Wagga Wagga homelessness crisis deepens as winter bites

As winter settles over the fog and frost-prone city of Wagga Wagga, there is a sense of despair among the growing number of people experiencing homelessness.

"I've already been wet," Deanne said.

"The stick's gone through the tent, so there's tape on that. Still gets wet in there, then you can't dry your bedding."

Deanne said she alerted authorities in October that she had to leave an abusive relationship and needed somewhere to live.

Unable to wait, she eventually made the difficult decision to leave the coastal town where her children from a previous relationship were living.

"Every time I rang housing, it was, 'It's getting assessed, getting assessed,'" she said.

"I said, 'Look, I'm going to have nowhere to go' … I was trying to look around for somewhere safe."

An emergency response to the homelessness crisis is underway in Wagga after a baby died and their twin was hospitalised shortly after their birth at a camp on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River in May.

Dozens of camps are still visible in the city and its surroundings, including at new locations along the river and in a central park.

A Homes NSW spokesperson said there had been "a reduction in people camped along the river due to the engagement of Homes NSW", and that "there was more to do".

Born and bred in the area, Tim Collins found himself homeless for the first time after falling behind in his rent about three months ago.

"There aren't many [houses] around, and a lot of people are applying," he said.

"I have noticed too that there are people who offer more than what the rent is."

Mr Collins said being homeless made it a "struggle" to get his life back on track.

'Bad situation getting worse'

The data on the number of people sleeping rough is sparse, with the Census only collecting figures every five years.

The Australian Alliance to End Homelessness is working with community groups in some areas to help bridge the data gap and inform policy.

"It's definitely a bad situation getting worse," chief executive David Pearson said.

"There are ad hoc arrangements around the country … so it's a real challenge to pinpoint exactly what's going on in different places."

The latest street count conducted by NSW agencies showed that numbers in Wagga had nearly doubled to 25, but it is clear to frontline services and anyone walking around the city that the real number is many times that and is becoming increasingly visible.

There are some things we do know:

The total number of applicants on the NSW waiting list for social housing is up from 58,218 to 69,051 in the two years to April

In Wagga, the number of people on the priority housing list surged 500 per cent in the four years to June 2025 to 102, but has since dropped to 63

There are a total of 679 applicants in Wagga, up from 656 two years ago, but down from a peak of 742 in March 2025

Twelve homes are set to be added to Wagga's social housing stock this month

Most are told to expect to be on the waiting list for up to 10 years, or four for those on a priority list

"I won't have four years. I'm not waiting four years," Deanne said.

In the past two years, rents in Wagga have climbed from $370 a week for a two-bedroom unit to $420, or from $480 to $550 for a three-bedroom unit.

Meanwhile, rental vacancy rates are well below 2 per cent.

Deanne said finding a private rental was not an option.

"You could if you're not going to eat, maybe, because the prices are ridiculous," she said.

"Then you've got to think of electricity, power, gas, water, and bond.

"And because I left with nothing, I didn't take no furniture, no nothing. Got no car. I got clothes."

She said in the current housing environment, homelessness "could happen to anyone".

While homelessness data paints an incomplete picture, on the ground, community groups are responding to a surge in demand for services.

St Vincent de Paul runs a 16-bed shelter, which is full, and offers a regular breakfast for anyone who wants to drop in.

"The numbers [for breakfast] have grown from when I started 18 months ago, from maybe five people turning up, now we're getting anywhere up to 50," service manager Damien Adams said.

"There's a lot of strain on people with accommodation, cost of fuel, cost of groceries, just the cost of living in general."

Tash Eagle, executive pastor at the Generocity Church, said there had been a 50 per cent increase in the number of people accessing its pantry service since it opened its op shop and cafe two years ago.

"It is working families, it's not just people who are unemployed. Cost of living has hit on so many fronts for people."

Ms Eagle said without the service she believed "people would skipping meals" and children "sent to school without lunches".

"We're trying to normalise the fact that it's okay to ask for help, it's okay to access support with that sort of thing," she said.

"I think it would be really tough for families if we weren't here, to be honest."

Crisis accommodation 'not going to cut it'

Minister for Homelessness Rose Jackson said in May that a deadline to force people to move on would be set for Wagga at some stage, but that she was confident it would not come to that and that people would be given the support they need.

Many of those sleeping rough told the ABC that temporary crisis accommodation was unsuitable for various reasons.

Many people had dogs and valuable belongings they wanted to keep.

Mr Collins said he had not been offered anything, but would be wary.

"Motels are just not going to cut it for me for a short period of time; I need something more permanent," he said.

"If I had a house come up, I'd move into there straight away."

He said there was a stigma that many of those sleeping rough would not move on because they did not want help and planned to camp indefinitely.

"We're not here to cause drama. We're not here to stir anybody up. This is the last stop that we had to go to," he said.

Deanne also said she had not been offered temporary accommodation.

"I'd be closed up in my room, not coming out," she said.

St Vincent de Paul is being consulted as part of the emergency working group, and said the biggest change was flipping the way support was offered.

"The normal process would be to work with a client first to gather information and to complete some minor tasks, to then have the opportunity to be assisted in temporary accommodation," Mr Adams said.

"The direction at this point is probably to switch that around, and let's see if we can get them into some accommodation, and then we'll work tirelessly to get the information we need to try to keep them in that space."

Mr Adams also coordinates an unfunded weekly outreach to people sleeping rough in several different locations around Wagga.

It relies on support from Vinnies and donations from the local community, and involves offering food and other supplies as well as case management support.

"The idea with our case management team is to go to those areas, offer assistance and see if people really do want to have some help to try to navigate the systems and get into a house somewhere along the line," he said.

'Solvable problem'

Analysis from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare concluded that about nine people experiencing homelessness died each day from potentially avoidable deaths.

Mr Pearson was emphatic that while it was clear "homelessness is a killer", it was also a "solvable problem".

He said while many governments, including in NSW, where there is a 10-year strategy, were increasingly seeing the value of funding community-driven frontline services, there was still a lot to be done.

"We don't have to basically do fundraising to keep the lights on in child care, but they're the sort of things that we're having to do in the homelessness sector, and it comes with a really heavy burden on those in the community."

Despite all the welcome goodwill from volunteers and community groups, the number one priority remains finding somewhere safe to live.

"I need to be able to see my kids," Deanne said. "I need somewhere they can come."