Homeless people in Orange to be counted as part of state campaign

Street counts in Orange, Bathurst, Dubbo, Parkes, Mudgee and Coonamble will take place in September.

They will be conducted by Department of Communities and Justice staff and specialist homelessness service providers, including Housing Plus in Orange, in September.

The counts will occur ahead of a wider statewide count planned for February 2020.

Housing Plus CEO David Fisher said it saw 1447 people in Orange seeking homelessness support in 2018-19.

The majority were women (797), compared to 650 males.

Mr Fisher said, unlike Sydney, the majority of homeless people in Orange were not sleeping on the streets.

"Sleeping rough, or street sleepers, make up only 7 per cent of the homelessness population," he said.

"It is particularly an issue for the metropolitan areas and less so for the regional towns where homelessness is more hidden and where the sheer size of the area makes it difficult to accurately capture the number of people sleeping rough."

Mr Fisher said there was concern the government's focus on street homelessness might divert resources away from other areas including refuges.

Families, Communities and Disability Services minister Gareth Ward said the counts were aimed to getting information to work toward reducing the number of homeless people in NSW.

"We are committed to halving rough sleeping by 2025 and these street counts will assist with planning and investment around this ambitious target," he said.

"We are supporting people at risk of homelessness by putting more boots on the ground in the form of assertive outreach terms, which engage directly with rough sleepers and help them into stable homes."

Mr Ward said the latest figures showed about 455 people who had been sleeping rough on Sydney streets had been housed since 2017.

He said about 92 per cent had sustained their tenancies.

Mr Ward said the government had committed $10.7 million to expand its outreach services to Newcastle and Tweed Heads where homeless counts will also be conducted along with the western NSW cities.

Currently the service operates in the Sydney CBD, Parramatta and on trains at night.

"The government's assertive outreach program is achieving great outcomes for some of the most vulnerable people in our state," he said.

The announcement came at the start of National Homelessness Week.

He said this year NSW became the first Australian state to join the Institute for Global Homelessness Vanguard City program.

Housing Plus is offering free daily lunches this week, including a barbecue on Thursday, to clients and the public to highlight the plight of homeless people in Orange during Homelessness Week 2019.

The hot lunches are available from midday with Thursday's barbecue from noon-2pm at the Housing Plus office in Byng Street.

Housing Plus CEO David Fisher said it would be an opportunity to talk with the community about homelessness in Orange.

He said that included a "dire shortage" of affordable housing for people on low incomes.

Head of Community Services Penny Dordoy said Housing Plus provided a range of services to aid homeless people and those at risk of becoming homeless.

"As well as providing crisis and transitional housing to people who are already homeless we aim to prevent homelessness by helping people to sustain their tenancy," she said.

"This is achieved through re-negotiating tenancy agreements, helping to put repayment plans in place, assisting with property care and linking people with services."