NHMRC is supporting research to better understand and improve the health of people experiencing unstable housing conditions.
At the 2021 census, more than 122,000 Australians were experiencing homelessness, with Indigenous Australians overrepresented in this group. This number is likely to be higher in 2026.
Homelessness is closely linked to poorer physical and mental health outcomes, driven by unstable living conditions and barriers to accessing timely care. Addressing it requires coordinated, evidence-based action across health, housing and community services to reduce disparities and improve long-term wellbeing.
Administered under the National Health and Medical Research Council’s (NHMRC) Targeted Call for Research (TCR): Homelessness and Health 2025 grant opportunity, 2 multidisciplinary research teams will improve health outcomes and reduce health disparities among people experiencing homelessness in Australia.
People experiencing homelessness benefit when health and housing services work well together. Professor Suzanne Nielsen from Monash University will lead a team examining how mobile clinics in Victoria, Queensland and the ACT operate - then design improvements to service delivery and integration.
The findings will be shared with policymakers, healthcare planners and community members so they can learn from each other and apply these lessons to their own settings.
In research led by Dr Liam Grealy from the Menzies School of Health Research, the project team will focus on mental health and housing maintenance in a vulnerable group within the Aboriginal homeless population in the Northern Territory.
By centring Aboriginal leadership and lived experience, this approach will drive culturally appropriate, health and housing services and deliver meaningful, lasting outcomes for Aboriginal communities.
A TCR is a one-time request for grant applications to address a specific health issue where there is a significant research knowledge gap or unmet need.
Full details of the researchers and projects funded are available to download on NHMRC’s outcomes of funding rounds page.
Quotes attributable to NHMRC CEO Professor Steve Wesselingh:
- “Partnerships between researchers, healthcare providers, and community organisations are essential to developing effective, evidence-based interventions for the homeless population.”
- “This work will generate high-quality evidence to inform policy and practice, including models of care that are trauma-informed, culturally appropriate, and responsive to the realities of homelessness