• Every night of the year 100,000 Australians are homeless.

• Of these, 36,000 are homeless children.

• Domestic and family violence is the most common reason for people seeking emergency accommodation.

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are more likely to experience homelessness than any other group in Australia. Indigenous people make up 2% of the Australian population and 9% of the homeless population.

• In the Northern Territory, 40% of homeless people “sleep rough”, more than double and in some cases triple the rate in all of the other states and territories.

• The majority of homeless independent young people aged 12 to 18 years do not attend school, and more than half are unemployed.

[Source: <http://www.afho.org.au/3_news/fact_sheets>. Got a shockfact? Email <glw@greenleft.org.au>.]

From Green Left Weekly, August 25, 2004.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.

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