ABSTRACT

With a population of only five million, Aotearoa New Zealand has high rates of homelessness. At the 2018 Census, over 102,000 people were identified as experiencing severe housing deprivation. Indigenous Māori, ethnic minorities, and children and young people under 25 are over-represented in these statistics. Additionally, women comprise just over half of those experiencing homelessness. Despite this, policy and service provision remains fragmented and difficult to navigate. While considerable improvements have been made in recent years, there remains a pressing need for ambitious and transformative change to ensure homelessness is rare, brief, and non-recurring.