Addressing underlying drivers of homelessness in WA
The causes of homelessness are complex, encompassing a broad range of individual and structural determinants, including housing availability and affordability, economic and employment opportunities (or lack thereof), physical and mental health outcomes, domestic and family violence, and social and community connections.
Housing
The availability and accessibility of safe, secure, and affordable housing plays a vital role in preventing entry to homelessness and facilitating a sustained exit from homelessness. However, at the present time there are significant pressures on homelessness arising from the WA housing market.
In the social housing sector, there has been a slow decline in the number of public housing dwellings to 2022 (Figure 16). The Western Australian Government in the last few years has invested heavily in a capital works program to add to the public housing stock but this will take time to flow through to public housing dwelling stock. As a result of rising housing market pressures and the historical drop off in supply, the number of people on the public housing waiting list has risen (Figure 17) as have time spent on waiting lists (Figures 18 and 19). Between 30 June 2023 and 30 June 2024, the number of waitlist applicants decreased for the first time since 2020 (Figure 17).
Figure 16
Figure 17
Figure 18
Figure 19
In the Perth rental market, rents have risen faster than Consumer Price Index (CPI) (Figure 20),rentals are being filled quickly (Figure 21), and vacancy rates have plummeted to historically low levels in the last two years (Figure 22). Note that REIWA considers a vacancy rate of 2.5-3.5% to represent a balanced market. As can be seen in Figure 22, vacancy rates in Perth fell below 1.5% in August 2020 and remained below 1% since July 2022 up until August 2024. The Perth vacancy rate increased to 2.8% in May 2025 but has since fallen to 2.2% in August 2025 Median market rents remained stable at $650 for houses and $600 for units between May 2024 and October 2024. However, as of September 2025 median market rent has increased to $690 for houses and $650 for units.
Figure 20
Figure 21
Figure 22
Unemployment
Trends in youth unemployment rate and the general population show unemployment at very low rates in Western Australia. As can be seen in Figure 23, unemployment rates have increased marginally between the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025, but this is from a very low historical base. The unemployment rate remains low in WA. August 2025 saw a slight decrease from 4.02% in July 2025 (below the national rate of 4.2%) to 4.00% (below the national rate of 4.3%). Conversely, youth unemployment increased from 10.00% in July 2025 to 10.22% in August 2025 (above the national rate of 9.7%). Over the medium term, youth unemployment and general population unemployment rates in August 2025 (10.2% and 4.0%, respectively) decreased significantly since August 2020 (13.5% and 6.8%, respectively). The strong state of the WA labour market is acting to reduce pressures on homelessness at present.
Figure 23
Young people in custody and out of home care
There is an established link between young people with experience in the justice system and lifetime risk of repeat episodes of homelessness.
Figure 24 indicates that Aboriginal youth are heavily over-represented in juvenile detention figures. Overall, the number of young people in custody decreased between 2014 -15 and 2020 -21, although figures bounced back in 2021 – 22. However, the rate of Aboriginal children in custody decreased from 298.4 per 10,000 in 2016 – 17 to 240.5 per 10,000 in 2023 – 24.
Figure 24
There is a strong association between individuals who have experienced out-of-home care and lifetime risk of homelessness. The steady trend in the rate of children in out-of-home care among the Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander population illustrated in Figure 25 is concerning.
Figure 25
Physical and mental health
As can be seen in Figure 26, the proportion of persons with high or very high psychological distress has fluctuated over time with no clear positive or negative general trend. However, it is important to note that the 2017-18 results show the highest percentage of the population with self-assessed high/very high psychological distress since the introduction of the NHS in 2001. The most recent results (11.9%) from 2022 do exhibit a slight decrease from the 2017-18 peak.
Figure 26
Alcohol and drug use
There is a link between problematic alcohol and drug use and risk of homelessness. In addition to the detrimental health impact, substance abuse interacts with a range of other variables including financial stability and access to employment and training. Alcoholism is more prevalent among the homeless population than the general population, acting as both a driver into homelessness and a consequence of homelessness.
In Figure 27 there was a particularly sharp increase from 2013 to 2016 in the percentage of Western Australians who have either ‘never drunk’ or are ‘ex-drinkers.’ Inversely, the percent of those who ‘drink daily’ has shown a gradual decline. However, between 2019 and 2022-23 there was a slight increase in the percent of those who ‘drink daily’ and a large decrease in those who have ‘never drunk’.
Figure 27
There has been a positive growth in ‘abstainers’ and a slight fall in ‘risky’ consumption of alcohol in recent years (Figure 28). The AIHW defines ‘risky’ drinking as consuming more than 2 standard drinks on average every day.
Figure 28
The proportion of those who had used illicit drugs in the 12 months prior to the survey decreased across the 2010, 2013, 2016, and 2019 waves of the National Drug Strategy Household Survey (Figure 29). However, rates of illicit drug use increased in the last year of reporting from 15.6% in 2019 to 20.1% in 2022-23 (Figure 29).
Figure 29
Domestic violence
Reported family violence offences have increased by more than 100 per cent in the past decade (Figure 30). Domestic and family violence is the leading cause of homelessness for women and their children, which may explain the high rates of women and children seeking assistance from SHS agencies (Figure 31). With respect to family violence offences, a peak is observed in 2024-25 which represents a significant increase since 2021-22 (Figure 30). When interpreting the previous peak observed in 2019-20, it is necessary to consider the potential impact of COVID-19 on trends of family violence offences (Figure 30).
