Byron Bay attracts rich and famous residents like Chris Hemsworth and Matt Damon, but it also has the most number of rough sleepers in NSW.
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The 2023 NSW Street Count found the Byron Shire, encompassing the coastal tourist town and surrounds, has the highest number of people in the state experiencing homelessness.
At least 300 people are sleeping rough in Byron Bay - an increase from 138 people in 2022.
National data released on Thursday showed about a fifth of 190,000 homeless Australians are without a home long-term.
The rate is higher in Victoria, at almost a quarter, data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare showed.
The data - covering 2018/19 - showed people experiencing homelessness exceeded those allocated social housing.
That remains the problem for the Byron shire, mayor Michael Lyon says.
"We already had a bad housing crisis (before COVID-19 and the floods)," he told AAP on Friday.
"We just can't keep up, and it's not just as easy as moving away.
"Their lives are here and the way this state is going, where would you even move to?"
Homelessness NSW has called on the state government to increase social housing net stock from 4.7 per cent to 10 per cent and to properly fund support services to meet rising demand.
"In the coldest recorded June in 13 years people are bedding down on streets, in tents and park benches because they don't have a safe place to call home," Homelessness NSW chief Trina Jones said on Friday.
"This should not be happening in one of the wealthiest places on earth."
NSW builds an average of 34,000 residential dwellings per year and about two per cent are social housing.
The incoming state government has pledged to increase that rate, fast-tracking planning laws last week.
Ms Jones said at the current rate of social housing investment, it will take more than 80 years to meet demand.
Mount Alexander Shire, about 130km northwest of Melbourne, is taking matters into its own hands.
The council has changed regulations allow increased use of caravans and tiny homes on wheels.
The change will allow one temporary home per residential property and will not limit how long the dwelling can remain.
"I've lived (here) almost my whole life and have never seen people struggling with housing availability, security, and affordability to the extent that they are now," Mayor Rosie Annear told AAP.
The permit system has been praised as a quick solution but social workers warn it was not a be-all-and-end-all to ease housing pressures.
Australian Associated Press
