Climate disasters are pushing people into homelessness – but there’s a lot we can do about it
- Written by: Timothy Heffernan, Lecturer in Anthropology, Australian National University
Almost half of all Australian properties[1] are at risk of bushfire, while 17,500[2] face risk of coastal erosion. By 2030, more than 3 million[3] will face riverine flood risk.
Meanwhile, housing demand continues to outpace supply[4]. With climate-related disasters projected to increase[5] in frequency and severity, the task of ensuring safe and adequate housing for all Australians remains a challenge.
In other words, disasters are worsening the housing shortage, rendering more people at risk of homelessness.
There is growing[6] consensus[7] in the homelessness and emergency management sectors that Australia needs a national policy response.
We must ensure secure and safe housing options are a disaster planning priority.
Like ‘living a disaster every day’
Climate disasters displace 22,261 Australians[8] on average each year. People with the lowest incomes[9] make up 80% of this. The very poorest 3%, despite being small, make up 14% of displaced households.
Australia is not alone. Globally, 70% of internal displacement[10] in 2024 resulted from disasters, often disproportionately affecting low socioeconomic areas.
Loss of housing affects[11] everything[12] from a person’s health and employment to education and relationships. One person who’d experienced[13] disaster-related housing loss said it was like
living a disaster every day, but without the assistance and support given to most disaster survivors.
Renters, rough sleepers and people living in unattached dwellings are most vulnerable[14].
Slipping through the cracks
The catastrophic Northern Rivers floods in 2022 provide an instructive example.
The floods rendered over 3,500 homes uninhabitable[15] and more than 8,000 were damaged. Over 1,400 people[16] were displaced and offered emergency accommodation by the New South Wales government.
The total number of people experiencing homelessness post-floods remains unclear. This is due to existing overcrowding and because people left the area or became uncontactable.
Recent research colleagues and I conducted with homeowners and renters, commissioned by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute[17], examined 17 people’s experiences of securing shelter after disaster.
In Lismore, a key barrier was poor communication and increased competition for rental housing. One person told us:
The real estate basically dropped the ball after a month. I had to chase them up, and the return of my bond and all that. […] I applied for ten different properties and never heard back. […] I ended up sourcing my own accommodation, a camper trailer, and camped out at the local showgrounds.
For renters, the disaster couldn’t have come at a worse time. A preexisting rental crisis[18] across the region meant the private market was already tight[19].
Homeowners, by contrast, were able to use insurance to cover transitional housing costs or were eligible for several funding sources[20] to repair properties. This highlights a policy emphasis toward homeowners.
In this context, people can slip through the cracks, increasing the risk of homelessness.
Post-disaster housing can compound vulnerability
Temporary shelters – such as crisis shelters, motels, short-term rentals, pods, cabins and caravans – can be a stop-gap against the risk of homelessness after disaster. However, temporary shelter comes with trade-offs and downsides.
Crisis and commercial options can be damaged during disaster, limiting their use. Pod villages provide mass shelter but are costly, slow to deliver[21], and there’s often no meaningful plan[22] for people to transition out of them.
Some 18 months after the 2022 Northern Rivers floods, 1,021 people[23] were still living in temporary pod villages and 257 people[24] remained in caravans.
Rent is not usually charged. When relied on beyond the immediate term, this can compound vulnerability by creating gaps in people’s rental history.
A NSW government audit[25] found 724 households were on the waitlist for temporary housing a year after the floods, though this list was rarely updated.
Overall, relatively few households have secured long-term housing solutions. This year, four pod villages will be demobilised amid the region’s ongoing rental crisis.
This comes at a time when Australia is facing a shortfall of 640,000[26] social and affordable homes.
Around 110,000[27] requests for homelessness services go unassisted annually.
A national framework is needed
In 2024, a national symposium, convened by the Australian Red Cross, Homelessness Australia and UNSW Sydney’s HowWeSurvive initiative, brought together 125 professionals from the housing, homelessness, emergency management, government and academic sectors.
The report, released in June 2025, called for[28] a national framework focused on disasters, housing and homelessness.
Several policies deal separately with these areas at the Commonwealth, state and territory levels. A unified approach, however, would reposition shelter after disaster from a stop-gap to a central part of disaster planning.
The aim is to strengthen housing options before a natural hazard occurs and prevent disaster-related homelessness.
Australia needs a coordinated strategy[29] and taskforce to align housing, homelessness, and disaster policies and programs. Homelessness planning should be part of disaster planning, and vice versa, to ensure housing type and tenure does not place people at risk of homelessness when disaster strikes.
This requires going beyond just linking displaced households with crisis services.
We must plan for each stage of housing before and after a disaster and anticipate diverse needs, especially for renters and those at risk of homelessness.
Responses[30] should be trauma-informed and able to adapt individual experiences.
Now is the time to act – before the next disaster strikes.
References
- ^ half of all Australian properties (www.domain.com.au)
- ^ 17,500 (s3.ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com)
- ^ more than 3 million (climatevaluation.com)
- ^ continues to outpace supply (treasury.gov.au)
- ^ increase (www.ipcc.ch)
- ^ growing (knowledge.aidr.org.au)
- ^ consensus (www.redcross.org.au)
- ^ 22,261 Australians (doi.org)
- ^ the lowest incomes (doi.org)
- ^ internal displacement (www.internal-displacement.org)
- ^ affects (www.internal-displacement.org)
- ^ everything (doi.org)
- ^ experienced (www.internal-displacement.org)
- ^ most vulnerable (homelessnessaustralia.org.au)
- ^ over 3,500 homes uninhabitable (nrcf.org.au)
- ^ 1,400 people (www.audit.nsw.gov.au)
- ^ Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (www.ahuri.edu.au)
- ^ rental crisis (apo.org.au)
- ^ tight (www.nsw.gov.au)
- ^ several funding sources (www.ahuri.edu.au)
- ^ but are costly, slow to deliver (knowledge.aidr.org.au)
- ^ meaningful plan (www.parliament.nsw.gov.au)
- ^ 1,021 people (www.parliament.nsw.gov.au)
- ^ 257 people (www.parliament.nsw.gov.au)
- ^ NSW government audit (www.audit.nsw.gov.au)
- ^ shortfall of 640,000 (www.acoss.org.au)
- ^ 110,000 (www.aihw.gov.au)
- ^ called for (www.redcross.org.au)
- ^ coordinated strategy (www.redcross.org.au)
- ^ Responses (collaborating4inclusion.org)
Authors: Timothy Heffernan, Lecturer in Anthropology, Australian National University
