Ballina’s new homelessness strategy paints an incomplete picture

Council reports a 61 per cent fall in rough sleeping, but only five locations were checked on one night—while Mary’s Place serves 450 meals each week.

The Ballina homelessness strategy has been released for public feedback, but its rough-sleeping figures do not appear to reflect what many residents are seeing across the town.

The Draft Ballina Shire Homelessness Support Strategy says the number of people counted sleeping rough in Ballina fell from 64 in 2025 to just 25 in 2026.

That is a dramatic reduction of about 61 per cent in one year.

But the headline figure is difficult to reconcile with what is visible across Ballina.

People carrying belongings in shopping trolleys, tents in public areas and signs of people sheltering near the river, in bushland and around sand dunes have become increasingly noticeable.

Those observations do not provide an exact count, but they raise serious questions about whether the official figure of 25 reflects the true scale of rough sleeping across the shire.

Five locations checked on one night

The NSW Government’s 2026 Street Count technical paper shows that Ballina’s count was conducted on February 26 at only five scheduled locations.

It was not a search of every beach, bushland area, sand dune, riverbank, vehicle or concealed campsite.

The count is observational. Teams visit selected locations during the late evening or early morning and record the people they can see.

Counters do not enter squats, private property or temporary structures. If they cannot determine how many people are inside a tent or vehicle, it may be recorded as containing only one person.

Across NSW, evidence of rough sleeping was found at 338 locations where nobody was present. Those sites were excluded from the official total. The government did not publish a separate figure for Ballina.

Anyone hidden in vegetation, away from a campsite or sleeping somewhere outside the five scheduled locations could have been missed completely.

The figure of 25 does not establish how many people were sleeping rough throughout Ballina Shire. It records how many people were observed at five selected locations during one count.

Does the Ballina homelessness strategy reflect reality?

Ballina’s count rose from 21 people in 2020 to 63 in 2024 and 64 in 2025, before suddenly falling to 25 this year.

The draft strategy presents that fall as a positive outcome, but it does not explain what happened to the 39 people no longer appearing in the count.

Some may have found accommodation. Others may have relocated, stayed elsewhere that night or moved into less visible locations.

By highlighting the 61 per cent fall without prominently explaining the limitations of the count, the strategy risks creating the impression that Ballina’s homelessness problem is easing.

That impression is also at odds with the statewide trend.

The 2026 NSW Street Count recorded 2,308 people sleeping rough—five per cent more than in 2025 and 75 per cent more than in 2020.

Mary’s Place serves 450 meals every week

Demand at Mary’s Place provides another measure of hardship in Ballina.

According to information published,  Mary’s Place serves about 450 meals, including hot breakfasts, to more than 300 visitors each week.

It also provides showers, mental-health support, essential items and assistance with everyday needs.

Not every visitor is necessarily homeless or sleeping rough, so those numbers cannot be directly compared with the Street Count.

However, the scale of demand facing just one local service shows why the figure of 25 should not be mistaken for the total number of people experiencing homelessness or serious housing insecurity in Ballina.

Homelessness is not a crime

The strategy makes an important distinction between homelessness and antisocial behaviour.

Council states clearly that it is not illegal to be homeless.

People experiencing homelessness have the same right as other members of the public to be in public places, participate in public activities, manage their belongings and accept or decline support.

The strategy separates homelessness from theft, violence, aggressive behaviour, illegal drug use and genuine threats to public safety. Those matters remain the responsibility of NSW Police, regardless of a person’s housing circumstances.

Council and police can still act when laws are broken or there are legitimate health and safety concerns. But a person should not be treated as a criminal simply because they have nowhere else to sleep.

That is a positive and compassionate direction.

Response must match the need

Council says housing and specialist homelessness services are primarily the responsibility of the NSW and Australian governments.

Its proposed actions include advocating for more social and affordable housing, investigating sites for showers, toilets and charging stations, examining further support for Mary’s Place and exploring sustainable temporary accommodation.

However, Council also proposes using changes in the annual Street Count as one measure of progress.

If that count misses people living in hidden locations, Ballina risks measuring success using an incomplete picture. That could result in the response failing to match the real level of need.

Have your say

Council is asking the community to comment before it finalises the strategy.

Following public exhibition, staff will review feedback and prepare the final strategy to be presented at a future Council meeting.

Once finalised, the strategy will be delivered through shared responsibility across Council and government partners.

Residents, support workers, businesses and people with lived experience can use the survey to tell Council whether the statistics reflect what is happening across Ballina.

If people hidden in bushland, dunes, vehicles and informal camps are absent from the statistics, they risk also being absent from the solutions.

Read the Council’s draft homelessness strategy and complete the survey through Your Say Ballina by October 5.