PEOPLE who have never needed financial or housing support before are now reaching out for assistance as they face homelessness in the region.
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That has been the experience of Wattle Tree House in Bathurst, a specialist service that assists people in crisis.
The rising cost of living has been an enormous contributor, particularly the increases to housing prices.
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Wattle Tree House manager Terry Tupper said it was leading to people reaching out for help after going their whole lives without ever needing assistance.
"The landscape has changed," she said.
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"Traditionally, homelessness was coming through things like domestic violence, mental health, drug addiction, that sort of thing, and all of that is still there, but what's moved to the top of the list is affordable housing.
"The price of a rental property, people just can't afford it."
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She said the situation is only getting worse.
"On the news, they talk about a generation who will never own a house," she said.
"We're seeing a generation who will never be able to afford to rent a house with the way things are going, it's just so difficult."
It has meant Wattle Tree House has seen a consistent stream of clients coming in, and it's getting harder to help them.
"It is super hard," Ms Tupper said.
"We wish we had a house to give people, but we don't have a house to give people.
"It's the same everywhere across Australia: there is no housing."
With so little housing available in the region, Wattle Tree House is limited in the level of support it can provide to people.
Primarily, the organisation is supporting people to put in applications for public housing and working with them towards priority housing.
Wattle Tree House is also assisting people to search for rentals through the private market and then get them to get into those rentals, as well as finding shared housing options.
"More and more there is shared housing cropping up, and sometimes that's the only solution we have, to place them in shared housing," Ms Tupper said.
"It is a roof over their head."
More than ever, the region needs affordable housing to be able to accommodate its population and put homelessness on the decline.
Ms Tupper said the government needs to step in to make it happen, not just in the Central West, but across Australia.
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