Homelessness Week: Taking Action Through SleepSafe
This week, from Monday 4th to Sunday 10th of August, is Homelessness Week — a nation-wide event that aims to unite Australians in taking action against homelessness. Although homelessness happens every single day, this week is a chance to engage more deeply with this growing issue that’s impacting more and more families, children, older people, women, and individuals in our communities.
That’s why we've partnered with our friends at StreetSmart Australia since 2019, to help address this growing crisis through our SleepSafe initiative.
So, what does homelessness look like in Australia and how can our community take action?
What does homelessness look like?
Rough sleeping is one of the more visible forms of homelessness. It can often have significant impacts on people’s physical and mental health, and their ability to rebuild their lives. Interestingly though, the majority of those experiencing homelessness are staying in some form of shelter. This could look like people couch surfing, living out of their car, staying in overcrowded dwellings, or seeking temporary shelter at places like family violence refuges, crisis accommodation, motels, caravan parks, or boarding houses. This is often known as “hidden homelessness”.
Statistics show that more people are facing homelessness, and for longer periods. Homelessness is a growing reality for many Australians, with recent reports showing that 10,000 additional people are entering homelessness each month — a 22% jump in only three years. The ongoing cost of living crisis paired with a lack of affordable rentals is a large driving factor in these increases.
Due to growing demand, frontline support services are often exhausted, making it harder for people in crisis to find help. This means people are finding themselves trapped in homelessness for longer. Reports show that the average time to receive support has increased by 44% from 2022-23, with numbers of people experiencing long-term homelessness increasing by 25%.
Who is impacted by homelessness in Australia?
Homelessness can happen to anyone. Women are facing homelessness at an alarming rate (a 10% increase in the last census), and older people over 55 years have been the fastest growing cohort within the last 6 years.
Some groups are also disproportionately affected by homelessness — like youth (those under 24 years account for nearly 40% of all those experiencing homelessness) and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (who face homelessness at 9 times the rate of non-indigenous Australians).
How can we take action?
This year’s theme for Homelessness Week is “Homelessness Action Now”. Like the team at StreetSmart, we believe that everyone should have a safe and secure place to call home, and that we all have a part to play in taking action on homelessness. It was this commitment to positive social impact and collective responsibility that drove the creation of SleepSafe, our collaborative initiative with national homelessness charity StreetSmart Australia.
Through SleepSafe, we create opportunities for people to help give care and support to Australians without a safe place to call home. Every $15 raised helps provide a Sleep Kit (which includes a set of sheets, a pillowcase and a towel) to someone facing homelessness in Australia. Sleep kits are delivered through SleepSafe's network of over 730 grassroots community partners. So far, we’ve distributed over 169,000 Sleep Kits — that’s over 169,000 lives impacted — giving dignity, comfort, and tangible support to someone in their time of crisis.
In our stores and online, our community generously donates to provide Sleep Kits that are given to those facing homelessness. For you and our staff alike, it’s an opportunity to raise vital awareness and support within your local community.
One of the most special things about the SleepSafe model of giving back, is the ripple effect of each donation. When you donate in a store, those funds are kept as local to that region as possible. This not only enables someone doing it tough within your community to receive a sleep kit, but strengthens the capacity of your local frontline organisations.
Through SleepSafe, we deliver Sleep kits to a growing network of frontline organisations that are helping support those most in need. By providing free, high-quality and brand new material aid, it means that volunteers and staff don’t have to spend hours sourcing donated or low-cost items — allowing them to redirect their limited budgets and time towards other critical tasks.
Programs like SleepSafe help to ease the growing financial strain and pressure that charities across Australia are facing — to deliver more support with less resources. This is more important now than ever, during a time when over a quarter of SleepSafe partners are reporting increases in demand anywhere between 20-40%.
More than just sheets and towels, Sleep Kits help give a moment of care, comfort, hope, and dignity for people without a safe place to call home. For those who are facing trauma, crisis, and instability, being handed soft sheets to sleep in and a warm towel is invaluable.
Where can I learn more?
To learn more about the SleepSafe program or make a donation, head to our SleepSafe page. You can find out more about our partners at StreetSmart Australia, who deliver this work with us, here.
Curious about your local SleepSafe community partners? Explore this map to see the frontline organisations closest to you.