Funding grows but long-term homelessness persists in the ACT, new figures reveal

The Productivity Commission's report on government services shows 42.9 per cent of people accessing homelessness support in the ACT were homeless for at least seven months in two years.

Nationally, just 26.6 per cent of clients reported persistent homelessness in the same period.

The ACT has had the highest rate of persistent homelessness since at least 2018-19.

The housing needs of more than a quarter of people in the ACT relying on homelessness support are also not being met.

However, fewer people in the ACT become homeless again after finding housing than the national average after consistent improvement since 2018-19.

In the ACT, 11.3 per cent of people in Canberra become homeless again after entering housing, while 12.2 per cent of people do the same nationally.

More than 77 per cent of people at risk of homelessness in the ACT avoided becoming homeless, less than the national rate of 80.3 per cent.

The rate of people who have independent housing after accessing homelessness supports in the ACT is 52.3 per cent, the lowest in the country.

The territory also has the highest rate of people accessing homelessness supports without independent housing, with 36.9 per cent of people coming for support without independent housing. Nationally, the rate is 53.3 per cent.

More than 62 per cent of people who access homelessness supports nationwide have independent housing after accessing those services.

The territory has an unmet demand for accommodation services of 26.7 per cent, lower than the national rate of 33.9 per cent.

The inflation-adjusted cost per day of support provided in the ACT rose from $40.52 in 2020-21 to $49.56 in 2021-22.

Nationally, the cost was $47.45, a real-terms increase of 20.2 per cent since 2017-18.

The territory has the highest national rate of people enrolled in education or employed after accessing homelessness supports, with 37.4 per cent reporting they were employed or enrolled compared to a national rate of 24 per cent.

The ACT government on Monday announced it would spend an extra $2.6 million on homelessness supports, extending program funding to June 30.

Homelessness and Housing Services Minister Rebecca Vassarotti said there were more families than individuals seeking crisis accommodation and demand for services was changing.

"The task of providing suitable long-term housing remains difficult, with persistent homelessness presenting as an ongoing issue," Ms Vassarotti said.

Ms Vassarotti said the additional funding would ensure the services continued while the ACT government developed a new homelessness service delivery system that was "flexible, response, and cultural appropriate to new and emerging needs".

The report on government services also showed while the ACT moves people into public housing faster than the national average, the number of dwellings meeting minimum acceptable standards had continued to fall.

In 2021, 73.4 per cent of ACT public housing survey respondents said they lived in properties of an acceptable standard, below the national rate of 76 per cent. That rate has fallen from 81.1 per cent in 2016.

More than 5 per cent of public housing dwellings were overcrowded in the ACT in 2022, higher than the national rate of 4.5 per cent but lower than Victoria (5.9 per cent), Queensland (5.9 per cent), Tasmania (5.2 per cent) and the Northern Territory (9.1 per cent).

But almost all new allocations for public housing in the ACT - 99.2 per cent - were made to households in the greatest need, compared to a national rate of 83 per cent.

Households in the greatest need are defined as those who are homeless, live in inappropriate housing, live in housing that negatively affects their health or puts them at risk, or have very high rental costs.

Ms Vassarotti in October said the ACT would need to increase funding and better target homelessness and housing supports to address recurring homelessness in the territory.

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Ms Vassarotti said there needed to be both more investment in specialist homelessness services while also targeting the supports that were already in place.

"It's really clear to me that we're not going to solve homelessness by just focusing on the specialist homelessness services. This is around looking at the pressures across the board in terms of housing stress," Ms Vassarotti told The Canberra Times.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's Specialist homelessness services 2020-21 report showed there were 990 people experiencing persistent homelessness in the ACT, an increase of 165 people since 2018-19.

The number of people who had, in 2020-21, returned to homelessness in the ACT after a period of secure housing was 320, an increase of 15 people since 2018-19.

The number of people returning to homelessness had fallen nationally by 670 people to 16,100 in the same period.

National demand for homelessness support has grown as cost-of-living pressures spike and rents have become more unaffordable.

An extra 84,000 people accessed homelessness services in 2021-22, a 9.2 per cent increase on 2020-21.

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