A transitional housing provider says we've gone from a housing crisis to a catastrophe.

The amount of money set aside for transitional housing has nearly doubled in two years, with $330 million spent last year alone. 

Monte Cecelia Trust Chief Executive Bernie Smith told Mike Hosking the problem has got worse, and the state can't tackle it alone.

He says if we put emergency housing and transitional housing together, we're talking about 5,000 properties with 25-30,000 people living in temporary accommodation.

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