FAQs

Visit Homelessness Australia’s official page, Mission Australia, ShelterWA or The Salvation Army for resources, event listings, and support services.

Homelessness is caused by a range of complex issues including systemic, structural and individual factors. These can include social disadvantage, financial hardship, poor health and more. 

Individual factors can include issues such as the presence of employment, family and domestic violence, ill health, mental health issues, disability, trauma and substance misuse. Structural factors can include issues such as a lack of adequate income and a shortage of social and affordable housing. 

Common causes of homelessness are:

• Family and Domestic Violence
• Sudden life changes that trigger homelessness
• Lack of affordable and social housing
• Mental health challenges

Source: Mission Australia

Homelessness in Western Australia: A review of the research and statistical evidence

Refer them to local services via Ask Izzy. Ask Izzy is a website that connects people in need with housing a meal, money help, family violence support, counselling and much more. It is free and anonymous, with thousands of services listed across Australia.

Refer them to local support services via Find My Way. Find My Way is an Online Homelessness Services Portal, it is a free service, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to help people experiencing or at risk of homelessness seek accommodation and available support services.

Consider supporting local organisations by giving donations or volunteering. 

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) statistical definition of homelessness is; “When a person does not have suitable accommodation alternatives, they are considered homeless if their current living arrangement:

• Is in a dwelling that is inadequate; or
• Has no tenure, or if their initial tenure is short and not extendable; or
• Does not allow them to have control of and access to space for social relations”

This definition also includes those who are living in:

• Improvised dwellings such as tents or sleeping out
• Supported accommodation for the homeless
• Staying temporarily with other households
• Boarding houses,
• Other temporary lodgings
• ‘Severely’ crowded dwellings

Homelessness affects people of all ages, men, women and children from different circumstances. 

Data from the last census in 2021 showed that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, children and older women are more vulnerable to homelessness than other groups in society. 

Source: Mission Australia