Veterans are almost three times as likely to end up on the street but three times less likely to ask for help, a new report has found.
In the past year, almost 6,000 or 5.3 percent of Australia’s half a million veterans, were on the streets, a rate almost three times higher than the general population.
But only 1.1 per cent accessed support services, in contrast to 3.4 per cent of the general population, the report from Housing All Australians found.
“Homelessness among service personnel is not just a personal tragedy but a collective failure of society,” the charity’s director Rob Pradolin said.
The report also found female veterans were more than twice as likely to die by suicide, while men were 30 percent more likely.
Pradolin said it was society’s “duty” to ensure veterans are able to reintegrate into normal life when they return home.
If left unaddressed, veterans’ homelessness would cost $4.6 billion over the next 30 years, while veteran suicides would cost $140 million per year.
RSL president Greg Melick said the costs were unacceptable and called on governments to address the issue.
“We need to house these veterans not only because it makes economic sense, but importantly because it is the moral thing to do,” he said.
“The time for action is now if we are to remove this great inequity imposed on our veterans and if we are to mitigate this unacceptable economic and social cost to our nation.”
The report was drawn from Australia’s first military census data, allowing researchers to assess new factors contributing to homelessness.
Lead researcher Meegan Sullivan said it is a big issue but “not insurmountable”.
“With a better understanding of the numbers and factors that contribute, we can start investing as a community in solutions,” Sullivan said.
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