The Australian Alliance to End Homelessness is currently attempting to quantify the number of homeless people in Fremantle, but said its data was incomplete.
As of May, the organisation estimated 84 people were sleeping rough in Fremantle. About 54 were temporarily sheltered.
An AAEH spokesperson said it was difficult to get information on the latest homelessness figures in Fremantle specifically.
“We are keen for there to be regularly and transparently reported data on how much homelessness there is in Fremantle just as we do in other communities in WA on the Western Australian Alliance to End Homelessness data dashboard,” he said.
St Patrick’s chief executive Michael Piu said the organisation had noted a marked increase in the amount of people seeking shelter and help over the last few months.
“[We’ve] has seen a sharp increase in the number of families with children experiencing homelessness,” he said.
“About a quarter of the people our frontline teams are supporting and 43 per cent of people accessing our emergency relief program are caring for children.
“This has also placed enormous pressure on the homelessness response system.”
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Both Piu and AAEH said they were working to promote the “Fremantle Zero Project”, which aims to bring agencies together to make a “by-name” list.
“A by-name list is a comprehensive list of every person in a community experiencing homelessness, updated in real time,” the report on the project said.
“Using information collected and shared with their consent, each person on the list has a file that includes their name, homelessness history, health and housing needs
“Through by-name lists, communities can track how many people are experiencing homelessness over a month and whether that number is going up or down.”
The City of Fremantle was understood to be supportive of the measure, and was also taking steps to upgrade the donation boxes.
“The city is currently working on a project with St Pat’s to revitalise the collection boxes, with potentially an option to donate digitally,” a spokesperson said.
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