People experiencing homelessness have a death rate almost double the wider population, according to a new study.
The 10-year study from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) found the mortality rate for people who sought support from homelessness services in the 12 months before their death was 1.8 times that of other people.
Council to Homeless Persons CEO Deborah Di Natale said over the 10-year period, the report found 12,525 people died within a year of seeking homelessness help, with the median age of death 49.
Ms Di Natale said more than 10 percent of all deaths of people aged 25 to 34 over the 10-year period were women who sought homelessness assistance in the past 12 months.
“These figures lay bare a heartbreaking reality (that) homelessness is cutting lives tragically short,” she said.
“Too many people are dying without a safe home and dying too early. Half of the deaths in the survey occurred under the age of 50. It requires immediate action from all levels of government.”
Ms Di Natale said the AIHW data also showed injury and poisoning was the number one cause of death for people experiencing homelessness.
She said one in six accidental poisoning deaths in Australia was a person who had sought homelessness assistance in the past year.
“One in every 20 Australian suicides is a person who has sought homelessness assistance in the last year.”
