Mark Mortensen, the forgotten (PEOPLE 2024)

In a series of intimate portraits exploring ‘homelessness’ - I’d like to put these into some context - In the ACT, the number of homeless people went up by 11.3% from 1596 to 1777. Across Australia, the number of homeless people went up by 5.2% from 2016 to 2021. That means 1 out of every 201 Australians is homeless right now. Almost 60% of homeless people are under 35 years old. More than 122,000 people are estimated to be homeless. 42% of homeless people are under 24 years old, and there are 17,845 children under 12 who are homeless. One big reason why people become homeless is because of domestic and family violence. In Australia, one out of every seven homeless people is over 55 years old. The average life expectancy for homeless men is between 45 and 47 years old. This is a bi- partisan crisis that demands attention from every quarter of the political spectrum

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