CANBERRA, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- The number of homeless Australian women has increased 21 percent since 2013, acoording to data released on Thursday.
The figures, released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), said that the average Australian seeking help for homelessness was a woman aged between 25 and 34, often with at least one child, escaping family violence.
Of the 288,000 homeless Australians, 172,800, or 60 percent, are women, the data said, a 21-percent increase on 2012-13 data.
In the same time period, the number of homeless men jumped 14 percent.
The AIHW Specialist Homelessness Service said that domestic violence was the top drivers of homelessness with 37 percent of people without homes citing domestic or family violence as the reason.
Activist group Homelessness Australia said the hyper-competitive rental market was responsible with part-time working single mothers unable to afford rent in the current climate.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is committed to maintaining the current funding of 990 million U.S. dollars annually for social and affordable housing in the May budget but Homelessness Australia's Jenny Smith said it was not enough.
"Despite thousands more people lining up at agency doors every year, federal homelessness funding to the states has not increased in real terms," Smith told News Limited on Thursday.
"Homelessness will continue to rise until governments drastically boost social housing and properly fund homelessness services.
"Women and children fleeing domestic violence, young people who can't stay with their families and long-term rough sleepers looking for a bed for the night are paying the price while the federal government sits on its hands."
