By Julia Mangan, CEO, CatholicCare Tasmania and Cam Crawford CEO, Committee for Greater Hobart
Homelessness is visible in Hobart’s doorways, tents and cars. This is not a marginal problem happening elsewhere. It is a Greater Hobart problem, central to what kind of region we want to become.
Our work at the Committee for Greater Hobart centres on renewal, inclusion and belonging. These cannot be separated from housing. Urban renewal is not simply constructing buildings or improving streetscapes. It must create active, safe, inclusive and connected places where people of every background can build a life.
Belonging begins with somewhere secure to belong.
In the 2021 Census 2,350 Tasmanians were experiencing homelessness, 45 per cent more than in 2016. Greater Hobart and the South East accounted for 51 per cent. One quarter were aged 12 to 24, while 14 per cent were children under 12. Those figures are outdated, while demand keeps growing.
At CatholicCare Tasmania, we know the crisis is not abstract. In 2025 -26 our AK Young Women’s Emergency Accommodation supported 72 young women and delivered 2,617 safe nights. Concerningly, an additional 130 young women seeking support could not be accommodated as the shelter was at capacity. At our Devonport Men’s Shelter, we provided almost 3,000 nights of accommodation.
The figures reveal the need and work required to move from crisis towards a stable home.
The number of applications on Tasmania’s housing register has grown to 5777 in 2026, with more than 4,200 people experiencing homelessness. Social housing occupancy rates remain at or above 99% and the private rental market cannot solve this alone. Anglicare Tasmania 2026 snapshot found advertised rentals in southern Tasmania fell 18 per cent in a year. The cheapest self-contained property was a $310-a-week studio, unaffordable even for somebody working full-time on the minimum wage. For several households relying on income support, not one statewide listing was affordable and appropriate.
We must stop treating homelessness as evidence of personal failure. People become homeless when rents outpace incomes, family violence makes home unsafe, illness or job loss destroys a fragile budget, and too few social homes and support services are available. Individual resilience cannot conjure an affordable vacancy into existence.
It is seen in a mother searching for a safe place to park so her children can sleep, in a young person carrying all their belongings in a backpack, in working people unable to secure a rental despite doing everything right and in families moving from couch to couch because they have nowhere else to go. We are also seeing increasing levels of overcrowding with multiple generations living under one roof simply to avoid homelessness. These experiences are all different but they all reflect the same reality – housing stability is becoming increasingly out of reach for many Tasmanians.
Our first response must be more social and affordable housing, delivered faster and located near transport, schools, health care, jobs and community life. The State Government 2032 target of 10000 homes is welcome, but long-term targets do not provide beds tonight.
We also need diverse housing through thoughtful urban renewal. Greater Hobart can accommodate more homes in established areas, especially along the Northern Corridor and near frequent public transport. Done well, renewal creates mixed-income neighbourhoods, expands housing choice, supports local businesses and connects people to opportunity.
Done poorly, it displaces disadvantage or builds housing disconnected from essential services.
The aim cannot be housing alone it must be good places.
That means spaces that feel welcoming and safe day and night; neighbourhoods where children, older people and people with disability can move confidently; and infrastructure such as libraries, creative spaces, neighbourhood houses, parks and sporting clubs. These create connection, prevent isolation and make a city resilient.
But public space is not a substitute for private security. A welcoming city must also ensure every person has a safe door they can close.
Prevention must sit alongside construction. Timely help with rental arrears, tenancy advocacy, family violence, mental health or transition from hospital, prison and out-of-home care can prevent a damaging and expensive crisis. Community organisations need secure funding that reflects demand and the real cost of providing sustained support.
Young people require particular attention. Their homelessness is as much a care crisis as a housing crisis. Dedicated youth housing, education pathways and wraparound support can stop a young person cycling through crisis services and becoming a homeless adult.
The Commonwealth must also lift income support and ensure Rent Assistance reflects actual housing costs. Higher payments must be accompanied by greater supply, so the benefit is not swallowed by further rent increases.
No council, government, community organisation or developer can solve this alone. Greater Hobart needs a regional compact bringing together all levels of government, housing providers, the community sector, business, investors and people with lived experience. It should set measurable targets for social homes, reduced waiting times, successful tenancies and fewer returns to homelessness, with progress reported publicly.
This is the collaborative, apolitical approach our region’s challenges demand.
Greater Hobart is prosperous, creative and community-minded. We have the capacity to make homelessness rare, brief and never repeated. Renewal gives us an opportunity to build more than housing: to build neighbourhoods where every person is safe, included and able to participate.
The measure of our region will not be the beauty of its waterfront or the value of its property market. It will be whether everyone has a place in its future, and a safe place to call home tonight.
