Public housing regularly being offered to people on NSW waitlist who have died

Homelessness NSW has called on the government to build 5,000 social homes each year for the next decade. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

At least one person has died every month before finally being offered public housing in New South Wales, new data has revealed.

Data provided to Guardian Australia after a freedom of information request shows that between April 2019 and March this year, 77 people who had already died were offered housing. This included 12 people in 2020 and 2021, 17 in 2022 and 11 in 2023.