Australia's biggest state has more than 70,000 homeless people, with older women the most at risk of not finding a roof over their heads, a NSW parliamentary report has found.
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"It is increasingly older people, particularly older women, who are the 'face' of homelessness of NSW today," the report 'Homelessness amongst older people aged over 55 in NSW' said.
"This cohort may not sleep on the streets but may find themselves couch surfing among family and friends or sleeping in their cars, living in highly precarious situations".
The report, released on Thursday, said the primary drivers of homelessness are financial insecurity and housing affordability.
It had 40 recommendations, including the government funding the building of social housing that is specifically tailor-made for older women.
The parliamentary committee also urged the state government to push the Commonwealth to include a specific allocation for older people on low incomes in the national Help to Buy program.
Other recommendations include lowering the age limit for access to the Housing Elderly Persons priority group from 80 years to 55 years, and from 55 years to 45 years for Indigenous people.
More than 20,000 homeless people in NSW are Indigenous, according to peak body Homelessness NSW.
The group called on state and federal governments on Thursday to inject $2 billion into the sector to house the thousands of people sleeping rough across the state every night.
Homelessness NSW chief executive Trina Jones said the crisis had worsened, especially in regional and rural areas, as people dealt with the onslaught of natural disasters from bushfires to ongoing floods.
The report said the government should "dedicate specific resources to ensuring older people in regional NSW have access to social and affordable housing", particularly "communities devastated by natural disasters as a priority area of focus".
Australian Associated Press
