In an Australian first, a new report has estimated the scale of housing and support needed to address chronic homelessness in Perth and Bunbury.
Supportive Housing Needs Assessment WA was commissioned by the WA Alliance to End Homelessness (WAAEH) to calculate the unmet need for Supportive Housing in Perth and Bunbury.
Supportive Housing, such as the Common Ground model, combines the provision of stable housing with wrap-around supports for people experiencing chronic homelessness and complex challenges.
The report sets out the number of homes required, the investment needed to deliver and sustain them, and the social and economic benefits of doing so.
Findings:
- The report found a current gap of 1279 Supportive Housing units across metropolitan Perth and Bunbury to 2030, including 1218 units in metropolitan Perth and 61 in Bunbury.
- The cost to build enough homes to meet this need and support tenants with wrap-around services is approximately $517 million over the next five years. After the initial construction phase, it would cost $45 million per annum in operation and service costs.
- The report found cost benefit savings of $1.44 for every dollar spent in the program’s first five years through reduced use of the health, justice, and homelessness systems. Over five years this would translate to budget savings of $118 million.
- The dollar value of improved wellbeing and life satisfaction to 1,300 housed individuals was estimated to be $839.1 million over a sixty-year period.
The report recommends the WA government develop and fund wrap-around support for at least 640 new Supportive Housing units across metropolitan Perth and Bunbury, and funding to increase wrap around services and tenancy management to another 640 existing social homes across Perth and Bunbury, over the next five years.
Funding sources could include contributions from the federal government’s Housing Australia Future Fund and the WA Government’s Community Housing New Builds Grants.
Quotes attributable to WAAEH Executive Director Louise Olney:
“The Western Australian Alliance to End Homelessness (WAAEH) commissioned this research because we believe that ending homelessness in our state is not only achievable but is our responsibility.
“For years, the community sector has known that Supportive Housing works. But we’ve lacked the robust, place-based evidence needed to move from ad hoc projects to a scalable, systemic response. This report changes gives us a clear roadmap to do that.
“While the construction of two Common Ground facilities in WA has been an important step in embedding types of Supportive Housing into the WA system, the demand and modelling in this report shows the need to significantly expand the availability of Supportive Housing across our state.”
“Supportive Housing is a cost effective and extremely successful feature of the Housing First model that’s unfortunately underrepresented and underplayed in WA’s overall strategy – this report helps to quantify what’s missing.
“Delivering the necessary infrastructure and services in Perth and Bunbury is a crucial step in achieving the goal of ending chronic homelessness in WA and helping people who face the most complex challenges to live with stability, autonomy and dignity.
We commend the WA government for its goal to ending rough sleeping and urge the Government to adopt the recommendations of this report into next year’s State budget, and to provide funding for a needs assessment for the entire state.
Quotes attributable to Dr Kate Raynor – Director of CEH and report co-author
“This research is groundbreaking. For the first time in Australia, we can answer questions about what it would actually cost to functionally end rough sleeping in a location. And we can point to the financial and human welfare benefits of doing so.
“Providing housing to people sleeping rough is (unsurprisingly) highly effective at keeping people stably housed. International research shows that when homeless people are supported by the Housing First model, their chance of being stably housed 24 months later increases from 37 per cent to 75 per cent.
“We know that Housing First participants are healthier and happier. Research has shown Housing First participants experience less emergency department visits and hospitalisations, compared to people without access to supportive housing.
“In fact, housing is so good at making people healthier that it also saves the government money. We estimated that fully funding these programs would save the Western Australian government almost $120 million over five years in reduced health and criminal justice costs.”
Read the full report on the WA Alliance to End Homelessness website: https://waaeh.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Supportive-Housing-Needs-Assessment-WA.pdf
For interview requests with
- Louise Olney, Executive Director WA Alliance to End Homelessness
- Sharon Gough, CEO Indigo Junction
- Dr Kate Raynor, Report co-author and Director of Centre for Equitable Housing
Please contact Chantal Caruso at [email protected] 0447 201 377 or
Rebecca Connell at [email protected]
Definitions and figures
Chronic homelessness: means long-term or repeated homelessness, often for 12 months or more (or multiple episodes adding up), typically involving people with complex needs like mental illness, disabilities, trauma, or addiction, making stable housing difficult. It's characterised by "churning" through shelters, rough sleeping, and emergency services, impacting health and life expectancy significantly.
Supportive Housing: Supportive Housing is an evidence-based model that combines social housing and/or affordable housing (usually in the form of rental support) with wrap-around support services that help keep households stably housed. It combines housing and services that help people who face the most complex challenges to live with stability, autonomy and dignity.
Common Ground model: The Common Ground model of purpose-built permanent, supportive housing for adults who have experienced chronic homelessness, based on a ‘housing first’ approach, where people are placed in housing as a first priority and provided with on-site support services including case management support, and supports for physical and mental illnesses, substance abuse, and links to education and training, and employment opportunities[1].
By Name List data: At May 2025 there were 82 people in Bunbury and 1406 in Perth who were rough sleeping or temporarily sheltered, according to the By Name List.
Contact details:
Chantal Caruso: [email protected] // 0447 201 377
OR
Rebecca Connell: [email protected]
