'No fixed address': Evictions intensify housing crisis

After being evicted from public housing, Aboriginal woman Clarice Quartermain became homeless.

"It's really depressing," she told AAP.

"This is draining me mentally and emotionally and some days I feel like giving up."

Ms Quartermain isn't alone, with a national housing and homelessness crisis only getting worse.

Jesse Noakes works with House the Homeless WA.

He said data provided from the Department of Communities showed Aboriginal people were evicted from public housing at double the rate of other people in the state.

And people are dying while they are homeless.

Lisa Wood from the University of Notre Dame said that since 2017, the Home2Health research team has been collating a database of people who died while homeless in Perth.

She said that in 2022, 107 people died while homeless, at an average age of 50, and a third of those people identified as Indigenous.

Professor Wood said homelessness took an enormous toll on people's health.

"The longer people remain homeless, the more their health deteriorates," she said.

Addressing a parliamentary hearing, House the Homeless WA said the housing crisis had dramatically worsened in recent years and Aboriginal families were affected at "wildly disproportionate" rates.

"It's a staggeringly high rate of Aboriginal people who make up that tragic death toll," Mr Noakes said.

"I have personally represented dozens of First Nations families in courts trying to overturn evictions.

"Sadly, too often that's impossible because the WA government continues to evict Aboriginal families through no fault no reason evictions to which there is no defence in court.

"I've seen the impacts of WA's housing policy on the most vulnerable families in our state many of whom are First Nations."

The WA government has been contacted for comment.

Mr Noakes said once someone had been evicted from public housing it was nearly impossible for them to find accommodation.

"There is not enough public housing available to people who are homeless and need housing in WA," he said.

"The numbers of public housing places has deteriorated and the wait list has dramatically increased."

Mr Noakes said the situation was exacerbated by a "punitive" approach from the housing department, which included excluding people who didn't reply to letters because they didn't have a fixed address.

"It's not suited to support Aboriginal families," he said.

"Many of the policies effectively block Aboriginal people out of housing."

Mr Noakes said some policies served as public housing "life bans" while others kept Aboriginal families in limbo.

"There is almost no recourse for families in this state to access the housing they need short of pitching a tent and calling in the cameras," he said.

Ms Quartermain has emphysema.

She has been couch surfing between her children's houses since her brother died of cancer.

"I'm not well," Ms Quartermain said.

"I don't need to be living like this."