Homeless Deaths Research
People experiencing homelessness have an average age of death three decades earlier than the general Australian population, many of which are preventable.
Our team currently monitors deaths among a large cohort (~10,000) of people who are currently or previously experienced homelessness in Perth. Our current figures shows a death every three days in Perth.
Research & Publications
Deaths Among People Experiencing Homelessness - Parity (Aug 2021)
Advocacy & Submissions
In 2022, the Estimates and Financial Operations Committee launched an Inquiry into the Financial Administration of Homelessness Services in WA. Our team made multiple submissions to the Committee, including a joint submission with the Australian Alliance to End Homelessness advocating for improved data collection regarding deaths of people experiencing/who have experienced homelessness.
The Committees finding report was released in June 2023 which concluded that “there is insufficient data recording deaths of people experiencing homelessness” in WA, where it was recommended that:
Tracking deaths of people who have experienced homelessness - BMJ (Mar 2024)
Dying Homeless in Australia - Parity (Aug 2021)
Supplementary Information (Mar 2023)
Joint Submission with AAEH (Mar 2022)
Media
Read Lisa’s piece in The Conversation (Nov 2024):
Read the ‘out in the cold’ series with Chris Knaus in the Guardian (Feb 2024)
Listen to the Guardian’s ‘Full Story’ podcast (Feb 2024):