Homeless people face a significantly higher risk of dying, particularly from accidental poisoning and suicide, compared to the general population, according to a new study by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
The study found that they die much younger than most Australians, with mortality among this group rising by 63 percent over the past decade.
The analysis examined 12,500 people who received help from Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) between 2012 and 2022, part of the 1.4 million Australians who needed homelessness support during that time.
The findings revealed that SHS clients had consistently higher age-standardised death rates than the general population, especially men, whose risk of death was 1.7 to 2.3 times more likely, compared to 1.0 to 1.4 times for women.
Among SHS clients, men were consistently twice as likely to die as women, though male SHS clients were more likely to be experiencing homelessness.
In 2022, people who received SHS support in their final year of life accounted for one in six accidental poisoning deaths, one in 20 suicides, and one in 25 transport-related deaths, despite homeless people being just 0.1 percent of the population.
Forty-six percent of fatalities occurred in people aged 35–54, while nearly one in eight deaths (12 percent) involved individuals aged 25–34.
Alarmingly, children under 14 accounted for 1.3 percent of deaths in this group. Homeless youth aged 15-25 saw their share of deaths rise from 5.5 percent in 2020 to 8 percent in 2021.
People who were rough sleeping were twice as likely to die each year, with around 1 in every 100 SHS clients or one percent, compared to people experiencing other forms of homelessness and housing situations such as couch surfing and short-term or temporary accommodation (0.3 to 0.5 percent).
“These are deaths of needless poverty and despair, and they could have been prevented,” said the CEO of Homelessness Australia, Kate Colvin.
“People sleeping rough are dying at just 46 years of age on average—that’s decades younger than the general population. This national crisis demands immediate action.
Colvin criticised systemic failures, citing overwhelmed services, discharges from hospitals to the streets, and chronic housing shortages as key issues.
“Every death represents a systemic failure to provide the housing and support that could have saved a life,” Colvin said.
The study also highlighted that around half of SHS clients were not homeless when they first sought help but were at risk.
Among these, two-thirds were women, though men were more likely to be homeless when accessing services.
According to the 2021 Census, 122,494 Australians were experiencing homelessness on any given night, including one in seven aged under 12.
Similarly, one in seven people who were homeless on Census night in 2021 were aged 55 and over.
Youth aged between 12 and 24 made up 23 percent of the homeless population.
