New national homelessness data has revealed homelessness among Aboriginal Victorians is increasing at nearly four times the rate of the rest of the state's population, prompting urgent calls for government action.

The latest Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's (AIHW) Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) Annual Report shows 14,031 Aboriginal Victorians accessed homelessness services in the last 12 months; an increase of almost 10 per cent.

Almost 1,000 Aboriginal children under the age of 10 who presented to SHS were already experiencing homelessness, and 80 per cent remained homeless even after receiving support.

Aboriginal Housing Victoria chief executive Darren Smith said the figures reveal a crisis that's not only worsening, but becoming entrenched across generations.

"To see homelessness rates rise almost four times faster for Aboriginal people is a statistic that should concern every Victorian," he said.

The data outlines a deepening disadvantage, with a 9.4 per cent increase in Aboriginal Victorians accessing SHS — compared to a 2.5 per cent increase among non-Aboriginal Victorians — and First Nations people accounting for 13.8 per cent of all SHS clients in Victoria, despite making up only one per cent of the state's population.

There was a nearly 25 per cent rise in the number of Indigenous children aged 10-14 who accessed services, whilst almost a third of all Aboriginal SHS clients are experiencing persistent homelessness.

Mr Smith — who is also the Chair of the Aboriginal Housing and Homelessness Forum (AHHF) in Victoria — said the data paints a worrisome picture for the next generation. He warned the growing number of Aboriginal children experiencing homelessness represents a long-term threat to Victoria's social wellbeing.

"When almost one in five Aboriginal Victorians interacts with the homelessness system each year, and thousands of children grow up knowing homelessness as part of their earliest memories, we are no longer talking about a temporary housing crisis," he said. "We are talking about continued cycles of poverty and instability that will persist without urgent and scaled investment and intervention."

Last year, former Yoorrook Justice Commissioner Kevin Bell warned Australia is facing a housing crisis so severe it risks becoming a national catastrophe without urgent, coordinated action.

"Australian housing, one way or the other, is located on land taken from First People at colonisation, in what was a massive and system breach of their human rights," he noted.

Mr Smith said the next generation deserves more than a life already shaped by instability, and called for long-term thinking and investment to break the trajectory, along with "a culturally safe homelessness system led by Aboriginal organisations that understand how to prevent homelessness before it begins".

Investment and long-term thinking is vital

Currently, Victoria has only two Aboriginal-specific Homelessness Entry Points — at Ngwala Willumbong in Melbourne and Wathaurong Aboriginal Cooperative in Geelong — where Aboriginal people can access culturally safe support when experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

AHV and the AHHF are calling for the introduction of an Aboriginal Homelessness Target, the construction of 3,000 new Aboriginal social housing dwellings over the next decade, and a properly funded, Aboriginal Community Controlled homelessness system — as outlined in Mana-na woorn-tyeen maar-takoort and the sector's blueprint for an Aboriginal-specific homelessness system in Victoria.

"This is not the result of individual behaviour," Mr Smith said. "It is the result of decades of chronic underinvestment in Aboriginal-specific homelessness responses and systems that were never designed by or for our communities.

AHV and the AHHF are urging the Victorian Government to embed these priorities in the 2026-27 State Budget and in their commitments ahead of the 2026 State Election. They argue the reforms are essential to building a more equitable future, particularly as Victoria advances its work on Treaty and truth-telling.

Last month, the Albanese government confirmed Round 3 of the Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF), which will see the building of 21,000 homes to help meet its goal of delivering 55,000 social and affordable homes by mid-2029. For the first time, it will contain a dedicated First Nations funding stream aimed at improving housing outcomes and strengthening the community-controlled sector.

Round 3 of HAFF will include $600 million in funding, concessional loans, a 10 per cent First Nations tenancy target, a new First Nations concierge within Housing Australia, and updates to the agency's Investment Mandate to embed Closing the Gap priorities.

The announcement aligns with Priority Reform 2 of the Closing the Gap Agreement — building the Community-Controlled Sector — and reinforces the need for Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) to lead housing solutions for Community.