A MORE comprehensive range of programs is needed to tackle homelessness in Bunbury, according to Agencies South West Accommodation chief executive officer Neil Hamilton.
Mr Hamilton said simply providing more public housing was just a band-aid solution that did not confront the cause of homelessness.
He said housing alone would not be effective in reducing homeless numbers in the long term.
"We need to rethink the problem, and look at what causes homelessness. You can’t just add another house, more people will come along," he said.
"It’s about getting the tension right between getting public housing, which is very resource intensive, and tackling the issues around homelessness."
Mr Hamilton said ASWA received 80 requests for assistance a month from the Bunbury and Busselton areas, of which they have the resources to assist half.
However, Mr Hamilton suspects the actual number of people needing help is much greater, with more than 100 people in Greater Bunbury sleeping either homeless or with the risk of homelessness tonight.
"Most people don’t see homeless people in Bunbury, but that’s not to say that they don’t exist," Mr Hamilton said.
As the Bunbury Mail reported last year, the waiting list for public housing in Bunbury has doubled to 700 in the last five years, despite public housing making up 17.1 per cent of all accommodation in Bunbury according to 2006 census figures.
There are currently 1016 public housing homes in Greater Bunbury, with a further 221 in the planning stages.
Mr Hamilton said his goal as CEO of ASWA was to find solutions to cases rather than just finding accommodation, so that people were able to break the homelessness cycle.
"The earlier we get to a problem, the quicker it gets solved, because once it becomes entrenched behaviour, you start falling into a subculture, and once you fit into that subculture it’s much harder to get out of it," he said.
ASWA runs a number of programs designed to prevent homelessness, such as Reconnect, which focuses on assisting teenagers who have left home to return to their family home or take up an alternative situation if the family home is unsuitable.
Mr Hamilton said there needed to be a greater understanding and responsibility for homelessness in the wider community, and an appreciation for the factors which can cause homelessness.
"Some people see homelessness as being lazy, like it’s some kind of choice," he said.
"But any one of us, in a given certain set of circumstances, could end up homeless."
Salvation Army Major Trevor Wilson said a shortage of low rent properties in Bunbury could provide the tipping point for a lot of families who are trying to make ends meet, and lead them to seek crisis care.
"I think we will always have an itinerate type homeless population that runs through, with people coming over here with precious few assets or qualifications and hope to find a job. Most land on their feet, but some don’t, and they call me," he said.
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