This report explores critical issues surrounding housing insecurity and homelessness in the context of disaster response and recovery in Australia. It shows that 23,000 people in Australia are displaced annually by floods, bushfires and cyclones – a figure expected to rise dramatically as climate change accelerates – while Australia grapples with a shortfall of over 640,000 affordable homes, increasing public housing waiting lists, and homelessness services turn away 30 per cent of people seeking help. 

Developed following a national symposium attended by more than 120 leaders from across the emergency management, housing, homelessness and academic sectors, the report finds that the increasing severity of disasters, coupled with the housing crisis, is seeing more people at risk of or experiencing homelessness. 

It highlights the scale of the crisis using the latest available national figures:

• 5.6 million dwellings are at risk of bushfire.
• 953,000 homes are vulnerable to flooding.
• 17,500 properties are threatened by coastal erosion.
• Affordable private rentals collapsed from 60 per cent to just 13 per cent of stock over 25 years.
• 169,000 households are waiting for public housing, up from 155,000 in 2014. 

Key recommendations

• A National Disaster Housing and Homelessness Framework that integrates housing, homelessness, and disaster response
• Disaster resilience strategies incorporated into the National Housing and Homelessness Plan.
• Increased investment in research and data-driven solutions.
• Strengthened housing recovery in local, state and national disaster recovery planning.
• Enhanced local service access and support networks following a disaster for people facing or who are at risk of homelessness.