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Politicians are being urged to seize a historic opportunity to end the disconnect between housing and mental health support that is plunging tens of thousands of women into a doom loop of domestic violence, homelessness, sexual assault and mental ill health.

New analysis from Homelessness Australia, to be presented to MPs and senators in a briefing in Canberra today, shows almost 30,000 women and girls who had experienced domestic and family violence and who had a mental health issue sought homelessness support in 2024-25, a rise of 6 per cent in two years.

Nearly 12,000 of them, two in five, were still homeless when their support ended. That figure has climbed 14 per cent in two years. Four out of five were under 45.

Homelessness Australia CEO, Kate Colvin, said the numbers revealed the contemporary face of a crisis most Australians have never had to confront.

“The person at the centre of this crisis is not who most people picture. Nationally, almost two thirds of homelessness clients with a current mental health issue are women, and almost half are aged 25 to 44,” Colvin said.

“These are young women who have fled a violent home and have nowhere safe to go. Without housing and without ongoing support, there is no way out.

“For too many women it is violence on the street or violence at home. A woman may well calculate that a man offering a place to stay with strings attached is the least worst option. That is not a choice anyone in this country should have to make, yet we are forcing it on vulnerable women and girls every day.”

Clients with a current mental health issue have grown at an average of 5.4 per cent a year since 2011, nearly four times the rate for homelessness clients overall. Around 9,000 who finished support in 2024-25 were rough sleeping when they started, and about 4,000 were still rough sleeping at the end.

Colvin said the next National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement and the Second Action Plan to end violence against women are both being thrashed out now, creating a unique opportunity to deliver what the most vulnerable women actually need.

“Women with complex needs require housing and ongoing support together, and the agreement is the opportunity to finally join those two things up.”

Contact: Nick Lucchinelli 0422 229 032