The ACT Government does not maintain a dataset on homelessness-related deaths. Photo: Ian Bushnell.
Calls are growing for the ACT to become the first jurisdiction in Australia to require the deaths of people experiencing homelessness to be reported to the Coroner, following fresh scrutiny over the Territory’s inability to say how many people die without a home each year.
The proposal, put forward by housing peak body ACT Shelter, comes just a week after Region revealed that while homelessness is estimated to contribute to around 28 deaths in Canberra each year, no government agency officially records them.
At the time, the ACT Government told Region it did not maintain a dataset on homelessness-related deaths because homelessness status was not routinely recorded in mortality data and there was no nationally agreed methodology for identifying or reporting such deaths.
For ACT Shelter chief executive officer Corinne Dobson, that is precisely why the law needs to change.
Speaking at Canberra’s inaugural Homeless Memorial Vigil last week, Ms Dobson called on the ACT Government to amend the Coroners Act 1997 so homelessness-related deaths become reportable, arguing every death should be counted and examined in the same way as other preventable deaths.
“People experiencing homelessness do not become less valuable because they do not have a home. Every life matters, and every death should count,” Ms Dobson said.
The proposal would make the ACT the first Australian jurisdiction to systematically identify homelessness as a reportable circumstance when someone dies.
The call builds on concerns raised during the inaugural Homeless Memorial Vigil, organised by Havelock Housing Association, which sought to shine a light on people whose deaths often pass without being officially counted.
Havelock Housing chief executive officer Kylie Maidens said the absence of ACT-specific mortality data was the reason the organisation established the annual vigil.
“The ACT doesn’t routinely publish homelessness mortality data, and that’s exactly why we started the Memorial Vigil this year – to make sure these deaths don’t go unrecognised simply because they aren’t being counted,” she told Region.
Supporters say the reform is less about investigating individual deaths than understanding the broader picture.
Australian research has consistently shown homelessness dramatically shortens lives. People who have experienced homelessness die between 22 and 33 years earlier than the broader population, while recent Australian Institute of Health and Welfare analysis found people who had accessed specialist homelessness services in the previous year died at a median age of just 47, compared with a life expectancy of about 82 years across Australia.
Advocates say those figures point to a public health issue that remains largely hidden.
Without routinely recording whether someone who has died was experiencing homelessness, authorities have no reliable way of understanding how many people are dying, what factors contributed to those deaths or whether opportunities to intervene were missed.
Unlike road fatalities, workplace deaths or deaths in custody, homelessness itself is not currently considered a reportable circumstance under the ACT’s coronial system.
ACT Shelter argues changing that would not mean every homelessness-related death proceeds to an inquest. Instead, it would ensure homelessness is identified where relevant, allowing authorities to detect patterns, identify systemic failures and better understand where earlier intervention could save lives.
“We investigate road deaths, workplace deaths and deaths in custody because understanding why people die helps prevent future deaths,” Ms Dobson said.
“People experiencing homelessness deserve that same commitment.”
The organisation believes better data could also strengthen future policy, helping governments improve hospital discharge planning, coordinate health and housing services more effectively and target support before people reach crisis point.
Alongside the proposed legislative change, ACT Shelter is also calling for clear protocols to record homelessness status, annual public reporting of homelessness-related deaths and continued investment in social and affordable housing, Housing First programs and accessible healthcare.
“Preventing homelessness is the most effective way to prevent avoidable deaths,” Ms Dobson said.
“But while people are homeless today, we also need a system that recognises and values their lives, and that treats every death with the seriousness it deserves.”
The call comes as homelessness organisations continue to argue that better data is essential if governments are to understand the true human cost of housing insecurity.
For ACT Shelter, counting those lives is not simply about statistics.
It is about ensuring that people who die without a home do not also disappear from the public record.
Original Article published by Naziya Alvi Rahman on Region Canberra.
