Federal Assistant Housing Minister Luke Howarth insists he wants to put a "positive spin" on homelessness figures, despite lord mayors demanding more action to tackle the issue in capital cities.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Mr Howarth, who was recently promoted to the role, said the more than 116,000 homeless people made up just 0.5 per cent of Australia's population.
"I want to put a positive spin on it as well and not just say Australia's in a housing crisis when it affects a very, very small percentage of the population," he told ABC Radio National on Tuesday.
In the 15-year period between 2001 and 2016, the portion of homeless people in urban areas spiked to 63 per cent from 48 per cent.
Reducing homelessness will be in the spotlight when Mr Howarth meets lord mayors on Tuesday.
According to the most recent census, 116,427 people were counted as being homeless, up from 102,439 in 2011.
NSW experienced the biggest increase, with a 37 per cent rise, while the number of homeless people in Queensland went up 14 per cent, and rose 11 per cent in Victoria.
Mr Howarth said between 2001 and 2016 the number of people living on the street or in tents and other improvised dwellings had decreased, while severely crowded accommodation had increased.
"There are a number of areas and I'll be focusing on all of them, but I think people on the street is important because that's what Australians see if they're in a capital city," Mr Howarth said.
"They can see people on the street - they want something done about that."
While state premiers and local government have called for urgent action to combat affordable housing shortages, Mr Howarth pointed to emergency accommodation as a crucial issue.
"What I'm hearing from people that are on the ground is that emergency accommodation is a really important issue and we need more emergency accommodation," he said.
Labor frontbencher Jason Clare said Mr Howarth's "positive spin" comments were not the sort of language he would use.
"There are more people homeless than ever before," he told Sky News.
"Rather than using rhetoric like saying 'let's put a positive spin on homelessness', let's do something real about it."
Mr Clare said governments of all persuasions had not done enough in the past to tackle the issue.
Australian Associated Press
