Homelessness and premature deaths
Updated January 2022
Deaths amongst people experiencing homelessness in Perth 2021
In 2021, at least 70 people experiencing homelessness died in Perth, equivalent to 1.3 people dying every single week
The median age at death was just 51 years old (52.1 for men and 45.3 for women).
In contrast, the median age of death for the general Australian population of 81.7 years
This represents a 30 year gap in median age of death
These deaths are amongst those known to the Home2Health Research Team and homeless services in Perth, and is likely an underestimate of the true figures
This data has been collated from WA hospital data and data from health services we work with [RPH HREC approval RGS00000000075].
Since the start of the pandemic, there has been growing media attention on homelessness in Perth. While the presence of people rough sleeping in WA has become more visible in recent months, the vulnerability of dying decades younger than the general population has been largely invisible. In two recently published Parity Articles, we highlight the imperative to count homeless deaths and the importance of the people behind the statistics.
‘Deaths Among People Experiencing Homelessness: Each One, a Life’ - Vallesi S, Wood L. Parity, 2021.
As part of our broader research on homelessness and health in WA, our team has been recording known deaths among Perth’s homeless population. Since 2016, there have been 178 known deaths, with 56 of these in 2020 alone . This is equivalent to 1.1 deaths every week in the Perth homeless population. These statistics are likely to be a significant under-estimate, as they only include deaths that the health services we partner with in our research have been notified of, and does not include outer areas of Perth nor regional or remote WA.
The average age of death among this group is a sobering 48 years. This compares to a median age of death in Australia of 81 (AIHW 2020 Data). In other words, those experiencing homelessness are dying on average over 30 years earlier than the general Australian population.
The causal factors for these frighteningly early deaths is hard to pinpoint, as homelessness is an incredibly complex and interconnected issue of mental and physical well-being, housing, culture and socioeconomic circumstances. Premature deaths of people experiencing homelessness may relate to any or a combination of the following:
Late detection of preventable disease and poor access to prevention and screening services. For example cancer & diabetes.
Difficulty adhering to treatments for existing health conditions when homeless; medications are often stolen or lost, and people can find it difficult to book or get transport to health appointments
‘Deaths of despair’ – a phrase now being used in international literature to refer to those deaths relating to drug overdoses, suicide and alcohol-related disease amongst people who have experienced compounded social and economic disadvantage. The COVID-19 pandemic has been reported overseas to have further exacerbated the likelihood of deaths of despair
The co-existence of multiple chronic health conditions, worsened by the brutality of having to sleep and survive on the streets.
Poor sleep quality, limited access to healthy food options, hygiene constraints, all of which contribute to poorer health outcomes.
Behind each statistic is a life cut far too short and many other lives severely impacted.
In a nutshell, the longer a person remains homeless, the poorer their health outcomes become and the likelihood of premature death increases. But conversely, as our evaluation of 50 Lives 50 Homes and the work of Homeless Healthcare and the RPH Homeless Team has shown, housing coupled with wrap around health and social supports, enables people to address health issues and restores hope.
Recent Home2Health research mentions in the news:
