The Launceston Women's Shelter received a 15-unit expansion earlier this year, which also included new playground facilities.

Homes Tasmania is continuing to deliver more crisis accommodation around the State, which means more Tasmanians in need can access housing and fewer people are being turned away from our shelters, a new report shows.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW)’s Specialist Homelessness Services Annual Report 2022-23, released today, shows the state’s specialist homelessness services are helping an average of almost 2 300 Tasmanians each day.

On an average day, 340 people were able to access crisis accommodation in 2022-23, up nearly 10 per cent from 310 in 2021-22, and fewer people were turned away from shelters, with an average of 37 unmet requests for assistance a day in 2022-23, down from 42 in 2021-22 and 46 in 2020-21.

The report also shows that fewer Tasmanians needed to access specialist homelessness services during 2022-23, with 6 672 people seeking assistance, down from 6 977 people in 2021-22.

During the past 12 months, Homes Tasmania has delivered numerous new crisis and transitional accommodation facilities for Tasmanians in need, including:

• 15 more units at the Launceston Women’s Shelter, more than doubling their capacity to help women in need
• the 50-bed Bethlehem House for homeless men in Hobart
• a 23-unit crisis and transitional accommodation facility for young people in Burnie
• and an eight-unit shelter for homeless men with or without children in Devonport has just been completed.

We have also delivered a significant boost to the supply of social housing around the State, with more than 650 new long-term homes completed during the past year. More supply is on its way with 826 dwellings in our pipeline of works, which includes new social housing, supported accommodation and homelessness accommodation projects as at the October housing dashboard.

Homes Tasmania is committed to delivering safe, appropriate and affordable housing for all Tasmanians and to delivering the Tasmanian Housing Strategy’s vision of ending homelessness in Tasmania over the next 20 years.

We invest over $46 million a year on wraparound services to ensure those who need help now can get the assistance they need. This includes funding for 19 Specialist Homelessness Services and three Safe Spaces, in Hobart, Launceston and Burnie.

We are also working to improve the Housing Connect system, so services can respond more effectively to housing need and homelessness and to offer more ways for Tasmanians in need to access and receive housing assistance.

Anyone who is homeless or is at risk of homelessness is encouraged to contact Housing Connect on 1800 800 588.