Expensive housing, debt and unexpected financial problems are key factors behind homelessness in Australia, a new report shows.
The Wesley Mission interviewed 206 homeless people at six shelters across inner-Sydney about their wellbeing and way of life.
The report, called 'More than a bed: Sydney's Homeless Speak Out', found 71 per cent of respondents identified the housing crisis as the major reason for their homelessness.
Of those, 88 per cent said accumulated debt and unexpected financial difficulties were factors behind the housing crisis.
Nearly a quarter said that before becoming homeless they had been earning incomes of between $674 and $961 a week.
The findings indicate how easy it is for an ordinary person to slip through the cracks, Wesley Mission chief executive Reverend Keith Garner says.
"The homeless of tomorrow could be the homeowner of today," he told reporters in Sydney.
"It could be somebody with their family in our suburbs or in regional Australia or a young person in one of our schools.
Federal Housing Minister Tanya Plibersek said the Rudd government had invested $22 billion to make housing more affordable.
"It's a very complex and difficult problem, but key to addressing homelessness will be increasing affordable housing options for people who have been homeless."
Rev Garner called for local, state and federal governments to work together to help the homeless.
"It's a blight on our nation that after almost two decades of economic growth 100,000 Australians are homeless and over 2,000 in inner-Sydney," he said.
"Solving homelessness is everyone's problem, it's a national problem, it's an Australian issue."
