No safe place to return to at the end of a cold winter's day. No place with a door to lock and keep out the fear of facing another night sleeping rough.

The homelessness rate in Australia is rapidly climbing. In the last Census, the number of people counted as homeless in NSW alone had increased by 27%.

We also know that the Census doesn't accurately capture people who are homeless and may be sleeping rough.

In Wollongong specifically, the city's first homeless street count conducted earlier this year found there were over 60 people sleeping rough on any given night in the CBD and surrounding areas.

Over 600 other people were counted in temporary shelters and hostels. One of the fastest growing groups of people facing homelessness are those aged 65 years and over.

Almost 20,000 older people across Australia are homeless. Disturbingly, 64% of this group will die within five years of becoming homeless.

Older women in particular have emerged as a demographic at heightened risk of homelessness. For a lot of older women, extended periods out of paid work has resulted in significantly less acquired savings and not enough superannuation to support them in retirement.

This, together with the loss of a partner, a serious illness or other major life event, can put their housing security at considerable risk. These women have spent their whole lives contributing to society.

They've worked hard, paid their bills, raised their kids and cared for ageing parents.

We live in a developed nation, but we are leaving these people behind.

People who have helped make this country what it is today. So what do we do about it?

The NSW Government made a commitment in February to halve the rate of street homelessness across the state by 2025. An admirable goal but one that overlooks the true scale of homelessness in this country.

Take Wollongong's homelessness data for example, for every one person that is sleeping rough on the street there are another 10 people facing homelessness in hostels and shelters.

This doesn't even account for the number of people couch surfing or in overcrowded, inadequate housing. A lot of us walk past people experiencing homelessness every day.

We've all noticed people sleeping in doorways, alongside buildings or on park benches. But these rough sleepers are just the tip of the iceberg. Homelessness affects many more people than those we see sleeping rough on the street.

There are many different types of homelessness, and the majority of people experiencing it are hidden from view. They are living invisibly, almost completely ignored by society.

Chances are they could be a respected colleague or friend, living out of their car. They could be a former neighbour, who's in and out of crisis accommodation. They could even be a family member, who is couch surfing between friends' or strangers' homes.

The scary thing is there are only one or two life circumstances that can take any of us from having everything, to having next-to-nothing. A lost job. A relationship breakdown. A serious illness. It can happen to any of us and all it can take is a bad run of luck.

Homelessness is at crisis point in this country and it's going to take more than any one organisation or government body to solve the many complex challenges that lead to and sustain its vicious cycle.

One thing we can do to help is to support the local organisations doing great things for the people facing homelessness in our own communities.

Wollongong Homeless Hub, Wollongong Emergency Family Housing and Supported Accommodation and Homelessness Services Shoalhaven Illawarra are just a few.

This weekend, IRT Foundation is hosting the Race Against Homelessness at Kembla Grange Racecourse.

The race day is bringing people and businesses together from across the Illawarra to raise funds that will help tackle the growing homelessness crisis faced by disadvantaged older people in our own neighbourhoods.

If you'd like to learn more about how you can contribute to the fight against homelessness in your own backyard visit www.irtfoundation.org.au.

Toby Dawson IRT Foundation Manager

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