Overdoses and suicide have been found to be the leading causes of death among people who access homeless services, with potentially nine avoidable deaths each day in Australia.

Data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found between 2012 and 2023, around 43,200 people with a history of homelessness died.

The median age was 55 years, far lower than the Australian median life expectancy of 81.1 years for men and 85.1 years for women.

In 2022/23, more than half of deaths among people with a history of specialist homelessness support were potentially avoidable, equivalent to more than nine potentially avoidable deaths every day.

In the same period, people who received homelessness support in the last year of life accounted for around one in seven accidental poisonings, one i

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