Indigenous advocates are calling on politicians to stop playing games with housing.
As the national homelessness crisis continues to bite, the Australian Bureau of Statistics has released data from the 2021 Census estimating more than one in five people experiencing homelessness identifies as Indigenous.
In 2021, 24,930 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people were estimated to be experiencing homelessness, up 6.4 per cent from 23,437 in 2016.
Of those people, just under half (49.8 per cent) were aged 24 or under, meaning more than 12,000 Indigenous children and youths were homeless at the time of the 2021 Census.
Last week, the government's bill to establish a Housing Australia Future Fund was deferred until October, after the Senate voted to set up an inquiry.
The $10 billion measure faced an uphill battle in the Senate as the coalition and much of the cross bench took issue with the fund, which would support the construction of 30,000 new social and affordable housing properties in its first five years.
Coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peak Organisations deputy lead convenor Catherine Liddle said appropriate housing was critical to closing the gap.
"These politicians are letting perfect get in the way of good, forcing our people to languish on the streets and in overcrowded and unfit housing," she said.
The majority (60 per cent) of Indigenous people experiencing homelessness in 2021 were living in "severely" crowded dwellings, where four or more extra bedrooms were needed; a fifth (19.1 per cent) were in supported accommodation for the homeless; 9.3 per cent were living in improvised dwellings, tents, or sleeping out and 7.3 per cent were staying temporarily with other households.
National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Housing Association chief executive Ivan Simon said Indigenous people continued to be severely disadvantaged by the lack of effective housing policy by governments.
"This also means positive outcomes for the Closing the Gap targets are not being achieved, despite the efforts of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations and the hard work to implement the National Agreement on Closing the Gap," he said.
"NATSIHA sees the current initiatives proposed by the Australian government ... as just the starting point to address the extent of need."
The Northern Territory was the only state or territory to have a decrease in the number of people experiencing homelessness in 2021 (from 12,131 people in 2016 to 11,394 in 2021).
But the NT had by far the highest rate of First Nations people experiencing homelessness, with 1865 people per 10,000, followed by Western Australia with 381 people per 10,000 and South Australia with 327 people per 10,000.
WHERE'S THE HEART?
* 24,930 Indigenous people experienced homelessness at the time of the 2021 Census
* Almost half (49.8 per cent) were aged under 24
* 60 per cent were living in "severely" crowded dwellings (needing at least four extra bedrooms)
* Just over half were female (50.7 per cent) and just under half were male (49.3 per cent)
