South-west organisations to receive cash injection to help people experiencing homelessness

The Salvation Army, Uniting Limited, Meli, Brophy Family and Youth Services and Grampians Community Health will all receive additional funds from the Homelessness Establishment Fund support.

A state government spokeswoman said there was a need for increased crisis and emergency accommodation supports for people who were experiencing, or who were at risk of homelessness.

"In 2023-24, the Allan Labor government is investing more than $8.9 million in specialist homelessness supports to the Wimmera Southwest area, which includes Warrnambool," the spokeswoman said.

"This funding supports agencies to deliver crisis support, case management and flexible brokerage to people experiencing and at risk of homelessness."

The state government revealed on November 20 it was committing $2.5 million to help meet the increased demand for crisis and emergency accommodation across the state.

The funds will be used by homelessness services to help eligible Victorian access crisis and emergency accommodation if they have nowhere to stay and are at risk of rough sleeping - and can also be used to support private rental accommodation or other expenses in relocating and establishing housing.

Council to Homeless Persons chief executive officer Deborah Di Natale said the $2.5 million would help ease the burden on overstretched frontline services struggling to keep up with demand.

"When somebody comes to a homelessness service for help, the priority is to save their existing tenancy or provide a safe place to stay short-term while helping to find a new home," she said.

"With too little funding available, homelessness services have been unable to provide that short-term accommodation to some of the people who need it.

"While the $2.5 million will mean we can provide immediate relief to more people, it's still important to bolster the pathways into homes as well.

"Victoria must also build 6000 new public and community homes each year so that pathways out of short-term accommodation are available.

"The best way to tackle this crisis is to prevent homelessness before someone ends up sleeping in a vehicle, on the street or on someone's couch."

There has been calls for crisis accommodation in Warrnambool in the past.

Rental properties in Warrnambool have gone from "acceptable" to "unaffordable" in the past five years.

This applies to a household with an income of $75,000, data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare reveals.

Four-bedroom homes are considered "severely unaffordable" for families with that income.

The median cost of a rental property in Warrnambool is $500 a week and one-bedroom properties have become scarce commodities.

That's compared to $375 in Ballarat, $390 in Bendigo and $430 in Portland.

The cheapest rentals in Warrnambool listed online on Tuesday were $340 per week.

A report released earlier this year revealed the number of homeless people in the South West Coast electorate increased by 44 per cent in the period from 2016-2021.

The Council of Homeless People report showed in 2016 215 people indicated they were homeless, while this increased to 310 in 2021.

"Almost three in four areas experienced increases in homelessness, while for one in two areas the increase was over 20 per cent," the report states.

"While we are through the challenges of the pandemic, the continued decline in affordability, further exacerbated by current cost of living pressures, stagnant wage growth and severely inadequate income support and rental assistance means the situation is likely to be only getting worse."