Homelessness camp in Perth's south tip of iceberg

A homelessness camp recently disbanded by authorities in Perth's south is just the tip of the iceberg of a growing challenge.

Just ask those on the frontline.

Brett McCaul, the Salvation Army's outreach team leader in Western Australia, has been working in the sector for six years.

He says the problem is not just the increasing number of people who need help, but the diversity in demographic groups, including dual-income families.

"We really don't have the resources to be able to accommodate the amount of families that we're seeing," he said.

"We often see we've got a lot of elderly people that are living in some accommodation services, transitional services, that probably should be in aged care.

"Homelessness is really something that doesn't discriminate anymore. Anyone is one, two steps away from homelessness at any time."

It was a problem which was evident among the 45 people who camped along Memorial Drive in Rockingham, before they were moved on at the end of last month.

Unable to afford necessities

It's a similar story in Perth's north, where FIFO worker Josh Chinnery volunteers for Vinnies in Joondalup.

The centre reported a 36 per cent increase in demand over the last year, a figure put down, in part, to challenges like family and domestic violence and higher rents.

"Even the people that have been holding down jobs for 20 or 30 years, they're coming in and they're at the point of becoming homeless because they can't afford just their everyday necessities," Mr Chinnery said.

Maija Hildebrand, Vinnies WA’s service development manager, also leads the Joondalup-Wanneroo Ending Homeless Group and said those needing help now included a growing number of couples, people with pets and families trying to send their kids to school.

"Although it's not as visible as we might have seen in Memorial Drive, it doesn't mean it's not there," she said.

Data from the City of Wanneroo showed around one-in-three people rough sleeping in the area last financial year were sleeping in their cars.

Sleeping rough

Neil Clifford-Mills knows all about sleeping in cars — his vehicle was his home until he ended up on a park bench in Inglewood in February.

"If it wasn't for the generosity of the people around here to help me through, I'd be in trouble," he said.

The 66-year-old said he was receiving Centrelink payments while managing health issues but was unable to find anywhere to live after he couldn't stay with a friend any longer.

"The housing just isn't there," he said.

"The workers that come and see me have said, you know, there's just, there's nothing available."

Mr Clifford-Mills was offered a reprieve after sharing his story on 102.5 ABC Perth, when a listener offered him somewhere to stay temporarily.

"There are a lot of people that do want to help, but I suppose a lot of people don't really think that they would find themselves in that situation," he said.

"It would change if they thought about it a lot more."

Unsuitable housing

Even when housing does become available, it is not always suitable.

Libby Sweeney said she had been without stable accommodation for about two-and-a-half years after her relationship with her daughter broke down.

Her two dogs, Pablo and Yogi, keep her company on the streets, but have also limited her options because not all accommodation allows pets.

"I've had people turn around and say to me, look, you're not going to get accommodation with the animals, you're just not. It'd be much easier if you fostered them out," Ms Sweeney said.

"They're like my children.

"I would stay out here, rather than give them up. It's just not an option."

Local solutions

Both Mr McCaul and Ms Hildebrand said stronger local support services would go some way towards helping with the homelessness problems, because they would be able to leverage people's existing support networks, rather than forcing them to travel into central Perth.

Asked about the issue, a spokesperson for Homelessness Minister Matthew Swinbourn said this year's state budget included an extra $91.1 million for homelessness services.

"The Department [of Communities] works closely with service providers, local governments and community organisations to identify gaps in service delivery and strengthen place-based responses where they are needed most," they said.

Ms Hildebrand, however, said those investments were yet to make a difference in the northern suburbs, where her teams were seeing the time between needing support and becoming homeless shortening.

"We don't have any crisis accommodation, we don't have any transitional, short-term or medium[-term] accommodation for adults over 25," she said.

"We don't actually have many options to then get people on the right pathway."