Approximately 62,300 Australians aged 0-14 accessed Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) in 2020-21.1 Behind this figure are families sleeping in cars, on couches, and in temporary shelters while children struggle to grow, learn, and stay healthy.
Without a safe, stable home, a child faces compounding disadvantages that can affect well-being, education, and financial security in later life.¹
For the adults around them, knowing what warning signs to look out for and where to find support during this vulnerable time can be the difference between a crisis point and a path forward. Here, we explain the realities of child homelessness in Australia and what it takes to address it.
What is child homelessness?
Child homelessness in Australia covers a much wider range of situations than sleeping rough. The Australian Bureau of Statistics defines homelessness across three main categories:²
- Primary homelessness means living without any conventional shelter: sleeping in a car, a park, a doorway, or on the street.
- Secondary homelessness involves moving frequently between temporary options, including couch surfing, emergency accommodation, or crisis shelters, usually for less than 12 weeks.
- Tertiary homelessness refers to living in boarding houses, hostels, or severely crowded dwellings without secure tenure, often for months or years.
It’s also important to note that child homelessness rarely looks the same from one case to the next. Many young Australians are with a parent or carer fleeing domestic and family violence, or struggling to make ends meet in the midst of the housing crisis.
Others are alone, enduring homelessness without an adult to care for them. In 2024–25, SHS agencies helped approximately 40,500 unaccompanied children and young people.³
Hidden homelessness: how children slip through the cracks
Many children experiencing homelessness aren’t sleeping rough on the streets. They’re curling up on a relative’s couch, sharing a bed with siblings in an overcrowded house, or spending nights in cars or motel rooms while a parent tries to find something more permanent.
Because it doesn’t match the stereotype, this kind of homelessness often goes unnoticed. Teachers, GPs, and other professionals may have no idea a child is struggling, particularly when that child, or their family, is working hard to keep it under the radar.
The reasons for staying quiet are understandable. Fear that child protection services will get involved, shame, and a sense of family loyalty can all stop children and their parents from letting others know about their situation.
Instead, they manage it privately, and the instability continues. This invisibility is a very real problem. Without disclosure, SHS referrals are never called in. This support goes unused not because it doesn’t exist, but because nobody knew to ask.
The causes of homelessness for children
Child homelessness is rarely caused by one thing. Financial pressure, family conflict, and an increasingly unaffordable rental market are all major drivers.
Let’s take a closer look at each one.
Domestic and family violence
Family and domestic violence encompasses any violent, threatening, or controlling behaviour that makes a home feel unsafe. It is the leading cause of homelessness in Australia, experienced by over 40% of all SHS clients in 2024-25, most of whom are women and children.³
Leaving can feel like the only way out for victims of this violence, even with no clear plan for what comes next. Mothers often flee with their children, or a child might escape on their own after witnessing or experiencing abuse directly.
Regardless, the consequences stretch far beyond foregoing a roof over their heads. For many children, getting out of a dangerous home might also mean losing their school, their friends, and the routines that made daily life manageable.
These losses can compound the original trauma. Without the right support in place, rebuilding a stable life becomes significantly harder.
Family breakdown
Family conflict is another common reason why SHS clients under the age of 14 seek support.¹
It can take many forms. Some families are pulled apart by constant arguing, others by a separation that leaves a child shuttling between two unstable homes. A parent might walk out of the picture entirely, or may be dealing with mental illness, addiction, grief or burnout, and simply can’t safely care for their child anymore.
Ultimately, when the household stops working, children can be passed on to grandparents, aunties or family friends. If that arrangement falls apart, too, a child might run away or be neglected, with nowhere left to go.
In 2024-25, 1 in 7 SHS clients were children or young people experiencing homelessness alone.³ Importantly, data only counts the children who actually reached a service. Plenty more cope alone, off the radar entirely.
The housing crisis and cost of living
Australia’s housing crisis and rising cost of living are putting stable accommodation out of reach for thousands of families. Financial difficulties, unaffordable rents and a shortage of suitable homes are now among the biggest drivers of homelessness for children under 14.¹
Rents have raced ahead of wages and income support for years4, with the latest Rental Affordability Index (2015–2025) showing that affordability has fallen across capital cities and regional communities.⁵
While the government-funded Commonwealth Rent Assistance program aims to help with housing costs, it’s falling short. In June 2024, around 538,000 income units (42%) were still in rental stress after receiving a CRA payment.⁶
When the price of accommodation swallows most of your budget, the rest of family life is placed under strain. This financial pressure not only chips away at parents’ mental health, but also shrinks what’s left for groceries, school costs and doctors’ visits.⁷
For example, recent reports show that families on CRA routinely cut back on food, power bills and their children’s health and wellbeing in a bid to keep their tenancy.⁸
Finding a new place is harder than ever, too. Open homes in many suburbs draw dozens of applicants, so landlords can take their pick. The applications with clean rental ledgers, high incomes and strong references tend to get the keys.
In turn, single parents, families on income support, and women escaping domestic violence with their children are often left with nowhere to live.
Signs that a child may be homeless or at risk
Anyone who spends regular time around children, whether as a teacher, coach, neighbour, or family friend, is in a position to help with homelessness. You just need to know how to spot the warning signs.
That’s because most children will never tell you they’re homeless. For most, it surfaces in a pattern of small details that, taken together, point to something more concerning.
Potential indicators of homelessness include:
- Behaviour and mood: Persistent lateness, exhaustion, or visible reluctance to leave at the end of school can point to an unsettled home life.
- Personality shifts: A child may become withdrawn, start mixing with a new crowd, or begin taking risks they wouldn’t have before.
- Physical appearance: Unwashed clothes worn across multiple days, a lack of basic school supplies, or poor personal hygiene are all worth noting, particularly when they become a pattern rather than a one-off.
- What they say: Comments about sleeping at different people’s places, falling out with family, or not wanting to go home can carry more weight than they seem. A child who sidesteps questions about their living situation, or who can’t easily provide a parent or carer’s contact details, may be navigating something they don’t have words for yet.
- Where they spend their time: A child regularly occupying public spaces, libraries, shopping centres, or parks well outside of school hours may simply have nowhere they feel settled enough to be.
Of course, no single sign tells the whole story. But when several appear together, or persist over time, it’s important to respond with care and compassion. The aim is to make it easier for a child to ask for help, not harder.
The consequences of experiencing homelessness in childhood
Homelessness can disrupt every pillar of a child’s life. Without a stable place to call home, children can face greater risks to their health, happiness, education, relationships and sense of safety.
This instability also undermines the rights set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which guarantees every child a standard of living adequate for their physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development.
Here, we explain how the brutal reality of homelessness can hinder a child’s growth and well-being, with impacts often persisting well into adulthood.
Poor physical health
Homelessness can make it much harder to access essentials like nutritious food, clean clothing, hygiene facilities and healthcare services.
On top of interrupted sleep and disjointed routines, these limitations can affect a child’s physical development.
For instance, children living through homelessness are more likely to experience stunted growth, respiratory infections and hospitalisations.⁹,¹⁰,¹¹
Additionally, infants born into homelessness are more likely to be underweight and have health complications¹², particularly when their mothers can’t access prenatal care.¹³
Emotional and mental health difficulties
When children experience homelessness, their sense of safety and certainty can be shaken. Many live with constant fear, sadness and anxiety, especially when they’re moving between temporary accommodation, sleeping in dangerous places or watching their parents struggle under pressure.
As a result, preschool and school-aged children experiencing homelessness are more likely to have mental health difficulties than children in stable housing.¹⁴ This ongoing trauma can contribute to higher rates of emotional and behavioural problems.¹⁴, ¹⁵
Without access to age-appropriate care, counselling or other support services, these concerns can go unnoticed or untreated, making it harder for children to recover and feel secure again.
Stunted social development
Children first learn how to belong at home, then build those social skills through everyday moments in parks, classrooms, clubs and neighbourhoods around them. Homelessness can take these opportunities away.
Frequent moves mean leaving suburbs, schools, sports teams and friendships behind, often with no warning and no chance to say goodbye. Support networks that took years to build can disappear in a weekend.
The isolation runs both ways. Parents, stretched thin and dealing with their own stress, often have less capacity to organise playdates, drop-offs and the extracurriculars that keep a child connected.
Meanwhile, children may feel embarrassed about where they’re living, hide it from classmates, or stop inviting friends over. Loneliness can set in, and with it, a sense of being on the outside looking in.
This disconnection can stand in the way of social development. Without early bonds, children may find it hard to build trust, confidence, communication skills and a sense of belonging in later life.
Missed educational opportunities
Homelessness can disrupt a child’s education quickly. Moving between crisis accommodation, overcrowded housing, or temporary stays may mean changing schools, missing lessons, and falling behind.
The barriers are often practical. Without reliable transport, internet, school supplies, uniforms, enough sleep or a quiet place to study, older children can struggle to keep up and feel included.
Younger children may also miss the routines and play spaces that support communication, motor skills, emotional regulation and social development.
Overcrowding can make this worse, with research linking it to poorer sleep, lower concentration, and worse academic performance.¹⁶
Unfortunately, the repercussions of disrupted education can ripple through life and affect future housing security without the right support.
Research suggests that children who lack stable housing are less likely to complete secondary education17 and more likely to experience homelessness in adulthood.
The cost to society
The consequences of child homelessness extend far beyond the child and their family. It also places long-term pressure on housing systems, wraparound support, health services, and the wider community.
These demands can bring significant costs, with governments often spending more on crisis responses to homelessness than they would on stable housing and ongoing support.
Australian research found that people experiencing long-term homelessness used about $48,217 each in State Government-funded services over 12 months.¹⁸
When those same people moved into permanent supportive housing, their use of government-funded services fell to about $35,117 over the following 12 months.
This means supportive housing saves society approximately $13,100 each year, while also giving families the stability needed to rebuild their lives and break the homelessness cycle.
The One in Ten campaign: creating more homes for Australian families
Child homelessness will not be solved until Australia builds more affordable homes and strengthens protections for vulnerable renters.
Unfortunately, community housing providers like Home In Place cannot meet this need alone. We require long-term public investment to acquire, build and manage permanent housing that is affordable, secure and appropriate for families with children.
This demands coordinated action between the federal government, housing providers, homelessness services, health services, legal support and local communities.
That’s why Home In Place is calling for a clear commitment from our nation’s leaders: one in ten new homes should be built as affordable housing.
This national action plan would help more families find suitable homes sooner and reduce the number of children growing up without the safety and stability they need to thrive.
Learn more about our One in Ten campaign.
Find stable housing and homelessness support with Home In Place
No child should have to sleep in a car, move from couch to couch, or live with the constant stress of not knowing where they’ll stay next.
For families with children, getting help early can make a real difference. The sooner you have access to a safe home, the easier it can be to protect your child’s school routine, relationship, health, and well-being.
As a registered Community Housing Provider, Home In Place works with families across New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness. We can help you understand your options for affordable housing, community housing and emergency temporary accommodation.
Our team can also connect you with age-appropriate support services and resources to help with healthcare, tenancy issues, family safety, and other practical needs.
If you’re worried about where your family will live, or you’re caring for a child with no stable home, please get in touch for personalised support.
References
- AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) 2022, Australia’s children, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 8 May 2026, doi:10.25816/5ebca4d0fa7dd.
- Australian Bureau of Statistics 2012, Homelessness, cat. no. 4922.0, ABS, Canberra, viewed 11 May 2026, https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/Latestproducts/4922.0Appendix32012
- AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) n.d., Young people presenting alone, AIHW, Australian Government, viewed 11 May 2026, https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/homelessness-services/specialist-homelessness-services-annual-report/contents/young-people-presenting-alone
- Home In Place n.d., Solving Australia’s housing crisis, Home In Place, viewed 11 May 2026, https://homeinplace.org/solving-australias-housing-crisis/
- SGS Economics & Planning 2025, Rental Affordability Index 2025, SGS Economics & Planning, November.
- AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) n.d., Financial assistance, AIHW, Australian Government, viewed 11 May 2026, https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/housing-assistance/housing-assistance-in-australia/contents/financial-assistance
- Taylor, M & Edwards, B 2012, Housing and children’s wellbeing and development: evidence from a national longitudinal study, Family Matters, no. 91, Australian Institute of Family Studies, Melbourne.
- Leishman, C, Hewton, J, Ong ViforJ, R, Washington, L, Zhang, R & Liang, W 2025, The impact of Commonwealth Rent Assistance on low-income privately renting parents and children, AHURI Final Report No. 446, Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute Limited, Melbourne, viewed 11 May 2026, https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/finalreports/446, doi:10.18408/ahuri3234501.
- Fierman, AH, Dreyer, BP, Quinn, L, Shulman, S, Courtlandt, CD & Guzzo, R 1991, ‘Growth delay in homeless children’, Pediatrics, vol. 88, no. 5, pp. 918–925.
- Rafferty, Y & Shinn, M 1991, ‘The impact of homelessness on children’, American Psychologist, vol. 46, no. 11, pp. 1170–1179, doi:10.1037/0003-066X.46.11.1170.
- Weinreb, L, Goldberg, R, Bassuk, E & Perloff, J 1998, ‘Determinants of health and service use patterns in homeless and low-income housed children’, Pediatrics, vol. 102, no. 3, pp. 554–562, doi:10.1542/peds.102.3.554.
- Clark, RE, Weinreb, L, Flahive, JM & Seifert, RW 2019, ‘Infants exposed to homelessness: health, health care use, and health spending from birth to age six’, Health Affairs, vol. 38, no. 5, pp. 721–728.
- St Martin, BS, Spiegel, AM, Sie, L, Leonard, SA, Seidman, D, Girsen, AI, Shaw, GM & El-Sayed, YY 2021, ‘Homelessness in pregnancy: perinatal outcomes’, Journal of Perinatology, vol. 41, no. 12, pp. 2742–2750, doi:10.1038/s41372-021-01187-3.
- Bassuk, EL, Richard, MK & Tsertsvadze, A 2015, ‘The prevalence of mental illness in homeless children: a systematic review and meta-analysis’, Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, vol. 54, no. 2, pp. 86–96.e2, doi:10.1016/j.jaac.2014.11.008.
- Liu, M, Hwang, SW, Rehm, J & Stergiopoulos, V 2021, ‘Adverse childhood experiences and related outcomes among adults experiencing homelessness: a systematic review and meta-analysis’, The Lancet Public Health, vol. 6, no. 11, pp. e836–e847.
- Solari, CD & Mare, RD 2012, ‘Housing crowding effects on children’s wellbeing’, Social Science Research, vol. 41, no. 2, pp. 464–476, doi:10.1016/j.ssresearch.2011.09.012.
- Dworsky, A, Morton, MH & Samuels, B 2019, Education and youth homelessness: a brief from the Voices of Youth Count initiative, Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, viewed 11 May 2026, https://www.chapinhall.org/wp-content/uploads/ChapinHall_VoYC_Education-Brief.pdf
- Molloy, S 2024, ‘Viral image exposes preventable crisis gripping city once considered paradise’, News.com.au, 6 November, viewed 24 June 2026, https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/viral-image-exposes-preventable-crisis-gripping-city-once-considered-paradise/news-story/785d529af4628b959e11aa141716e56d.
