Welfare groups believe housing should be a basic and fundamental right for everyone in the ACT as Canberra clocks up a homelessness rate that is higher than the national average.
In Canberra, with the highest average income per capita, one in 200 are homeless according to 2011 Census figures. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, it is one in 20.
That's 1758 people sleeping rough.
“The reality is that there are a lot of people who live in difficult circumstances in Canberra,” St Vincent de Paul Society Chair Kym Duggan told SBS News.
“Currently the (Human Rights) Act highlights that education is a human right, however how is anyone meant to succeed in education without a roof over their head?”
“If you want to deal with someone's problems, you start by making sure they've got secure affordable housing,” Mr Duggan said.
The biggest concern is the rising number of women seeking out shelter services as they try to leave domestic violence situations.
“It’s freezing. The worst part is getting up in the morning.”
“Twenty per cent to 30 per cent of our calls involve women fleeing domestic violence,” Mr Duggan told SBS News.
He said shelters run by the are almost always full and there has been a 20 per cent increase in people coming through the door over the past few years.
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said he would consider changing the ACT's Human Rights Act if he is successfully re-elected in the territory election next weekend.
He has defended Canberra's high homelessness rate saying it comes as a result of better counting of people on the streets through better services.
“I think that the number in other parts of the country is under-counted because the support services aren't there,” Mr Barr told SBS News.
Canberra man John Smith, 67, has been living out of his small hatchback for the past four years.
He has experienced homelessness on and off for almost three decades and suffers from depression.
He said Canberra is a difficult city to live in during the cold winters when temperatures drop well below zero.
“It’s freezing. The worst part is getting up in the morning,” he told SBS News.
A string of health issues including fluid on his lungs and pneumonia hasn’t helped.
“I’m finished with life. I’ve got emphysema, I’ve had stents put in, I had a heart attack this year,” he said.
Mr Smith does have some savings but said he is down to his last $1000.
“I don’t know what I’ll do after that,” he said.
