Homelessness is soaring in regional areas as advocates plead for more funding to stop simply shifting the problem and start solving it.
The number of people sleeping rough in NSW has increased 75 per cent in six years, according to a Homelessness NSW report that relies on the state's street count data.
While the count in metropolitan Sydney is virtually unchanged between 2020 and 2026, it has surged a staggering 689 per cent in the Illawarra Shoalhaven and southern NSW district, from 27 people to 213.
The district encompassing NSW's northern region and mid-north coast has also sky-rocketed from 407 people in 2020 to 1024 in 2026, leading it to become the state's leading area for homelessness.
Homelessness CEO Dominique Rowe said state government funding for support services needed a 50 per cent boost, along with a commitment to build 10,000 social homes a year until they constitute 10 per cent of all housing.
