When the temperatures in the Shepparton area hit their biggest highs and lows, Celia Adams thinks about the people she knows who are sleeping rough, hoping they’re okay.
Ms Adams is the chief executive of Beyond Housing.
She said there was one man in particular whose experience had stuck with her.
She sees him from time to time.
He’s been sleeping rough on and off for about four years.
“He’s done all the things he can do to apply for housing and he’s in the waiting cycle, just waiting, and waiting, and waiting,” Ms Adams said.
This is a man who is likely in his 50s, according to Adams, and who wants to work but can’t because of a disability.
She said he sometimes talks about people avoiding him, and that he deliberately chooses checkouts at the supermarket that are staffed.
“Because it might be the only person he speaks to that day,” Ms Adams said.
This man’s story represents just one person’s experience in a growing population sleeping rough in the Greater Shepparton area.
According to Beyond Housing, one in five people seeking support from the organisation across the Goulburn and Ovens Murray regions are sleeping rough.
That’s double the number seen just a decade ago.
Ms Adams said the situation was dire.
“These statistics reflect a chronic shortage of affordable housing and the impact of the ongoing cost-of-living crisis. People are living in cars, tents and unsafe spaces,” she said.
Rental costs across the nation, and across Victoria, have surged in recent years.
According to the Victorian Government’s June quarter data, regional Victoria’s median weekly rent increased six per cent over the past year to $450.
“While metropolitan areas face housing pressures, regional and rural communities are equally strained as rents rise, and housing becomes less accessible and affordable,” Ms Adams said.
“All levels of government must recognise that regional areas need their fair share of social housing investment to meet this growing demand and ensure that people in our communities have a secure, affordable place to call home.”
Ms Adams said Beyond Housing’s 2023-24 annual report, due out next week, would show that nearly 3000 people in the region sought some kind of housing support from the organisation during the year, with nearly half reaching out for the first time.
About 10 per cent were individuals fleeing family violence.
The data also show older Australians are increasingly affected by housing insecurity, with one in eight people seeking support aged over 55.
“We’re seeing people in their 60s, 70s, and even 80s with nowhere to live. This rise in older people seeking assistance is particularly concerning,” Ms Adams said.
Ms Adams said local, state and federal governments needed to come together to support housing development, unlock government-owned land, streamline approvals and accelerate reforms.
“Models like Housing First, which provide stable housing and wrap-around support, are proven to work and should be expanded in our region,” she said.
Beyond Housing has over 300 homes scheduled for completion by 2026, but Ms Adams stressed that more was needed to meet rising demand.
“Our projects are part of the solution, but they’re only a start,” she said.
Greater Shepparton City Council is concerned about the number of people in need of housing, according to a council spokesperson.
“Council has an adopted Affordable Housing Strategy which aims to support the increased availability and diversity in affordable and social housing options for vulnerable members of our community,” the spokesperson said.
“Council recognises that increasing the supply of housing is a key way of addressing housing need and affordability.
“The Victorian Planning Authority, in consultation with Greater Shepparton City Council and government agencies, has prepared the Shepparton South East Precinct Structure Plan which will provide up to 2,500 homes to accommodate a population of more than 6,000 people.”
Service providers across the country are feeling the squeeze as more people are facing rising expenses.
Ms Adams said Beyond Housing had not necessarily seen a rise in the number of people seeking its help, but it was seeing more people who were unsheltered and observed it was taking longer for people to work their way through the system.
“It’s increases in rental costs, it’s increases in cost of living, but it’s also decreases in crisis services … it’s that reduction in options,” she said.
Ms Adams also said it appeared that more people were at risk of homelessness.
Modelling in a new Impact Economics report released by Homelessness Australia showed the number of people at risk of homelessness was growing across the country.
According to the report, in Victoria the number of households experiencing rental stress had increased by 43,100 since the 2021 Census, an increase of more than 23 per cent.
The report also showed increases in the length of time people were spending in the system, due to the lack of available affordable long-term accommodation.
“Our community rallies; floods, COVID, bushfires — we rally,” Ms Adams said.
“Better is possible.”