Homelessness in our community

The City's role

Helping people who are experiencing homelessness is a responsibility shared between many organisations. The City does not own, manage or construct social or affordable housing and is not able to place people into housing. 

The City's role is to:

  • Link with local support services who provide support services to those experiencing homelessness
  • Advocate for investment in social and affordable housing
  • Upskill our staff on homelessness and referral pathways
  • Balance the rights and needs of all people to be in public places, including people going through homelessness

Are people allowed to sleep in public places?

Being homeless and in a public place is not illegal.

Often people without a home want to be in a public place because that is where they feel safest. People experiencing homelessness have the same rights as everyone else.

They have the right to:

  • Be treated with dignity and respect
  • Be in public spaces
  • Join in public activities and processes
  • Access services
  • Have pets
  • Have belongings
  • Ask for or say no to help

What can I do?

About homelessness

What is homelessness?

There are many definitions of homelessness. The City uses the Australian Bureau of Statistics definition of homelessness:

"When a person does not have suitable accommodation alternatives, they are considered homeless if their current living arrangement:

  • is in a dwelling that is inadequate; or
  • has no tenure, or if their initial tenure is short and not extendable; or
  • does not allow them to have control of, and access to space for social relations”

This definition views homelessness as fitting into three categories:

Primary homelessness

This is when a person is ‘rough sleeping’ in a public place. Examples of this could include staying in parks or toilet blocks. 

Secondary homelessness

This is when a person can only stay in a place for a little while and needs to keep moving. Examples of this could include staying in an emergency refuge or ‘couch surfing’.

Tertiary homelessness

This is when a person is staying in a place that is:

  • Unsafe, like a home that has been damaged in a natural disaster
  • Not really suited to their needs, like living in a shed

Homelessness is not always obvious. ‘Rough sleepers’ are the most visual homeless group yet make up just a small number of people experiencing homelessness.

How big is the issue?

In 2022-2023, specialist homelessness services across Australia helped about 274,000 people. 

Of these people: 

  • 35% were from a lone-parent household
  • 60% were female
  • 16% were children under the age of 10
  • 12% were children and youth aged 10-17
  • 18% were adults aged 25-34
  • 9% of the total females were aged 55+
  • 12% of the total males were aged 55+

(Source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare)

In 2021, between 8.5% and 11.7% of Australia’s total population aged 15+ were at risk of homelessness (Source: Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute). Applying this to Greater Bendigo, this would be about 10,700 to 14,750 people.

In Greater Bendigo in March 2021, there was an identified need for at least another 2,730 homes for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness (Source: City of Greater Bendigo Affordable Housing Action Plan). This number is likely to have grown since 2021.

Why do people experience homelessness?

People experience homelessness for lots of different reasons and it’s often more than one. As things pile up, they put more and more pressure on a person. As a result of this pressure, the line between having a home or not can change quickly. It does not take much to push people at risk of homelessness into actual homelessness.

Some of this pressure comes from social causes like: 

  • A lack of affordable housing
  • Poverty
  • Increasing living costs
  • Unemployment

Adding to these social pressures, certain life events can push people into homelessness, like: 

  • Relationship breakdown
  • Domestic or family violence
  • Ill health

Who provides housing and accommodation for people experiencing homelessness?

  • The Victorian Government
  • Local support services like Haven Home Safe
  • Some local charities