Perth’s largest provider of primary healthcare services to people who are homeless or marginally housed.
Support Starts Here
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Youth Services
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Adult Services
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Health and Homelessness
Being homeless is associated with higher morbidity, reduced life expectancy and great usage of acute health services.
Homelessness and health: why urgent action is needed
Homelessness is a health crisis. People experiencing homelessness face higher rates of chronic illness, mental distress, trauma, injury and preventable hospitalisation. Without a safe place to sleep, store medication, recover from illness or attend appointments, health problems become harder to treat and more likely to escalate.
In 2024–25, almost 289,000 people were assisted by specialist homelessness services nationally, while around 129,000 requests for help went unanswered because services lacked capacity. For people sleeping rough, poor health and homelessness reinforce each other — without safe housing, recovery is almost impossible.
289,000 people assisted by specialist homelessness services in 2024–25
129,000 requests for homelessness help went unanswered
55 years median age at death for people with a history of homelessness service support
Our Impact
27,000
Consultations with people experiencing or at risk of homelessness is 2025.
47%
Reduction in Emergency Department use for people supported at our Respite Centre.
$4.6 million
Cost-saving for the Department of Health in the first year of operation of our Royal Perth Hospital Homeless team.
Looking for challenging and rewarding work?
- Dr Andrew Davies