In March 2023, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released its Count of Homelessness drawn from the 2021 Census. Nationally, homelessness grew by five per cent between the 2016 and 2021 Census.
In Victoria, the increase was more than four times the national average – an alarming 24 per cent higher than reported five years earlier.
In this report, we dig deeper to look at where and how the biggest increases occurred, to present and characterise the top 20 areas of Victoria where homelessness increased.