By Natalee Kerr
A housing affordability crisis has produced a record number of homeless people across the Geelong region, according to a welfare agency.
More than 5000 people in need of housing sought help from local agencies in the past year, said Barwon South West Homelessness Network coordinator Rebecca Callahan.
“The request for support has never been as high as it currently is,” Ms Callahan said.
She blamed a shortage of affordable private rental properties for driving “record levels” of homelessness in the region.
“With more and more people struggling to afford the private rental market, the demand for affordable or social rental properties is outstripping supply,” she said.
Geelong has regional Victoria’s second-worst figures for homelessness, according to latest Census data.
Figures from the 2016 Census indicated that 295 were homeless in the city on any single night.
Across the Barwon region more than 3200 people are now on waiting lists for public and community housing, according to the Victorian Housing Register.
Bethany Community Support chief executive officer Grant Boyd said homelessness remained a “concerning” issue in Geelong.
“It is impacting many people in our community,” he said.
“For every 10,000 people, 47 are experiencing homelessness in the Geelong region compared to 27 people per 10,000 in regional Victoria.”
Mr Boyd said Geelong was experiencing a “bottleneck situation” with public housing.
“The demand on public and social housing is causing people to re-enter the homelessness system or to remain in crisis accommodation for longer periods of time,” he said.
Local agencies and authorities hosted an event in central Geelong’s Johnstone Park yesterday to make National Homelessness Week.
Council to Homeless Persons chief executive officer Jenny Smith said the week provided a chance for local agencies to connect with decision-makers.
“We’re again calling on the Victorian Government to commit to raising its investment in social housing to the national average and add 3000 new public and community owned properties a year,” she said.
“Homelessness services are working so hard to help our most vulnerable Victorians into housing, but there is virtually no-where for them to go.
“We can’t house the homeless without housing. This crisis will continue to get worse until there is substantial investment in social and affordable housing.”
