Australia’s housing crisis has been spotlit in a confronting new report that reveals almost two-thirds of homelessness services are turning away people they would have once helped, with some providers turning away as many people as they take in.
The Breaking the Firestorm report prepared for the Albanese government found 91 per cent of homelessness providers say demand has risen over the past two years, and only 3.9 per cent of people who needed long-term housing were able to secure it.
Homelessness Australia prepared the research to inform the Treasury’s Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO), drawing on fresh data from the UNSW City Futures Research Centre’s Australian Homelessness Monitor 2026 and Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) figures.
The UNSW survey of providers found 86 per cent say finding long-term housing for clients is harder than it was two years ago, with 70 per cent saying it is “much harder”. Fewer than one per cent say it has become easier.
One peak body representative told the researchers staff have “nothing to offer” beyond tents and advice on where to camp safely, and that women leaving family violence are being asked, “Do you have a lock on your car?”
Homelessness Australia chief executive Kate Colvin said a complete overhaul was needed.
“There are now so many points of vulnerability in our housing and homelessness system that the cracks are starting to join,” she said.
“Small patch ups just won’t do the job.”
Homelessness Australia chief executive Kate Colvin said the recent findings show a complete overhaul is needed. Picture: NewsWire Gaye Gerard
While report author, Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Social Policy Andrew Clarke said the figures were the worst he had seen.
“The system is under extreme pressure,” he said.
These consequences are being felt by women raising children alone, with many struggling to keep a roof over their heads in a scenario national not-for-profit Global Sisters sees every day.
For Heidi Albertiri, co-host of Global Sisters podcast Locked Out that hosts conversations surrounding the housing crisis, this struggle is one she knows first-hand.
As a solo mother, she ran a flower shop in Sydney’s Paddington from 3am so she could walk her son to school. From the outside she appeared to be coping, but almost every dollar went to the business and her son.
“Survival was all I knew,” she said.
“I was single from the time I found out I was pregnant, the child’s father chose not to be in his life. So right from the onset, I was solo and facing it by myself.
“I fumbled along by myself and just got things done, without knowing that there were so many other women actually facing what I was facing.”
Heidi Albertiri co-host of Global Sisters podcast Locked Out
Her son is now 23, but Ms Albertiri said she had worked herself “ragged” for two decades while raising him and still working to catch up for all the years she had missed out on taking care of herself.
Through interviewing women for Locked Out, she keeps hearing her own story of solo mums paying the rent first and working out food after.
This is particularly rampant in Sydney, where there isn’t a single affordable rental for a single mum on Parenting Payment, according to Anglicare Australia.
According to Ms Albertiri, solo mums are making impossible financial calculations every week to keep a roof over their heads.
“These women have been brave enough to share their stories so I’ve had a glimpse into what their reality was and unfortunately it was far too similar to mine,” she said.
This also follows recent Everybody’s Home ‘No Room to Move’ report findings, that show one in four Aussie respondents fear they could become homeless if housing costs continue to rise over the next year.
Two in five (41 per cent) who could not afford it at all (14 per cent) or would need to cut essentials such as food, medication or bills (27 per cent).