THE rate of homelessness in the ACT is now the second highest in the country, rising by 70 per cent in the last five years.
Recent census data shows homelessness in the capital has surged from 29.3 persons per 10,000 in 2006 to 50 persons per 10,000 in 2011, leaving the ACT with the second-highest rate of homelessness behind the Northern Territory.
Figures also found that almost 300 children under the age of 12 were classed as homeless in the ACT in 2011, with thirty per cent of the ACT’s homeless aged 18 or under and half of the homeless between the ages of 19 and 44 years.
Nationally, the rate of homelessness increased by 8 per cent from 2006, with a total of 105,237 people.
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