Research by Melbourne’s homelessness support organisation, Homeground, has found that almost one in ten people who sleep rough in Melbourne each night are Australian war veterans.

Homeground claims that most have served in Iraq or Afghanistan.

It wants the Federal Department of Veterans Affairs to find secure housing for any returned soldiers, aviators and sailors who have nowhere else to go.

Heather Holst, Homeground’s CEO, says that there is a lack of affordable long-term housing.  She says the Department of Veterans Affairs offers counselling and financial support but she believes it needs to do more to address homelessness.

In an interview with Pat McGrath on the ABC’s The World Today, 6 Jan 2015, Heather Holst called for the creation of “guaranteed rapid packages of affordable housing and the necessary supports so that people aren’t having to try and piece together their own solution when they’re in a … difficult position personally.”

Also see Mark Buttler’s report ‘Help our homeless Diggers: The disgrace of our military veterans dying on our streets’ in the Herald Sun, 5 Jan 2015. More information about Homeground’s survey data on veterans and homelessness can be found here.