A lack of funding for affordable homes and frontline support services is exacerbating an already dire housing landscape, according to a report from Homelessness Australia.
Of the 76,000 children who sought housing help between 2022 and 2023, 60,000 did so with their families, while 16,000 arrived at homelessness support centres unaccompanied, the report found.
Meanwhile, an inquiry revealed hundreds of children as young as six are living in hotels and caravan parks after being taken into state care.
The number of children who were still homeless at their last contact with support services had increased to more than 25,000, while nearly 20,000 were turned away without receiving help between 2022 and 2023.
Homelessness Australia chief Kate Colvin says it's a national shame so many are without a home. (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS)
Homelessness Australia chief executive Kate Colvin said the figures should ring alarm bells for politicians.
"Family and child homelessness is a blight on Australia," she said.
"It's a national shame that in a wealthy, developed country like Australia, we have tens of thousands of families and young people - many of whom are grappling with domestic violence - without a safe place to call home."
Children can become homeless for a variety of reasons such as family dysfunction or abuse, or rejection as a result of LGTBQI discrimination.
Many young people were failed by child protection and justice systems first, Homelessness Australia found.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders were particularly over-represented, making up almost a third of homeless children despite comprising 6.8 per cent of the population under 18.
Even when children receive help, they can be provided with adult-focused support that can worsen their situations.
Homelessness Australia has urged the federal government to develop an action plan that caters specifically to young people by uniting a variety of child-focused services such as youth mental health programs, schools and family support systems.
It is also calling for a focus on prevention and early intervention, which would stop people from falling into homelessness.
A NSW report found some children lack proper support as they are cycled through accommodation. (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS)
The call for action comes as an expose on NSW's child-protection system revealed hundreds of children felt unsafe in "last resort" arrangements.
The system cycled children through hotels and motels, usually for months, while failing to provide proper access to education, health and other supports, the report found.
In a recent case, a six-year-old already cycled through 26 households was placed in a serviced apartment for five months with a roster of rotating workers.
"Children and young people do not ask for much, in circumstances where they could legitimately ask much more of the system that is designed  to care for them," Advocate for Children and Young People Zoe Robinson said.
"But they do seek safety, stability, and love."
NSW Families Minister Kate Washington said she had not fully appreciated the day-to-day problems until a girl in care told her she was taking her belongings to school some days as she was unsure where she would end up that night.
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