet even priority applicants faced a national median wait of eight months, while non-priority households waited a median of 18 months.

Meanwhile, almost 289,000 people accessed specialist homelessness services across Australia in 2024–25.

Domestic and family violence remains the leading reason people seek assistance, but housing affordability stress is rising rapidly, increasing from 4.9 per cent of clients in 2014–15 to 9.1 per cent in 2024–25.

The crisis is particularly severe for First Nations Australians, young people and people living in remote communities, where overcrowding and inadequate housing remain major concerns.

Advocates say Australia urgently needs more social and public housing. Without faster construction and greater investment, they warn that waiting lists will continue to grow, leaving thousands of Australians without a secure place to call home.