Warrnambool's homelessness issue is worse than ever, according to long-time St Vincent de Paul Society volunteer Jack Daffy.
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"I've seen people camping in several different places in Warrnambool and people sleeping in their cars," Mr Daffy said.
He said there appeared to be more people sleeping rough in recent months.
Mr Daffy said this may be due to motel rooms being unavailable for people who were struggling to find a rental.
He said he believed the city needed a homelessness forum where organisations and members of the public could come together to talk about the issue.
"I'm sure organisations are helping as best they can, but I think they're all pretty stretched," Mr Daffy said.
He said the city also needed more social housing and - as he has mentioned in the past - there were too many empty public housing properties in the city.
"It's a major problem," Mr Daffy said.
He said there were some empty buildings in the city that could be used as a short-term solution to the problem.
"I often wonder about the old special school," Mr Daffy said. "It would have showers, toilets and kitchens and could be a place for people without a roof over their head to go."
A recent report by the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation estimated that conservatively 377,600 Australian households are in need of social and affordable housing either due to rental stress or homelessness.
Everybody's Home spokesperson Maiy Aziz said other estimates revealed the number may be as high as 640,000.
"Report after report shows how dire the housing crisis is in Australia yet the national response is slow-moving," Ms Aziz said.
"Hundreds of thousands of Australians are suffering due to their inability to secure a safe, affordable place to call home and that won't change without drastic federal government action.
"To tackle the housing crisis and end the massive shortfall in social housing, the government must build 25,000 social homes every year for the next 20 years."
Ms Aziz's comments come after federal housing minister Julie Collins warned opponents of the government's multi-billion fund to build more homes to "get out of the way" as negotiations stall on the issue.
The $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund remains stuck in parliament, with both the coalition and the Greens not backing the proposal.
The fund would see 30,000 new social and affordable homes built in the next five years, but the Greens have urged more immediate action to solve the housing crisis, including a rent freeze.
Ms Collins said the housing situation was too important for there to be roadblocks to more investment.
"I would say to Liberal senators and to Greens senators in the Senate we took this to the last election, we're trying to legislate it, and they should get out of the way," she told ABC TV on Monday.
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