Well good morning. We’ve just finished my Ignite and … New South Wales role supporting homeless people in all of our everyday work. Well good morning. We’ve just finished my Ignite and … New South Wales role supporting homeless people in all of our everyday work.Well good morning. We’ve just finished my Ignite and … New South Wales role supporting homeless people in all of our everyday work.

Women and children in New South Wales are being offered a car park to sleep in overnight as part of a pilot program aimed at keeping those experiencing homelessness and domestic violence safe.

The program is being run by an organisation in Newcastle, which has not disclosed its name, for fear of giving away the location. But Nova, the housing assistance service for women and children fleeing domestic violence, has been referring people to the pilot, which began in April and will run until June.

It comes as the NSW government announced on Friday it would develop an urgent emergency package within days to address the domestic violence crisis in the state.

The “Women in Cars” project, offers those staying in the car park food and drink, showers, toilets, laundry, kitchen facilities and access to television. Dogs are allowed and security and support is also on site.

Kiyan Green has been homeless for two weeks.

He’s been sleeping in empty or abandoned homes in Western Sydney, while he waits for his life to “pick up”.

“It hurts, it really hurts. It just takes time to get accommodation again,” he said.

He finds it hard to describe living on the street after spending years within the justice system.

Mr Green is part of a recently increasing number of people in New South Wales finding themselves homeless each year.

He said the experience of being homeless is a cycle.

Something as simple as access to electricity could prevent him from finding a safe place to sleep for the night.

“I call TA (temporary accommodation), they say no vacancies, so I got to wait, and then I got to charge my phone, I got to look for a power point to charge my phone. I need that phone to call TA to get accommodation.”

Ronald Liu, 42, hangs out around the same Parramatta street corner during the day.

He is now in temporary accommodation after he struggled “on and off” with homelessness for years.

He said he had mental health issues for years and a recent relationship breakdown saw him on the street for the second time in his life.

He considers himself “lucky”, after being on the street for four or five days before being approved for a place to stay.

“Compared to Kiyan, I’m bloody one thousand times more fortunate,” he said.

“I’m just getting a taste of it sort of speak.”

Services struggle to cope with increase
Last year, more people received specialist homelessness services in 58 of the state’s 128 local government areas compared to the year before, according to a report by peak body Homelessness NSW.

The report described women and children fleeing domestic violence forced to sleep in a car or a tent because they could not find safe housing.

Analysis based on figures by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare showed an increased level of homelessness affecting metropolitan Sydney, suburban and rural areas.

The Inner West showed the highest increase with 1,496 receiving help in 2022-23 compared to 1,251 the year before.

It is followed closely by Canterbury-Bankstown, Penrith, Sydney and Wollongong.

The increase means homelessness services are struggling to cope.

“NSW’s housing crisis is putting huge pressure on frontline homelessness services, with many struggling to keep up with rising demand,” Homelessness NSW head Dom Rowe said.

Median wait times for social housing across some parts of the state can be up to five years.

Victoria has cemented its place as the worst state for affordable housing. Council to Homeless Persons chief executive Deborah Di Natale says new data shows Victoria is “desperately behind” the rest of the country on public and community housing. The latest figures from the federal Australian Institute of Health and Welfare show Victoria has about 30 per cent more people asking for help from homelessness services than NSW or Queensland. Victoria also has the lowest amount of social housing as a proportion of total housing stock in Australia, with just 2.8 per cent of dwellings being public or community housing. “Rising rents and low vacancy rates are pushing people to the brink of homelessness,” Ms Di Natale said. “While some economic indicators show inflation is moderating, it’s clear from these figures the housing crisis is actually getting worse.” This month the state government announced a fast-tracked application to build a 62-apartment, 14-storey block of affordable homes in Melbourne’s southeastern suburb of Frankston. “A safe, secure home is the first step in connecting people with the jobs, education, and services they need,” Housing Minister Harriet Shing said. The government has also committed $48m over three years to get 500 families long-term housing and social support. The funding goes to eight agencies, including Melbourne City Mission and Sacred Heart Mission. But data shows homelessness is getting more prevalent. Homelessness in Victoria rose 24 per cent at the last census to more than 30,000 people being without a home on census night in 2021. In March, there were 58,459 applications for public and community housing on the waiting list.