Homelessness Shelters Forced to Turn People Away and Leave Calls Unanswered

A recent report has demonstrated that Australian homelessness shelters are having to turn people away and leave calls and emails unanswered.

A homeless man sleeps at a shop front in central Melbourne, Australia, on Oct. 28, 2023. Susan Mortimer/The Epoch Times

A report from Homelessness Australia and Impact Economics found that homelessness services are under overwhelming pressure.

The report uncovered that frontline services are forced to turn people away and leave phone calls unanswered, and are calling for the government to increase support.

“The housing crisis has just become an absolute housing emergency and homelessness support services are just buckling under pressure,” Homelessness Australia CEO Kate Colvin said.

“The government has the midyear budget coming up in December, this should be a priority.”

She said many people were only a negative shock—losing a job, experiencing family violence or hospital discharge—away from homelessness.

In 2021, over 122,000 people were estimated to be homeless in Australia, and the report estimated that between 2.7 million and 3.2 million Australians were at risk of homelessness in 2022.

Shelters Turning People Away

Before the report, the number of people being turned away was not recorded. The Homelessness Australia newsletter states that the reality is difficult to see in the AIHW Specialist Homelessness Data because it only lists supported clients and people registered as unassisted.

Over time, client numbers have barely increased because services already operate at full capacity. Further, the number of people registered as unassisted has not significantly risen because services under increased pressure are less likely to take the time to record people turned away.

Others cannot contact services because their doors are closed or phones are unmanned remain unregistered.

Therefore, Impact Economics monitored 23 specialist homeless services for two weeks in September to uncover information on the amount of people turned away.

The study found that around one in every five days families seeking emergency shelter did not receive support and unaccompanied minors were turned away one in every nine days. Independents without kids were turned away on one in every two days.

Colvin said deciding who receives shelter each night is distressing for support workers.

“Do you say yes to the mum with two small kids who has no where to go that night, or to another mum who has a car?” she said.

“And then there’s a young guy only 20 years old who has run away for a violent home, who do they say no to in that situation?”

Services Unable to Assist

The report found that 39 percent of services had to close their doors at some point. On average, services had to close one in every 22 operating hours.

A higher percentage of providers, 89 percent, could not answer phones for some period. On average, services could not answer phones on 43 percent of days, leaving 325 hours of missed phone calls.

Emails were also an issue with 74 percent of services unable to answer emails for a period. According to the survey, services could not answer emails on 34 percent of days, resulting in 666 unanswered emails.

Solutions for Housing Crisis

Report author and Impact Economics principal Angela Jackson said rent assistance and increased social and affordable housing can be solutions to the housing crisis.

However, she also said that frontline services need more funding to support people who cannot wait for long-term solutions.

“Cost-of-living increases always hurt those on lower incomes the most—and these figures highlight the extent of hardship,” Jackson said.

According to Homelessness Australia, significant additional resources are needed to enable services to prevent homelessness where possible and provide the support people need to gain and sustain a home.

AAP contributed to this report.