Data has shown housing stress to be the fastest growing cause of homelessness in Australia, prompting calls for the federal government to commit to more social housing.
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The Australian Homelessness Monitor found people seeking homelessness services because they couldn't afford rent rose 27 per cent in the past four years.
Victorian-based Salvation Army spokesperson Major Warren Elliott said the data was in line with what his organisation was seeing increased pressures for homelessness and housing across "a number of cohorts".
"People that are experiencing family or domestic violence, youth and young people who can no longer live at home for whatever reason, people affected by addictions, alcohol and other drugs, and just people being squeezed out because of the rising cost of living," he said.
"And certainly there's an older cohort that are being affected a lot by that as well, so particularly older single ladies, we're seeing an increase in that group coming to us with housing stress."
The report also found homelessness to be outpacing population growth and available rentals had declined by 42 per cent over the past 30 years.
Everybody's Home, a national campaign to fix the housing crisis, spokesperson Maiy Azize said historically, high rents added to the surge in homelessness.
"There aren't enough affordable homes, and millions of Australians are paying the price," Ms Azize said.
"Now is the government's opportunity to step-up its game and provide meaningful solutions for those who are already homeless and on the brink."
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Federal housing and homelessness minister Julie Collins said the Albanese Labor Government had a plan to address housing challenges.
"The Albanese Government understands how critical it is for Australians to have a safe and affordable place to call home, and our Budget's commitments on social and affordable housing ensure there will be a pipeline delivering new homes for Australians," she said.
"We are also working with all levels of government, as well as investors and the construction industry, through the new National Housing Accord - a shared ambition to build one million new well located homes over five years from 2024.
"As part of the Accord, we have allocated $350 million in additional Federal funding to deliver 10,000 affordable homes over five years from 2024."
In November, the federal government widened the remit of the National Housing Infrastructure Facility to make $575 million immediately available for investment in social and affordable housing to support the Housing Australia Future Fund, which will build 30,000 new social and affordable housing properties over five years.
But Everybody's Home's Azize said this figure was not enough.
"[The government] can tackle housing affordability and prevent homelessness by building 25,000 social homes a year, increasing Commonwealth Rent Assistance, and expanding it to everyone who needs it," she said.
The Salvation Army's Elliott said funding was just one part of the solution, and noted the Victorian government had committed "substantial amounts of money" towards building more housing across the state.
"We'd like to see cooperation between state and federal governments in working on these problems," he said.
"But one of the other things we would like to see is more effective social policy to prevent people falling into homelessness by addressing some of those drivers of homelessness, including early intervention and prevention initiatives."
