The number of homeless youths in Australia fell by more than 20 per cent between 2001 and 2006, but more families and younger children don't have anywhere to live, new statistics show.
Data from the 2006 Census - showing 105,000 people were homeless in 2006, up by about 6,000 people from 2001 - was released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Welfare organisation Mission Australia today said the figures were bad news because when population growth was taken into account, the rate of homelessness had remained static.
That trend showed governments were not doing enough to tackle the problem, it said.
The number of homeless youth, aged 12 to 18, fell from 22,600 in 2001 to 17,891 in 2006, the ABS said.
However during the same period, the number of homeless children under 12 increased by 2,192, or 22 per cent.
The number of homeless families increased by 10 per cent to 7,483 in 2006, and included about 10,000 parents and 16,000 children.
There was also a 10 per cent jump in the number of single or coupled homeless adults without children, who accounted for about 60,000 homeless people.
Indigenous people remained more likely to experience homelessness than other Australians, the data reveals. Overall, the Census identified 2.4 per cent of people as indigenous, but the demographic made up 10 per cent of all homeless people.
On the night of the survey, most homeless people were provided with some sort of shelter.
About 45 per cent were staying temporarily with friends or relatives, and a further 40 per cent were in supported accommodation or boarding houses.
The number of homeless people sleeping rough on the streets was more than 16,000 in 2006, up from 14,000 five years earlier.
Mission Australia said the figures showed governments had failed to address homelessness.
"The years between 2001 and 2006 were some of the best economic times Australia has experienced and it was still not enough to reduce homeless numbers," Mission Australia's chief executive Toby Hall said.
"To have 105,000 people who are homeless on any one night in a country as wealthy and as prosperous as Australia is atrocious."
Federal Housing Minister Tanya Plibersek agreed the figures were unacceptable.
"After 17 years of strong economic growth it is unacceptable that 105,000 Australians are homeless on any given night, including 12,000 children," Ms Plibersek said.
However the fall in homeless youth was a positive sign and could be attributed to to early intervention programs.
But Mission Australia warned the figures on youth homelessness may not be accurate.
"Many homeless teenagers are couch-surfing with friends, as a result, they're often not counted as homeless which could have impacted on the figures," Mr Hall said.
"If the numbers tell us anything it's that previous policies for tackling homelessness have failed and we need a new approach."
The federal government is working on a strategy to tackle homelessness by 2020.
