Ending Homelessness

Solutions to homelessness in Australia

At PwC we believe every Australian deserves the right to a safe, secure and affordable home. Homelessness is a critical and complex issue facing Australia and the rising cost of housing has only increased the number of people at risk of and experiencing homelessness. Some groups have been harder hit, with over 16,500 First Nations women and girls seeking help every month from specialist homelessness services in 2023 up 29% from 12,808 in 2018. (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare).

There is no single silver bullet solution, reflecting the complexity of the causes of homelessness. They include:

Lack of affordable housing
Financial stress
Family and domestic violence
A lack of access to appropriate dwellings

PwC, with the Australian Red Cross, Centre for Social Impact and Mission Australia founded the Constellation Project in 2018 - to identify and accelerate solutions to homelessness through cross-sector collaboration. Our support has enabled the Constellation Project to bring together teams of people including those with lived experience of homelessness, to develop practical solutions which address the key drivers of homelessness.

The work of Constellation Project specifically targets the critical lack of housing that is affordable for people on low incomes and preventing homelessness for young people who have been justice-involved or in out of home care. The initial strategic focus was on increasing the supply of housing that is affordable for people on low incomes, which continues to challenge governments at all levels across Australia.

Achievements include building a cross-sector network of over 2000 people, who develop solutions including a fully implemented feasibility model to maximise housing outcomes for state governments, a priority rental register for women and children who have experienced domestic and family violence, a housing boost aggregator to unlock private capital investment in community housing and a national framework for mandatory inclusionary zoning. The voices of First Nations peoples and insights of people with lived experience of homelessness are central in the design and production of all work with Reconciliation Australia recognising Constellation for inclusion of First Nations peoples and perspectives.