The inaugural edition of Employed and At Risk, released in 2024, highlighted
a stark increase in employed Victorians receiving homelessness support.
This phenomenon signalled Victoria’s homelessness crisis reaching a new
level of severity.
Employment was no longer a protection from homelessness,
and homelessness risk was being faced by broader sections of the
community who’d never before had to consider that possibility.
Two years on, Employed and At Risk 2026 finds this problem is getting
worse.
Once again, we have analysed data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, including new data on employed people in each Victorian Local Government Area (LGA) who received Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) support.
This analysis shows that the number of working Victorians receiving SHS support has increased 42% increase over the past four years. It also reveals how even full-time employment is no longer enough to keep Victorians safe from the risk of homelessness. Approximately one-third of employed people receiving homelessness support in 2024-25 had full-time jobs.
Read the full report to learn more.