Homelessness Week highlights impact on children in Ballarat

The revelation came during Homelessness Week in Ballarat, where workers in the sector highlighted the severity of the issue.

Senior homelessness manager Adam Liversage said people were battling more now than ever.

Mr Liversage works with people sleeping rough across the Grampians region.

"198 children in our community are living in hotels, motels, tent, caravans and on floors," he said.

Mr Liversage said compared to when he first began at Uniting in 2008, more people were becoming homeless.

"Back then we'd been deeply concerned if we had a combined list of 100 on our priority list. We thought we were in a crisis then," he said.

"Our current priority list is sitting at 218 in comparison."

Homelessness Week had a simple message - housing ends homelessness.

Uniting held an exhibition throughout the week at the Ballarat Trades Hall, featuring speakers and panels from people across the sector including Child and Family Services (Cafs), Wintringham, Ballarat Community Health and Ballarat and District Aboriginal Cooperative.

The week included different voices speaking about the spectrum of issues, from domestic violence and First Nations issues, to mental health and youth homelessness, which can often go unreported.

Mr Liversage was concerned over the growth in youth homelessness.

"We don't capture the amount of youth homelessness. We know a lot of young people tend to live in over crowded situations - they couch surf and they don't think that's a form of homelessness," he said.

"We'd have 20 to 25 young people on our list and now we're seeing 65 young people, including 18 youth families."

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Mr Liversage said service providers struggle to keep up with more people in need.

"The difference is now there hasn't been much of an expansion and funding for services, particularly entry points and support services, to met the increase of demand," he said.

"That needs to change."

Mr Liversage said the ongoing message was "housing ends homelessness".

"It's a good time to advocate for affordable and appropriate housing but also we find it as a good way to celebrate the work we do as a sector," he said.

Beyond housing, Mr Liversage said it was important people continue to get supports.

"A lot of people who exit the system into long-term housing need support," he said.

"You can't just place someone with complex support needs into long-term houses."

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