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CEO Blog: Homelessness is more than 'Rooflessness'

Brad-Webb_CEO_Castle

What does home mean to you?  

For me, it means much more than just a roof over my head. It is a place I go to escape from the everyday challenges of life. A place where I can listen to music, feel safe, sleep soundly, and have things around me that make me happy.  

In that comfortable bubble, it is easy for me to overlook that I am one of the lucky ones and that it is not the same for so many others in our ‘lucky country’.  

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) defines homelessness in the following way.  

When a person does not have suitable accommodation alternatives they are considered homeless if their current living arrangement: 

  • is in a dwelling that is inadequate; or 
  • has no tenure, or if their initial tenure is short and not extendable; or 
  • does not allow them to have control of, and access to space for social relations. 

This definition reinforces the concept that there is more to ‘home’lessness, than simply ‘roof’lessness.  A man is asleep on a red lounge, facing away. There is a reusable shopping bag with belongings and a pair of shoes in front.

The 2021 ABS Census highlighted that on any given night, 122,494 people in Australia are experiencing homelessness, which represents 5% of the population. Of these, only 6.2 per cent of people without a home are sleeping rough. The majority of homelessness is hidden – people in crisis accommodation, rooming houses, insecure housing, overcrowded dwellings or couch surfing. 

The majority of homelessness is hidden – people in crisis accommodation, rooming houses, insecure housing, overcrowded dwellings or couch surfing. 

People experiencing homelessness face major challenges in finding and keeping jobs: 

  1. Lack of a permanent address or identity documents limits access to recruitment processes.  
  2. Unstable housing creates difficulties in attending regular shifts or maintaining personal presentation.  
  3. Mental and physical health issues stemming from homelessness further reduce capacity to engage in employment. 

This can reinforce a cruel, inescapable loop, as people are more likely to experience and be kept in homelessness due to lower incomes, reduced labour-market participation, and reliance on government safety nets such as the disability support pension.  A person wearing a jacket, beanie and backpack is facing a cork noticeboard displaying various pieces of paper. The wall beside is paint and graffiti covered tile.

In government-funded Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) data for 2022–23, people with disability made up around 8–9% of SHS clients. This is consistent with the experience of Castle participants, 8% of whom identified as homeless in July 2025.  

At Castle, we recognise this interplay between employment and homelessness. We believe that without a place to call home, the process of finding and keeping a job is immeasurably harder. This is why we take a holistic approach to supporting people with disability who are experiencing homelessness. This is a model of support we have been refining for many years as a provider of NDIS supports and Disability Employment Services.

We work hard to build and strengthen relationships with SHS services across the Central Coast, Hunter and Lower Hunter regions so that we can support our participants to find a safe, secure place to call home. This increases the likelihood that they will also achieve their employment goals that are sustainable and set them on a path to greater fulfilment.  

 

It is also why we support Homelessness Week 2025, which will be held from Monday 4 August to Sunday 10 August. During this week, homelessness services and community groups raise awareness of the impact of homelessness, the solutions needed to end homelessness, and advocate for change.  

The theme for Homelessness Week 2025 is ‘Homelessness Action Now’. If you want to lend your voice to make a change, I encourage you to learn more about homelessness and join Castle in supporting the Everybody's Home campaign and Homelessness Australia’s No One Turned Away campaign.   No One Turned Away Campaign TileTogether, we can make a difference and give everyone the chance to have a place they can call home.  

 

Although Castle is not a direct support service, we know many organisations that can help people experiencing homelessness. Get in touch with us to find out more.

If you are in immediate danger, call 000 anywhere in Australia.