Homelessness in Wagga Wagga

Wagga Wagga City Council recognises that many in our community are currently facing real pressures, particularly in relation to the rising cost of living and access to housing.

Council also acknowledges that homelessness is a complex issue requiring a coordinated response from a range of agencies and stakeholders including Homes NSW, NSW Police, support services, health services and community organisations.

Council's role in homelessness is to collaborate with agencies to support the reduction of homelessness in our community. Our role is around advocating for our community to access accommodation and build capacity to prevent and respond to homelessness. Council also has a role to connect people experiencing homelessness to information and support systems.

Council is actively working in tandem with other levels of government and support agencies to help people living in any identified encampments to relocate to more suitable accommodation and to link them to support services.

An emergency meeting, convened between senior representatives of the New South Wales Government and Wagga Wagga City Council, was held on 7 May 2026 in response to the tragedy at a homeless encampment in Wagga Wagga and to address the growing number of people sleeping rough at sites across the city.

The outcome of that meeting was the establishment of an Emergency Response Committee. This committee focuses on the locations identified with significant homeless encampments and the actions to be taken to relocate the people living there to more suitable accommodation and to link them to support services.

The CBD Murrumbidgee Riverbank, in addition to the short-term campground at Wilks Park as well as Oura Beach campground, have become hotspots for homelessness encampments, resulting in public concern. These locations are unsuitable for living and safer alternatives are available for people experiencing homelessness.

Wagga Wagga City Council is working with Dr Joe McGirr – Member for Wagga, Homes NSW, Vinnies, NSW Police, Health, First Nations service organisations, Local Land Services and Crown Lands to enact the plan. Council is issuing compliance action requests, offering support to store personal items or to assist in relocation, and cleaning up campsites that they have been confirmed as abandoned. NSW Police attend when actions are taken on site to ensure the safety of our staff and community members. Homes NSW and Vinnies are working with people experiencing homelessness to find them housing.

Support is being offered to anyone who engages with Homes NSW and other agencies.

Each individual experiencing homelessness that has engaged with Homes NSW has been offered:

Access to temporary and/or permanent accommodation
Support with administration so they can access more permanent accommodation
Access to health and other well-being support.

Homes NSW and Vinnies are working with people at the encampments to provide them with safer accommodation alternatives. These are based on each individual's requirements. The types of accommodation could include crisis accommodation in a hostel type arrangement or temporary accommodation right through to longer term social housing.

Sleeping in a tent during winter is not a safe option and Council would not be undertaking this action if it were not confident that safer alternatives have been offered to those who need it.

From Homes NSW:
"Homes NSW and funded partners continue to engage with residents in the homeless encampments in Wagga. All residents that have accepted offers of housing assistance, have been accommodated or are in the process of being accommodated. This is a combination of Social Housing leases, SHS crisis accommodation or Temporary Accommodation. As part of the assessment for accommodation, these residents have been required to have a current Social Housing Application.

The collaborative work undertaken by Homes NSW and St Vincent de Paul Society (Vinnies) has resulted in all residents at Oura Beach and the Riverside locations who were seeking housing assistance moving into more stable accommodation arrangements."

For more information about housing visit the Homes NSW website.

People who have been issued compliance action requests by Council are encouraged to take their belongings with them when they leave.

Temporary storage and transport of items has been offered by Council to those who need to store personal items to assist in their transition to housing.

If anyone has belongings that they no longer require, Council staff have offered assistance in disposing of any items as requested.

Some people experiencing homelessness have animals with them which can make it more of a challenge to locate accommodation suitable for both owner and pet.

Each assessment is on a case-by-case basis and animals are taken into account.

Council has offered and provided shelter and care for some animals so that their owners can access accommodation. We’ll continue to care for them until a more permanent solution is found, and both pet and owner can be reunited.

However, animals still must be cared for, registered, microchipped and de-sexed. Rangers have gone above and beyond to assist those who have asked for assistance by arranging for registration and microchipping and collecting and returning pets back to their owners.

If animals are aggressive, or not microchipped, or have no discernible owner, then the normal rules will apply, and Rangers will do their jobs.

Council's priority is to ensure that suitable accommodation is offered to those sleeping rough. Council has a range of enforcement actions at its disposal. Any enforcement action undertaken by Council will be on a case-by-case basis.

Council staff have issued ‘Compliance Action Request’ letters on separate occasions to those residing at Wilks Park and Riverside.

The letters have given a clear direction to move on and detailed the possible future compliance actions that Council could take.

Despite claims to the contrary, no fines have been issued to anyone experiencing homelessness by Council on the basis of where they are staying.

As yet, Council has not exercised its powers and will not undertake compliance action where people are genuinely engaging with the support services attending sites.

Council's priority is to ensure that suitable accommodation is offered to those sleeping rough. Any enforcement action undertaken by Council will be on a case-by-case basis.

On Tuesday 8 July 2026, Council staff attended a site near the Riverside Precinct where it had been identified that there was a large encampment with abandoned campsites. Since then Council has attended other confirmed abandoned campsites to clean them up.

Council only removes items that belonged to abandoned campsites and does not remove belongings of people still living at sites.

Campsites are confirmed as abandoned by Homes NSW and Vinnies whose front-line staff regularly attend sites to offer support to the people living there. In addition, Council Rangers regularly attended sites prior to the clean-up and confirm that camps are no longer in use.

Before a camp is removed it is tagged with information for the owner of the camp noting the intent by Council to remove the items. After a minimum of 7 days Council will then organise the removal of items. Any items found in a camp that are deemed to be personal and important are set aside and stored.

Council will continue to remove rubbish and other items in Wilks Park and along the rivers where it has been confirmed campsites are no longer in use, or where ownership of the site has been relinquished by the owner to Council.

Due to the scale of the clean-up of abandoned items, rubbish and syringes, and to ensure worker safety, Council has used a skid steer and mini excavator, and will continue to use them in areas where it has been deemed too unsafe for staff to undertake manual handling of hazardous material.

These actions are being undertaken in accordance with the Public Spaces (Unattended Property) Act 2021 and the Public Safety (Unattended Property) Regulation 2022.

Council is acting in accordance with relevant legislation.

NSW Police have attended some sites with Council staff at the request of Council to ensure the safety of staff and community members when requests have been issued and clean up actions have taken place.

A list of agencies and businesses that provide support to locals experiencing homelessness are listed here:

Can We Help: Emergency Housing, Food Relief & Assistance

Non-government support agencies are always looking for different types of assistance. Council encourages community members to seek volunteering opportunities with community service organisations where it is needed so that coordinated responses to community challenges are undertaken.

Do you need help?

If you or someone you know needs food, someone to talk to or maybe somewhere to sleep and shower, there are services that can help.

Visit our Can We Help: Emergency Housing, Food Relief & Assistance to find a number of local services to help you out, including a range of 24-hour crisis telephone numbers.

If you are experiencing an EMERGENCY, please call 000.