Growing ranks of homeless seen as society in decline

Australians believe growing homelessness is emblematic of societal decline, which could turn housing action into significant vote winner at the federal election.

The nation's housing crisis is quickly evolving into a emergency with 40 per cent of Australians from 24 battleground seats witnessing an increase in homelessness in their communities during the past year, Redbridge polling found.

As a key contributor to the cost of living, housing is expected to be one of the most pressing matters at the federal election.

But this heightened awareness has turned the issue into a mark of society's ills.

"It's very much symbolic of generational wealth inequality and indicative of a feeling of economic disparity and disempowerment," Redbridge director Simon Welsh told AAP.

"There's this broad sense that things are not going well: we're seeing Nazis in the street, we're seeing anti-Semitism, we are seeing our hospitals under pressure, we are seeing our roads deteriorate.

"In this broader sense of social and economic decline, homelessness becomes another data point."

Policies that would prevent Australians from sleeping rough are popular across the political spectrum. Almost nine in 10 respondents supported increasing investment in frontline services for those fleeing domestic violence, and children who are unable to safely return to their families.

Funding for organisations that help homeless people stay under a roof was backed by eight in 10 respondents.

"The cost-of-living crisis is so deep and people's rents are taking up so much of their incomes that people feel very close to homelessness," Kate Colvin of Homelessness Australia told AAP.

"Seeing people who are homeless probably reminds them of that vulnerability."

Despite this, more than 120,000 Australians were not getting the necessary support when they encounter homelessness, the organisation's analysis found.

Andrew Stewart, who is experiencing homelessness in Sydney, says there are major systemic issues preventing people from being housed.

There is a shortage in housing, inefficiencies within money allocated to homelessness and many who sleep rough are not able to make their voices heard.

"But we've got no say," he told AAP.