Specialist homelessness services annual report 2024–25

For some people, a period of insecure housing can be short lived; for others, ongoing or chronic homelessness can be a feature of their lives. Even with the support of specialist services, people may experience homelessness for long periods of time or cycle in and out of homelessness (AIHW 2023). Long-term or repeated episodes of homelessness are associated with a wide range of disadvantages, including childhood trauma, chronic mental and physical health conditions, social isolation and experiences of rough sleeping (Miscenko et al. 2017).

‘Persistent homelessness’ is used to estimate the extent of this type of homelessness in Australia. The Specialist Homelessness Services Collection (SHSC) defines clients as experiencing persistent homelessness if an individual is receiving SHS support and their housing situation is considered homeless for more than 7 months of a 24-month period. The total period does not need to be a consecutive period.  

For more information, see Clients experiencing persistent homelessness.

Persistent homelessness in 2024–25

In 2024–25, around 150,000 SHS clients experienced homelessness in at least one month of the year.  Of these, around 41,100 SHS clients were experiencing persistent homelessness, representing around 1 in 7 (14%) of all SHS clients (Figure PERS.1 and Supplementary table PERS.1).

In 2024–25, among the 41,100 SHS clients experiencing persistent homelessness (Supplementary table PERS.1 and note clients can be in more than one group):

• around half (50% or 20,500 clients) had a current mental health issue
• almost half (47% or 19,500 clients) were children and young people
• over 2 in 5 (42% or 17,100 clients) were women and children affected by family and domestic violence (FDV)
• around one third (34% or 14,000 clients) were First Nations clients
• around 1 in 10 (11% or 4,600 clients) were people exiting institutions and care into homelessness 
• less than 1 in 15 (7.1% or 2,900 clients) were older people.

For several of the client groups listed above, this report includes dedicated sections that examine the same or similar cohorts; however, the analysis in those sections is not limited to clients experiencing persistent homelessness. These sections explore client characteristics, the assistance they received, and their housing outcomes.

For more detailed information from the SHS collection, see the relevant sections on:

• Clients with a current mental health issue
• Clients who have experienced family and domestic violence
• First Nations clients
• Clients exiting custodial arrangements
• Older people

States and territories

Comparisons between states and territories should be interpreted with caution given differences in models of support, population demographics and accessibility of specialist homelessness services.

Among people experiencing persistent homelessness (Supplementary table PERS.1):

• in Tasmania, over 2 in 3 (69%) had a current mental health issue – compared with 50% nationally. 
• in the Northern Territory, the majority (86%) were First Nations people – compared with 34% nationally.

Persistent homelessness over time

From 2018–19 to 2024–25, the number of SHS clients experiencing persistent homelessness increased by 39%, from around 29,500 to 41,100. Increases were observed nationally among all the client cohorts studied and in the totals for each state and territory. 

Notably, from 2018–19 to 2024–25 (Supplementary table PERS.1):

• the number of people experiencing persistent homelessness in Queensland more than doubled, from around 4,200 clients to over 9,900.
• the number of older clients nearly doubled, from around 1,500 clients to around 2,900.
• the number of First Nations people increased from around 8,000 clients to around 14,000.

In addition, the largest client cohorts each increased in size by nearly one-third over the same period (Supplementary table PERS.1):

• people with a current mental health issue (from 15,700 clients to around 20,500)
• women and children affected by FDV (from 13,100 clients to around 17,100)
• children and young people (15,100 clients to around 19,500).